How to get less traffic and drive users away(idiallo.com)
idiallo.com
How to get less traffic and drive users away
http://idiallo.com/blog/2013/04/how-to-get-less-traffic-and-drive-users-away
30 comments
The is an interesting thing with websites that have a mobile and desktop version. When you click on a link and it takes you to the mobile version, when you decide to switch to the desktop, it takes you to the homepage, and there is no way to find the article you were reading.
And vice-versa[0]
0:http://xkcd.com/869/
0:http://xkcd.com/869/
- having a mobile version that actually is non-functional (Try babiesrus store locator on a windows phone) and then automatically switching to the crappy mobile site (m.whatever.com) on mobile phone/ipad and not letting the user easily switch to the regular site since the mobile version sucks big time.
- Having a semi-functional mobile version just to look cool. Hey I got this mobile version of my site but wait, don't have more than 50% of the functionality of the traditional site. Oops
- Irritating modal pop-ups that don;'t have a close (x) button and on mobile phones, all the users sees is the darker foreground due to the pop up and cannot do anything else.
- Having a semi-functional mobile version just to look cool. Hey I got this mobile version of my site but wait, don't have more than 50% of the functionality of the traditional site. Oops
- Irritating modal pop-ups that don;'t have a close (x) button and on mobile phones, all the users sees is the darker foreground due to the pop up and cannot do anything else.
Worse: forcing you to the mobile site and when on it there's half the functionality and search doesn't return the same results. Are you not hitting the same API to search as the full site? Why wouldn't you?
I'd like to add, using http://qz.com, or Quartz to host content so that it can't be read on an Android device is pretty effective too.
I think the same thing was happening with medium.com, not sure if they fixed it. But On my phone i could not scroll down.
Right click disabling is the killer for me. I use it to search on concepts or terms.
The problem with this is, it ruins the user experience yet it doesn't prevent copying.
The only place where disabling right click makes sense is for games or an editor where you need to present your own right click menu.
Don't do it on websites, or even worse, assume that any click on a link means open it -- ctrl + click should open it in a new tab, but too frequently doesn't.
Don't do it on websites, or even worse, assume that any click on a link means open it -- ctrl + click should open it in a new tab, but too frequently doesn't.
What about injecting custom text into the clipboard via flash?
This is even more infuriating. I think I saw it on Cracked.com before I realized their content is crap. You'd copy part of the article and it would automatically include something like "read more at cracked.com blah blah blah".
That's probably the work of Tynt Tracer [1] - i've too used a while ago but yeah, even tho it does work to some extent (getting users to click on that link) it also angers them so i've abandoned that.
[1] http://tynt.com/
[1] http://tynt.com/
I didn't know there is a name for that. Good to know.
Having the back button refresh the current page instead of GOING BACK kills me.
I think that's usually the result of the previous page being a redirect, and the browser taking you back to the redirect page which then instantly, well, redirects you. I know this is a huge problem on mobile devices, often requiring you hit "back" twice quickly.
Not sure how smart browsers are about skipping redirect pages in the "back" history. If the page is a 301 I think the browser omits it from the history, but if they're doing less elegant redirects (such as, ugh, JS) I don't know that the browser will pick up on it.
Not sure how smart browsers are about skipping redirect pages in the "back" history. If the page is a 301 I think the browser omits it from the history, but if they're doing less elegant redirects (such as, ugh, JS) I don't know that the browser will pick up on it.
It's especially bad when the 404 page does it.
I ran into this on ESPN during the NFL draft. Clicked some sort of analysis link, it was a 404. Tried to go back, the 404 page refreshed. I ran into several more 404 pages over the next 10 minutes or so, and eventually left for NFL.com.
I ran into this on ESPN during the NFL draft. Clicked some sort of analysis link, it was a 404. Tried to go back, the 404 page refreshed. I ran into several more 404 pages over the next 10 minutes or so, and eventually left for NFL.com.
- Disable right clicking
I agree this is annoying but I don't think non-power users care. Opening up new windows is not an average user case for most sites. And users are getting used to navigating sites without right-click at all because, well, sites are getting used to users not having right-click access due to mobile and tablets.
- SEO first, creative content never.
These two things are not mutually exclusive, not even in a remote sense, I'd argue
- Use DIVs for tabular data (drive developers away)
Huh? Not sure what this refers to. Is it because tables-as-div are not as easy to copy-paste into Excel? I agree but again, I doubt non-power users care. The only people who would really care are the developers who actually have to implement the tableless solution. And even then, there are reasons to use divs (for a responsive design, for example)
I agree this is annoying but I don't think non-power users care. Opening up new windows is not an average user case for most sites. And users are getting used to navigating sites without right-click at all because, well, sites are getting used to users not having right-click access due to mobile and tablets.
- SEO first, creative content never.
These two things are not mutually exclusive, not even in a remote sense, I'd argue
- Use DIVs for tabular data (drive developers away)
Huh? Not sure what this refers to. Is it because tables-as-div are not as easy to copy-paste into Excel? I agree but again, I doubt non-power users care. The only people who would really care are the developers who actually have to implement the tableless solution. And even then, there are reasons to use divs (for a responsive design, for example)
I don't care for 1000+ pixel wide pages (like the OP's site). And why do all the CSS bootstraps have such lousy left margins? There should always be a least a little padding there.
If you press shift when you use your scroll-wheel you scroll horizontal.
Apparently that isn't nearly as widely known as I thought.
Apparently that isn't nearly as widely known as I thought.
I just did this (on FF 20) and it flipped through my history (scroll down = Back, scroll up = Forward). A heretofore unknown feature, but not the one you said it would be. ;)
Odd -- any chance you are on a MAC?
I just opened github.com in a tiny window and used that feature to scroll horizontal (Chrome on win 7).
I just opened github.com in a tiny window and used that feature to scroll horizontal (Chrome on win 7).
On a Mac, you can just two-finger scroll right to scroll right on a browser window. (Still doesn't excuse dumb developers who don't test on multiple browser widths, but it does make it easier to deal with them.)
Nope, Windows Vista. FF Nightly also moves forward and back in the history with Shift + Scroll Wheel. Chrome Canary does what you say, though, with horizontal scrolling.
I'm on a Mac and holding shift scrolls horizontal...
huh?
1) Not showing me the regular site when I'm using a high resolution tablet. I don't need or want something mobile optimized on an iPad. (At the very minimum though, allow us to switch back.)
2) Have a modal popup that says "This site is best used via our iPad app. Do you want to download it now?" whenever you visit it.
3) Disabling zoom.