If you’re going to invest in creating great content, why would you block people from seeing it?

This is as much of a rant as it is advice. I get really annoyed when I respond to a content offer and then can’t get to it because it’s blocked by a bunch of pop-ups (either ads or opt-in demands) or the page has so many ads on it that it takes forever to open and the content is hard to find.

By content offer, I mean links from social media posts, emails and other sources that essentially say, “Go to this site and get some great information.”

pop-up ads - Jacquelyn Lynn - Tuscawilla CreativeWhen I go to the site and have to navigate an obstacle course of pop-up ads and information gates that demand I sign in to see what was offered, I’m more inclined to get ticked than I am to click.

Tell the truth: Do you like it when someone has promised you some great information but before you can read the first paragraph, a pop-up asking for your name and email address blocks your view? If you answered no but your website includes interruptive pop-ups, why?

I absolutely understand the need to generate revenue through ads. I understand the need to build lists. (In fact, if you'd like to subscribe to our list, click here.) I don’t mind giving up my name and email address for substantive content such as ebooks and white papers. But blogs, articles and other online content should be easily and quickly accessible.

When I read Ari Rosenberg’s article “The Most Important Person in Online Publishing,” I wanted to stand up and cheer. Rosenberg talks about how online publishers are dumping on their users every day:

Every time an ad floats across a page, obfuscating the very content the user selected to read, we s**t on the user.

Every time an ad extends to twice its original size because the user merely scrolled over it, we s**t on the user.

Every time a pre-roll video ad autoplays when a user lands on a page he was interested in reading, we s**t on the user.

Are you dumping on your users?

If you’re investing in creating great content, don’t lock it up so your audience has to fight obstacles or surrender information to get to it. It can't work for you if no one can see it.

Update: Paolo Gaudiano has written an excellent essay on the impact of irritating online ads, “Annoying Ads Will Be The Death of Publishers.”  Especially if you're a publisher, it's worth reading.

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Jacquelyn Lynn
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