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Have you ever visited a blog that really intrigued you, so much to the point you were compelled to want to learn more? 

It could be you want to enter a contest, download some podcasts, participate in a forum, you know, something that stoked your interest and excitement to a fever pitch.  Well, okay, perhaps not a fever pitch, it might be more like a a minor inflammation, but I think you know what I mean.

So!  You click on the "Sign up here!" and instead of being given access to your end goal…you get socked by another question you have to answer.  And another.

And another.

And….dare I say it?

Another.

To the point that your interest is doused so effectively, a solar flare on steroids couldn’t dry it out.  And you say, to heck with this! and surf away to someplace more friendly.

Has the above ever happened to you?  Hmmm?

And are you doing that to your visitors as well?

Remember one of the most crucial aspects of website and blog design - you want to make your visitor’s experience ideally so memorable, they’ll Stumble it or Digg it or blog about it on their site or tell their PTA friends about it or post on a forum about it or….

Get the idea?

Here are 7 deadly Mega Tunnels of Doom that you want to pulverize if they’re on your site.

1.)  Multiple-page signup questionnaires.  

The Opportunity For Improvement:  Nothing is more frustrating to filling out a bazillion answers to a bazillion questions and then realizing, The First Was Only The Beginning! as Page 2 of the next bazillion questions is displayed.

The Owlbert Solution:  Have all your qualifying criteria on one page.  If it ends up being longer than a 37 foot pole with a ponytail, re-think the questions you’re asking and see if you can condense the information.

2.)  Stealth PDFs.

The Opportunity For Improvement:  Ever click on a link that you thought was a nice quick html file, only to see Adobe Acrobat firing up and freezing your computer?  I’ll bet your first reaction was NOT "JOY JOY JOY!  MY computer is about to be locked up tighter than Houdini!"

The Owlbert Solution:  Make it blatantly obvious the link is a PDF file AND provide a link for visitors to download the free Adobe Acrobat reader if they don’t already have it.  (Need to know where to find that?  It’s over at Adobe’s site).

3.)  Too much personal information demand.

The Opportunity For Improvement:  Picture the following - your visitor opts in to get your information and is then asked for their phone number, their fax number, their SSN, their driver’s license, their SAT scores, their fiber intake, their….tell me.  Would YOU want to share this information with strangers?

The Owlbert Solution:  Names are good for personalized followup. eMail addresses are good for, well, followup.  Phone numbers are good If and ONLY IF you actually followup with voice marketing (I’m not talking about product selling here, mind you - I’m talking about sales qualifying), etc.  Don’t ask what you KNOW you’ll never use.

4.)  Maze-like navigation.

The Opportunity For Improvement:  Do you have dozens and dozens and dozens and … and dozens of resources and links and articles and podcasts and image gallerys and forums and postings and tweets on your main page?   Even worse, do you like a monitor magnet so your readers know on where to zero in first?

The Owlbert Solution:  Use intuitive site design whenever possible.  Make your categories clear and concise….and have a "New to the site?  Start HERE!" resource highlighted whenever possible.

5.)  Solely Flash Navigation.

The Opportunity For Improvement:  What happens when your website visitor visits without the ability to see your awesomely magnificent flash navigation?  I’ll tell you - visitor goes bye bye!

The Owlbert Solution:  Is Flash really a must-have on your site?  The article When Good Flash Goes Bad has some useful questions over which you should mull.  If you must have Flash, you can consider offering two ways to access your site to service the non-flash visitors.

6.)  Aggressive audio clips.

The Opportunity For Improvement:  I know it’s impossible to believe, but can you imagine, not EVERYONE on the Internet swoons over My Chemical Romance or Barry Manilow or even the theme to MacGyver.  There’s no accounting for taste.  And even worse, let’s say an officeworker quietly visits your site to check out your brilliant commentary, only to hear your audio clip blast so loud it shatters the boss’s office window 27 feet away.  Not a happy picture, eh?

The Owlbert Solution:  Nix the audio.  Silence, in this case, is golden.

7.)  Humongous images, huger than a 1957 Volvo 120.

The Opportunity For Improvement:  Not everyone zooms along online via a cable modem…some people even (gasp!) use dialup to get online today.  And the bigger the image/picture sizes are on your site, the longer it will take to load…giving your blog viewers tremendous opportunities to get bored and sneak away.

The Owlbert Solution:  Smoosh down your images in your templates via MyImager.  Your images will look the same but the sizes will be dramatically small, thus making your site load faster and satisfying your visitor sooner.

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Hope this is helpful!  Please feel free to add your suggestions as well.

ThankYouVeryMuch!

Owlbert

Related posts:

1. What beginners karate taught me about blogging
2. Learn from my hair-pulling mistake when your visitor traffic drops to 0!
3. Psychic Search Wordpress Plugin - Write what your audience is searching for
4. What’s in YOUR coffee cup? Mine has floating strawberries! The power of community.

(By the way, if you have any questions about the topics in this posting "Prevent the Mega Tunnel of Doom from devouring your blog visitors", do comment below - I'll try to clarify any issues).

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