So you want more traffic to your site but you don’t know how to go about doing it? Even worst, you notice a drop of traffic on your site. You start scratching your head and wonder why the above is happening; even when you had implemented all the best features on your site.

Well you’re in luck. I’ll let you in on 15 things that make visitors hate your site. Here they are:

1. Flash Introduction

So you’re the master of flash and you want to flaunt it. Putting it on the introduction page is a great way to piss a lot of people off quickly. Some might argue that the 30 seconds of totally pointless dancing stickmen, spinning doughnuts and cheesy elevator-like music is a good marketing tactic.

News flash, it doesn’t.

Think about this. You are watching a movie but then a commercial pop out. They get in the way right? So does pointless crappy flash introduction. It’s like a persistent property agent calling to sell you something when you’ve only graduated from college.

On top of that, it drives away search engines.

2. Mouse Trails

Why do you want to implement mouse trails on your sites? Interactivity purposes I suppose? It doesn’t make sense, really. The only purpose for mouse trails, as far as I see it is to drive your readers mad. I wouldn’t want to stick around any longer if your site has mouse trails. Revolting.

3. LinkBack to Every Page

I know you have been blogging for more than a decade and you have a lot of great stuff to offer for your readers. However, posting linkbacks to every single post of yours is totally pushing it. How about just posting the related links? Use linkwithin to help you out.

4. No Links

This is the opposite of the above point. Say you have a new event or a product that you are offering but you don’t provide links for it. Readers are forced to scramble over to Google (Bing or Yahoo) to search for your mysterious links. Make your readers live easier by posting links in the appropriate sections.

5. Animated Buttons

Don’t tell me that this drive readers to click on it. Instead, it drives them away from your site. If you want readers to hate you, go all out.

6. Songs On AutoPlay

It is perfectly fine if you are on MySpace because everyone does it but for normal sites, it’s irritating. Maybe you have great music taste but imagine listening to Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance for more than 100 times. Definitely, it’ll leave a bad note to your readers.

7. The Need to Register

We know that you want readers to be part of your community by registering but as a matter of fact, it’s repulsive. The whole process of registering gets tiring for most people. Try Facebook connect instead.

8. Using Repulsive Images

With an image like that, no one wants to read what you have to offer in mere seconds.

9. Talking Down to Your Readers

Nobody likes to feel stupid. I hate it when people use phrases like “unless you’ve been living under a rock” and “if you didn’t already know” makes readers feel insulted. Do not assume that everyone knows what you are talking about. Instead, just assume that you are the only one.

10. You Turn Off Comments

Remember that blogs are supposed to be conversation between readers and the author. It is about stimulating discussions and conversations. If you don’t provide your readers any methods of responding to your post then you look like a jerk.

11. No Proofreading Done

I have previously covered this under 5 Notable Tips for Writing Press Releases. Readers will only come back to your site if they believe it is credible and poor spelling makes you look sloppy and unprofessional. That 5 minutes to proofread your post, may save yourself from looking like a crazy person behind the computer.

12. Ads Everywhere

I’m sure that you want to monetize your blog as much as possible. However, placing ads everywhere on your site; header, footer, sidebar and inside posts makes your blog look like one of those “Buy Now!” kind of sites. Even if you want to insert ads, do it tactfully. Readers want to read your content, not a sea of ads.

13. Popups

Have you ever visited a site which you found that you don’t like after a while? And when you try to leave, a popup with these words appear, “Are you sure you want to leave now?”

Do you really think that popping up a window when I try to leave is going to make me change my mind? Never constraint your readers when they visit your site.

14. Sea of Words

If you write really long sentence, try to break it up. If there is a need to write long essays, do it through sections. It’s so much better to have definitive headlines, sub-headlines and points to differentiate from the sea of words.

15. Posting Once In A Blue Moon

If your posts are months apart and most of your posts are focused on apologizing for the lack of posts, do your readers and yourself a favour by closing it. If you want people to frequently visit your blog, update it frequently because infrequency is no way to build an engaged audience.

Browse Timeline

• « Haiti Reveals Downside of Social Media
• » 5 Scary Things That Facebook Knows About You