Is Your Content Annoying?

Annoyed Man Covering EarsThe last thing you want to do is annoy your intended audience with your online marketing efforts. Even if your business is great and the products and services you offer are wonderful, an annoyed visitor isn’t likely to convert to a customer.

While a happy customer is likely to come back again and spread the word about your business, you have an uphill battle on your hands when trying to win back an annoyed customer.

Understanding the Impact of Annoying Content

According to a paper on annoying online content presented at the 22nd annual International World Wide Web Conference in Rio in early 2013, content publishers know how much money they make from annoying ads. What they don’t know, however, is what the actual price is for annoying consumers for the sake of getting those initial clicks.

Is It Really Worth It For Extra Clicks?

If you take the attitude that any attention is good, you run the risk of turning off consumers before you even get to make a serious sales pitch. When considering your online marketing design, consider these points:

1. You Could Waste Money by Going After Unproductive Leads

Annoying content can be a costly mistake when it comes to your advertising budget. Even if you generate leads, a lack of conversions isn’t going to be good for your bottom line. Smaller businesses can’t easily afford to absorb such losses.

2. Some Consumers Purposely Avoid Annoying Sites

When it come to annoying content, once is usually enough for a visitor. If somebody was annoyed when they first visited your site, they’re not likely to come back any time soon, if ever.

3. You Risk Doing Brand Damage

Annoyed visitors are likely to spread the word about your annoying content features. This does more than just take a few conversions away from you. It could tarnish your overall brand image, which can be devastating to smaller businesses.

Top Offenders: What Content Is Most Annoying?

The first step in addressing annoying content is to determine what exactly annoys consumers the most. There is no definitive answer, but there are certain annoyances that seem to rank high among consumer complaints.

Some of the top online content turn-offs include:

1. Unfriendly Mobile Content

With more consumers moving to mobile devices as their primary source of access to the Internet, things like small text and bright colors tend to be annoying.

2. Pop-Ups

Another common annoyance among online searchers is sites with automatic pop-ups. This can range from the offer to access online help to a scrolling pop-up that your visitors can’t get rid of until they stop and find the box to click to get rid of it.

3. Unable to Automatically Leave a Site

While it may seem like you’re doing a service by setting up your site so that a message comes up with one more pitch before a visitor can leave, this can be downright frustrating. This is especially true for casual visitors who have some interest, but aren’t ready to commit to a decision yet.

One way to remedy the situation is to take a critical look at your content from the perspective of a typical visitor. Take a closer look at what it is about your content that is annoying. Once you fix the problem, do some damage control by issuing a press release to announce your new website, blog or social page.

This way, you get some free publicity in the process. Another route to take is to announce the changes you made in your email newsletter or as a blog or social post.

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Jennifer is a writer at Crowd Content and creates content for several marketing related blogs. To work with Jennifer and other great freelance writers, create a free client account at Crowd Content today!

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