In my last pet blogging post I shared Five Reasons Why You Should Start a Pet Blog. Today I’m back with another post but this time I’m ranting dishing about pet blogging pet peeves! I’ve been blogging for almost five years and I’ve also been an Instructional Designer for the past 10+ years. That said, I have an eye for what makes good and bad design online. I’m by no means a perfect blogger and I have lots of room for improvement but I like to think I’ve learned a little bit over the years. I’m starting to go over my blog with a fine tooth comb as I gear up for BlogPaws in Nashville. Attending a blogger conference means that you’re going to meet new people and new people means lots of new eyes on your blog! I highly recommend getting your blog on point especially before heading off to a blogger conference like BlogPaws! It doesn’t have to be perfect but there are some small tweaks you can do yourself that will make a HUGE difference!
Take these five pet blogger pet peeves as a starting place to get your blog and social media accounts on point before BlogPaws or any blogger conference.
1. Complicated Captcha Comments
This is my # 1 pet peeve! Blogs are supposed to be social! Make it easy as pie for your readers to show you some love. During the weekly linky parties, I end up exiting out of so many blogs because it’s too complicated to leave a comment.
Make it simple for readers to leave you comments! I see so many bloggers that require multiple steps just to leave a comment. I shouldn’t have to sign in to some weird account (that I’ll only use to comment on YOUR blog), check a box that I’m a real human being and not a robot, AND fill out a CAPTCHA form!
PLEASE, just say no to CAPTCHA!
If you are that concerned with spam bots taking over your blog comments, scrap the CAPTCHA nonsense and install an anti-spam plugin such as Akismet.
2. Auto-DM’s on Twitter
Personally I hate Direct Messages (DM’s) on Twitter. The entire point of Twitter is to be social . . . not to private message back and forth. What’s even worse than Twitter DM’s? Automated DM’s that immediately want you to follow them somewhere other than Twitter! You know something like this:
Just stop it! Lots of bloggers have setup automated DM’s as a way to “engage” with their new followers. Turn off the auto DM’s and send a Tweet to your new followers to actually engage in a conversation without asking for anything in return!
3. True Twit Validation
It’s safe to say that my Twitter inbox is filled to the brim with these useless automated messages called True Twit Validation. This should have been on the top of my pet peeve list because it combines CAPTCHA and Twitter DM’s. For each new follower, an automated Twitter DM is sent that asks the new follower to validate their human existence by clicking on a link and filling out a captcha form. No, No, No!!!
Anytime I receive one of these after following someone, I will actually go back and unfollow them or simply ignore the True Twit request. Asking your new followers to jump through hoops is NOT the way to engage and build a community! The irony of trying to prevent spam is that it actually make YOU look like a spammer! Here is a great post on more reasons True Twit sucks and how to remove it.
4. Ugly Pins on Pinterest
Pinterest is an online fantasy world for every wannabe baker, chef, crafter, and fashionista. Pinterest sparkles with gorgeous eye candy of projects and food that people will probably never actually have the time or energy to make. I’m ok with that. It let’s me escape my world and provides me with all the inspiration I need to feel inadequate.(That was a bit of sarcasm in case you needed the extra hint.)
Follow Aimee | Irresistible Icing’s board Irresistible Pets {My Blog} on Pinterest.
That said, let’s do our part to help keep Pinterest the pretty fantasy world that it is! Pinterest is not a place to share photo albums or low quality photos. Pins should add value to your blog and reflect your brand. According to Susan Wenner Jackson of Ahalogy,
“The best pins deliver up to 100x more traffic than average ones.”
I can tell you that almost 50% of my blog traffic comes from Pinterest! Ahalogy will be at the BlogPaws conference to lead a session called Pinterest Power: How Pet Publishers Can Grow Traffic with This Powerful Visual Search Engine. In the meantime, I recommend checking out the post, Pinterest Gold Rush for tips on how to be pin-worthy!
5. Blurry Blog Photos
I look back on some of my early blogging pics and I actually cringe . . . and then I giggle. How in the world did I actually think those were ok?! I’m still learning and developing my photography skills every single day . . . BUT, I’ve learned SO much over the past few years. I literally #SMH as to why there are so many blogs in 2015 with blurry,un-edited photos. Blogs are visual and they should be visually appealing!
You don’t need to be a photographer but PLEASE try to make an effort to take clear shots that don’t look like you’re using a 2001 flip phone! You don’t need to spend a ton of money but PLEASE take some time to invest a little bit of time and/or money in some decent technology or editing software if you want to be taken seriously online! To get started check out Blog Design for Dummies and Picture Perfect Social Media.
What are Your Pet Blogging Pet Peeves?
Blogging takes time and there is a lot to learn! You will make mistakes along the way and that’s ok! I’ve made more than enough of them! Now, I want to hear from you!
- What are your pet peeves when it comes to blogging?
- What would you like to change on your own blog?
Leave your feedback in the comments down below!
Vickie Vonn says
Thanks for the chuckle!
Right back at ya re: Captcha! Some have both caps as well as lower case scribble, but aren’t case sensitive – while others are. The fuzzy looking ones with the white noise behind crooked letters…grr; worse yet are those that look like bleach was spilled on them, with parts of the characters missing, they make my brain hurt just thinking about them.
Many times I find myself spying the little speaker icon and weigh the option of hearing the captcha bobbly goo, but find myself feeling guilty, like some lazy hulk who’s about to illegally park in a handicapped parking spot should I dare to click it, opting instead to click through several captchas, in hopes of a respite. Just when I feel like I need my eyeballs realigned, there it is, a clear one! That lone captcha in the sea of murk and it’s actually two real words, my heart quickens, a confident smirk forms as I type ‘relic box’ – peck the enter key only to have another mess appear before me to take a stab at…perhaps the thing that looked like a hair running across the ‘c’ was part of a second ‘e’? relie box? What in tarnation is a relie box? My ego is officially crushed, it’s as bad as seeing ‘you failed’ after a round of one of my iPhone game apps.
My replacement offering appears to be more like a Rorschach test, I see two pointy ears with rounded splotches under each and a darker one just lower and almost centered…why, it’s a Chihuahua, or is it the letters AmolomA? I glance up at the instructions at the top in bold, PLEASE VERIFY THAT YOU ARE HUMAN and I think, I’m human enough to feel rage! At this point I can’t remember why exactly the post I’m attempting to make is relevant, could the world do without my humble opinion today? It’s then, that I wonder if I was seeing a Chihuahua because my subconscious was reminding me I was entering the post for Izzy, she’s not human, she’s a tiny canine and she’d rather be posing for pics, or charming a treat, not perched on the arm of the recliner looking at a lighted screen, hearing me grumble.
I ‘X’ off the page, close the cover, mentally noting the 10 minutes I’ll never get back as I grab my keys, turn to her and say, Let’s go for a ride!
Izzy and I look forward to meeting you and Chuy in Nashville!
Caren Gittleman says
You hit definitely at least FOUR of mine (your first four)….one place that blurry photos DO work, is on Selfie Sunday…when our pets are behind the camera photographing themselves, blurry is ok on that occasion.
I will say I have been guilty of the “blurry photo” too, more often than I care to admit…….that being said, I do not have an expensive camera, I never use my digital camera but I do use photo editing sites. I take my photos with my iPhone 6 and one of them made it as a finalist in the Nose-to-Nose awards so it couldn’t be too bad!
Christine & Riley says
I so agree with these, but the #1 on my list is Blurry Photos. Being a photographer blurry photos annoy the heck out of me, actually if you are a fellow blogger and you post blurry photos I just wont follow you any more. I guess that is the reason I love your blog because they are always sharp! But I spend a lot of time on a lot of my photos, with taking the pic, choosing, editing, creating pins etc. To me a photo makes a post! And you were right when you said someone doesn’t have to be a photographer, a lot of the time I use my iPhone!
Jessica Shipman | Beagles and Bargains says
You NAILED it. Especially the first 3! The second two bug me, but I get sometimes you gotta work with what you have.
Donna Potter says
Thanks Aimee. Great advice. Simple, to the point. I too dislike the automated DMs. So insincere.
Jen Gabbard says
I definitely agree with the first 3, and the last 2 don’t bug me personally quite as much but they’re still big no nos for bloggers who want to give a polished, professional look.
I’m not great with my own camera (actually I just purchased one last month for the first time ever) so I’ve been spending a lot of time browsing photos trying to pick decent stock ones that fit in with my post. To me it just feels like a natural part of the blogging process – research, write, edit, polish it up and make it look visually appealing and easy to read.
I love this list for sure, and that’s pretty awesome that about half of your traffic comes from Pinterest – goes to show how important a good design/photo/edit can be.
Cheyanne Ranson says
I think this is spot on. I enjoy reading and commenting on blogs, until I get to the end, and there are captcha’s, e-mail verifications, and blogs where you have to join something just to comment. I feel that bloggers would get a lot more engagement if readers did not have to jump through these hoops to get their comments posted.
Rosa @ Cat Lady Confidential says
Even though my blog is only 1 month old, I also have some blogging pet peeves. What annoys me the most is captcha – sometimes it is so complicated that I just give up on commenting. I also avoid blog that have crazy color combinations that make them very hard to read – like a black background with yellow text.
Jen | DOGthusiast says
The first three are pretty big peeves. I love high quality photos or pins but it’s not too high on my list as long as the content is good (*if* I’m going to the blog for the writing). But then high on my list is a cluttered looking website, and I guess that’s right in the same bucket!
My biggest peeve is a high percentage of marketing/sponsored posts, by far. Far and few between and relevant to the blog is fine of course, but when I scroll through the blogs I’m following (mostly pet and lifestyle) and it’s well over 50% of the titles I see then I have a sad.
Oh wait, then there are the clickbait titles or clear “content marketing” style posts. Oh where to start…
Kathy says
None of the things you mentioned are my pet peeves, but I am pleased to say that I’m not an offender of any of them. I did have a complicated Captcha code on my blog comments, but I disabled it a few months ago after many complaints (similar to your remarks).
My biggest pet peeve is obvious lack of proofreading; followed closely by grammatical errors and spelling errors. So few people seem to care about this anymore, I feel as though it is a dying art.
(Watch, I’ve probably made some grammar and spelling errors in this comment, lol!)
xoxoxoxo
Emmy Scammahorn says
Number one peeve: bad grammar. Number two peeve: using 50 words when 20 would do. Number three: posts that are too long. If you’re a veterinarian explaining the new dog flu, write on. If you’re detailing your dog’s birthday party, shorter may be better. Four: similar photos. The dog looks up, rolls over, scratches, sleeps, yawnsβall on your porch, Leave them wanting more.
Anne says
My biggest peeve is…pop up windows for newsletter sign ups! As soon as they go up, I am out of there.
francis says
I agree the pop up windows trying to get you to subscribe to things or pushing the sale of things is a little aggravating. some blogs have pop ups on every page
Valerie says
Gosh, I NEED to work on my pinterest page!
I hate it when I’m on a website and there are 4-5 pop-ups! I don’t mind 1 or 2, but if there are 4 or 5 I just give up! It should be easy to access a blog!
I love your articles, they’re very helpful to me, since I just started out!
Happy weekend!!