*Jozzua Notes from a Business and Marketing Strategist/Tactician

Why You Hate “Make Money” Blogs and Websites

Now that I'm deep into the study of website usability, I now realize why people hate ad-filled websites (which are usually websites that pitch "how to make money" online).

When you take a good look at it, ad-filled blogs and usability don't mix.

Why?

First let's look at usability:

In general, usability refers to how well users can learn and use a product to achieve their goals and how satisfied they are with that process. Usability, as defined by Joseph Dumas and Janice (Ginny) Redish, means that people who use the product can do so quickly and easily to accomplish their tasks.

Now, let's look at an ad-filled website. This website currently comes up as number 1 result when I searched for "how to make money online":

As a person wanting to find info on how to make money online, I'd want the info about it as fast as I can. I want to accomplish my task quickly and get to the nitty gritty of actually making money online.

This site above is not very usable.

The site above denies me the possibility of quickly accomplish that task. Take note:

1. A dhtml pop-up blocks my initial view of the site.
2. Half the area above the fold is already filled with ads which may not really be relevant to what I need.
3. I have to give my user name and email before I can even get the "free lessons."

Ideally, if the website was designed with usability in mind, the first thing you should see in your very first visit to the page was direct info on 'how to make money online'. Instead, to accomplish this task, you have to send your email, or close the pop-up, and scroll down, click a link or/and join a forum.

When you look at other "making money" websites and blogs, this seems to be the general trend. Even I have been guilty of this.

Conflict of Goals?

You see, your objective and that of the website/blog owner may be two different things.

1. You want to find the information you need in the fastest way possible, without hassles or costs.

2. The website/blog owner wants to make money in the most efficient way.

Like I said, I have been guilty of this myself. My Adsense design testing was done with the goal of making more money. I had failed to consider how this affects the overall experience of my website user. Learning about usability has made me aware of this, however, and I do hope to get the time to change my website to help improve the user's experience.

Why do you hate them?

You hate them because they want to make money off your visit to the site. Hey, there's no free such thing as a free lunch right?