There are some questions that seem to have no definitive answers bouncing around in my head. Ads, comments & social bookmarking, these are all things that website owners hope & wish that the visitors to their sites will click on or participate in. Lets discuss each of these three items and see if you can help answer some questions I & perhaps yourself have.
Ads
Do you click on ads when you like someone’s website? Is it inappropriate to click on an ad if you enjoy a site knowing it will just send two cents or a dollar into the owners ad account(s)? Are we as visitors adverse to doing this or do people just not know that it helps contribute to the designer of said site?
I know that there are many sites I have enjoyed over the years and on some I have never clicked on an ad. As I look back I wonder would it have been so bad to click an ad or two to show my appreciation. Lately I have been clicking on an ad if I actually enjoy someone’s site. In some cases I will even click an ad if the article I am reading just captures my attention so that I read it to the end.
Think of clicking on ad as paying for a newspaper or local news rag. The small amount that the owner receives should entice them to create more & more enjoyable content. Maybe in this way we can reward those who deserve it for their contribution. Perhaps by clicking on a skyscraper ad versus a smaller ad depending upon our enjoyment of the site or content would make us a true connoisseur of the content.
Comments
While I have less thoughts on this subject, more of a piece of advice really, here’s one question. Is it proper etiquette to leave a comment about an article if you enjoyed it? Have we as visitors really gotten to the point where we move too fast that this one minute would slow us down? I am myself also guilty of not leaving comments but am really putting forth an effort to do so lately.
My piece of advice is actually common sense but there are still some people out there, blog owners mostly, that do not have captcha or do not moderate the comments posted on their sites/blogs. This allows spam of the highest proportion to flood their blogs. Have you that moderate your sites comments seen some of the stuff that spammers try to get thru? I have seen comments that are like whole entire miniature websites of links try to get posted on this site.
Moderate your comments!
Social Bookmarking
With the advent of social bookmarking like Digg, StumbleUpon, Buzz & Technorati among others a whole new way of grading or reviewing websites & articles has opened up. Websites and blogs can now be graded by visitors Digging or Stumbling your content, this can either bring you yet more visitors if your content appeals to the masses or just leave you stuck on the sidelines if graded poorly.
My question is do you actually take the few seconds to socially bookmark a site or article? Clicking an ad would be more my style as it just seems quicker to me, I am lazy, but I am getting in the habit of socially bookmarking more & more. When an article of mine gets Dugg or Stumbled it brings in more & more traffic making me feel liking writing more often.
There is nothing more rewarding than going from 50 -60 visitors a day to 200-300 for a webmaster. To reach the front page of Digg or any of the other social bookmarking front runners out there is the pinnacle of achievement for a writer. While I have yet to obtain this lofty status I can aspire to one day climb that summit.
Afterword
I hope to receive some answers to my questions knowing that some of you out there have answers of your own. Clicking on an ad, making a comment or socially bookmarking will not hurt you in any way, shape or form. In fact it might make you start to reward those who do well in their endeavors. Some of you can explain if you feel that my opinions could be considered proper website or blog visitor etiquette.
Ads
Do you click on ads when you like someone’s website? Is it inappropriate to click on an ad if you enjoy a site knowing it will just send two cents or a dollar into the owners ad account(s)? Are we as visitors adverse to doing this or do people just not know that it helps contribute to the designer of said site?
I know that there are many sites I have enjoyed over the years and on some I have never clicked on an ad. As I look back I wonder would it have been so bad to click an ad or two to show my appreciation. Lately I have been clicking on an ad if I actually enjoy someone’s site. In some cases I will even click an ad if the article I am reading just captures my attention so that I read it to the end.
Think of clicking on ad as paying for a newspaper or local news rag. The small amount that the owner receives should entice them to create more & more enjoyable content. Maybe in this way we can reward those who deserve it for their contribution. Perhaps by clicking on a skyscraper ad versus a smaller ad depending upon our enjoyment of the site or content would make us a true connoisseur of the content.
Comments
While I have less thoughts on this subject, more of a piece of advice really, here’s one question. Is it proper etiquette to leave a comment about an article if you enjoyed it? Have we as visitors really gotten to the point where we move too fast that this one minute would slow us down? I am myself also guilty of not leaving comments but am really putting forth an effort to do so lately.
My piece of advice is actually common sense but there are still some people out there, blog owners mostly, that do not have captcha or do not moderate the comments posted on their sites/blogs. This allows spam of the highest proportion to flood their blogs. Have you that moderate your sites comments seen some of the stuff that spammers try to get thru? I have seen comments that are like whole entire miniature websites of links try to get posted on this site.
Moderate your comments!
Social Bookmarking
With the advent of social bookmarking like Digg, StumbleUpon, Buzz & Technorati among others a whole new way of grading or reviewing websites & articles has opened up. Websites and blogs can now be graded by visitors Digging or Stumbling your content, this can either bring you yet more visitors if your content appeals to the masses or just leave you stuck on the sidelines if graded poorly.
My question is do you actually take the few seconds to socially bookmark a site or article? Clicking an ad would be more my style as it just seems quicker to me, I am lazy, but I am getting in the habit of socially bookmarking more & more. When an article of mine gets Dugg or Stumbled it brings in more & more traffic making me feel liking writing more often.
There is nothing more rewarding than going from 50 -60 visitors a day to 200-300 for a webmaster. To reach the front page of Digg or any of the other social bookmarking front runners out there is the pinnacle of achievement for a writer. While I have yet to obtain this lofty status I can aspire to one day climb that summit.
Afterword
I hope to receive some answers to my questions knowing that some of you out there have answers of your own. Clicking on an ad, making a comment or socially bookmarking will not hurt you in any way, shape or form. In fact it might make you start to reward those who do well in their endeavors. Some of you can explain if you feel that my opinions could be considered proper website or blog visitor etiquette.
