Hostway’s national Pet Peeve survey assembled a list of 15 irritating website practices:
1. Pop-up ads
2. Requiring the installation of extra software to view the site
3. Dead links
4. Requirement to register and log-on before viewing the website
5. Slow-loading pages
6. Content that is out of date
7. Confusing navigation – hard-to-find pages, too many clicks
8. Ineffective site search tool
9. No contact information available (web form only)
10. Inability to use the browser’s back button
11. Overdone sites – unnecessary splash screens/animation
12. Text that moves
13. Music or other audio that plays automatically
14. Poor appearance – colors, fonts, format
15. Opening a new window for a link
Then
Hostway asked their respondents how they felt about each of these. Only
(only?) 38% of the respondents found ‘opening a new window for a link’
irritating.
Pop-up ads were everybody’s favorite pet peeve by a
landslide. Requiring visitors to register or log on before viewing
content and requiring visitors to download additional software to make
the site word came in second and third, respectively.
Then Hostway asked folks what they’d do when they came face to face with their pet peeve
* 76% said they’d never come back to the site
* 74% said they’d unsubscribe from promotions and mailings
* 71% said they’d never purchase from the site
* 71% said they’d view the company negatively
* 54% said they’d complain to friends and associates
* 24% said they’d complain directly to the company
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What Site Visitors Find Annoying |