Three Annoying Things Bloggers Do
1. Hiding your blog’s RSS feed(s).
Why in the hell do some blogs make it so impossible to subscribe to their feed? Do you not want readers to be able to keep track of your updates? A couple times recently I’ve just given up. I had even tried random URLs such as http://evilfeedwithholder.com/feed/ and http://evilfeedwithholder.com/index.xml
It’s bad enough to remove the <link href="http://evilfeedwithholder.com/feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="The Forbidden RSS 2.0 Feed" /> bit as it is, but then not have a link anywhere on your website? Not in the sidebar, footer, site page, or anywhere else? Evil.
Don’t make me work for it! Make it simple! I’m likely to never return to your site again no matter how much I liked it.
2. Mixing trackbacks & pingbacks with your comments.
Often it’s difficult to tell where the trackbacks end and the comments start again, particularly when there’s just one or two comments nestled between seemingly endless trackbacks. I generally skip over all trackbacks or anything that looks like one. I might be missing something integral to the flow of conversation in the comments because that one important comment was stuck amongst the trackbacks.
3. Lack of context in your posts.
Sometimes I’ll find a new blog that could be interesting…if I knew what the hell they were babbling about.
I hate the feeling that I’m coming into a conversation late or that I’ve just walked into a room and everyone else has just started laughing, but I’m stuck in the dark.
When you’re referring to something that’s happened in the past, particularly a specific past entry, it’s generally a good idea to link to those entries that give it context for your new or occasional readers. If it’s not in the posts displayed on your main page, chances are, I’m not going to find it and I’m not going to waste my time finding it.
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