The Brutal Truth: Why I Hate Visiting Your Site

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I’ve begun to question quite a few things about my future.

One aspect in particular is what I want to do with this site because of the following.

You see, lately, I’ve been getting pretty frustrated with the web in general as there seems to be so much crap being published.

I’m not saying that everything published these days is a waste, but let’s be real here, there is a LOT of crap.

The half-assed sites thrown up just to make money off of advertising.

The junk people pass off as “quality, original content” when it comes to guest posting.

People gaming the Google Page Rank “system”.

It’s all just one big annoyance lately.

To be fair, there are some really high-quality sites that I do like, but the list is shrinking by the day.

My goal isn’t to call anyone in particular out here.

In fact, I think that’s just a really low-class way of attracting attention–going after people publicly in order to make a name for yourself.

It’s kind of like buying fans and followers–it may work every so briefly but it’s a hollow concept.

Instead I’m just venting and hoping that some people will read this and think about ways they can improve on what they are currently doing.

Hey, it’s not like I’m the king of content or anything, but at least I know it and attempt to be a little different from the rest of the crowd (hence this site’s tagline).

So, what is it that has gotten me so riled up about what I’m seeing?

Stuff like this:

  • You write lists of points which provide no value or real information (Sort of like this one, but worse! I’m doing this on purpose and least it’s entertaining.)
  • The way you write makes me sad for you.
  • The crap you write about has been covered to death.
  • Speaking of which, you don’t even bother to freshen it up either.
  • Nor do you make an attempt to take a different approach or angle.
  • You have no personality or fail to show it if you do have one (Think Ben Stein)
  • Like AC/DC, all of your stuff sounds the same. (I do like them, but if Angus Young himself can say that then so can I!)
  • You don’t provide any value, just throw things together that you read elsewhere.
  • Your site is so distracting that I can’t even stay long enough to make it past the 1st sentence (technically not about your writing, but whatever)
  • You’re an ad whore or you run sponsored posts without regard for the quality of content.
  • Plus, even if it’s an advertorial post, have some pride in what you display to the world and allow to be associated with your name
  • Sometimes you even sell your soul and promote things you yourself are against for a quick buck.
  • You got mentioned someplace big and it went to your head.
  • Guess what, most of those sites only like fluff that their readers will fawn over, not anything real or different.
  • You neglect readers, writing for the search engines and your stuff is impossible to read.
  • Or, you make factually incorrect statements or assumptions.
  • Or, you leave out relevant information that can change the entire meaning or message of a statement.
  • Numbered lists–by the time you get halfway through, you’re grasping for anything that barely fits the theme (also see 1st point).

If you do think that I’m just being an ass, there’s a very good reason why it hasn’t been brought to your attention before.

People are too nice and afraid to tell you you suck so you keep doing any or all of these things over and over again.

Instead, they’ll say how awesome that list of a million ways to make extra cash is (even if it didn’t have even one idea on how to actually implement any of the strategies), or how helpful your tips for minimizing utility bills were (even though it’s exactly the same as the last 500 articles on the subject).

It’s not uncommon for someone to leave constructive criticism in a comment or a private message and the recipient having condom-thin skin, taking offense.

So, what happens?

People just don’t say anything and you go on thinking that you are as great and special as you think.

Take it from me: odds are you’re probably the only one that really thinks so.

Believe me, I’ve been there already!

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29 Comments

  1. Ha! You? Rant? I can deal with many of these points, but the one that gets me is the factually incorrect stuff OR the “dangerous if anyone actually tries this: pieces. When you start telling me I should have NO cash reserve or that I should invest all of my money in gold, I know you’re an idiot.

  2. I always enjoy a good rant. The blogging world can be a rough place, but it is too easy for people to start their own blogs. I have been trying lately to just write posts that are about my experiences and I do have some stories. I do allow guest posts, but try to weed out the crap, but there might be some times that I slip up. No one is perfect.

    1. Like I said, Grayson I’ve been there myself so I know that things can sometimes slip through the cracks. As hard as it may be to believe, I’m still not perfect lol

  3. “The way you write makes me sad for you”. Amen, friend! As a friend to good grammar, I salute this sentence.

    I love when you rant because there’s usually so much validity behind what you say, and this is no different. I agree so much with what you’ve said that I feel like I could have written this post. Only now I don’t have to. Thanks for saving me the time 🙂

    1. I try to keep my opinions to myself until I can either substantiate them or at the very least make sure there is really something to rant about (not like those people who bitch and moan about the most minuscule things).

      If I can turn it into a source of entertainment, great. And, if I can save someone like you the trouble of doing so, all the better!

  4. As someone who is relatively new to the personal finance genre I think I’ll just sit here and nod. I haven’t been around long enough to start stepping on toes. Very well said, Eric.

    1. It’s not about stepping on any toes, it’s about voicing your opinion and displeasure with what others may/may not be doing. Just because you’re “new” doesn’t mean that you don’t have something valid to say!

  5. Eric, nice post about some legitimate rants. We can all learn by your comments.

    1. The funny thing is that it’s not just me, but I’ve discussed these things with plenty of others as well. I’m just the one that likes to shoot my mouth off with this type of thing.

    1. I’ve actually been away from blogging for the better part of this year dealing with work, family, life and other things.

  6. Man, can you imagine how many times I’ve been dealing with those points you are mentioning? Writing about investing – what the heck you want to write up about it! The Net is full of websites about investing. When you type “Investing” into Google, there will be 143 million results. There has been a bazzilion of books written about it. Do you want to provide investing advice? Heck, I struggle myself with my investments, so how can I advice anyone how to do that! Well at least when I was loosing money I could advice what no to do. I still have issues with the content and structure of the content, what to put in and how to refresh what was already told 143 million times.

    1. That’s a big issue Martin. Sometimes, there just isn’t a way to differentiate yourself. In that case, I personally stay away from certain subjects. But, there is also a difference depending on the goal of the site. If it’s simply an information hub set up to earn passive income, then it really doesn’t matter much. On the other hand, if it’s supposed to be a site with an active community, then you may stumble a bit. You just need to tweak things until you find what works.

    2. I just revisited your post and realized that after 6 or so months I am still at the same spot where i was 6 months ago. No progress.

      Interestingly, I started a Facebook Group and this media is prospering more than my blog. Is this an end of blogging?

    3. I really couldn’t tell you Martin.

      Maybe your writing style or subject matter is only drawing a specific crowd. Perhaps your site design isn’t keeping visitors. It could be that your SEO strategy isn’t working, or even that your promotion plan is lacking. There are a ton of variables involved with websites that the best way to figure it out would probably be to have a site analysis done.

  7. I think this is all pretty true. I actually get pretty paranoid that I am not getting honest feedback to avoid some of these things.

    I find that the posts that seem to get the best reaction contain personal accounts in some way, which equates to personality. I know I still have a lot to learn, so I may have to print these out as a checklist before I post anything.

    1. I wouldn’t take my ranting and raving as gospel Greg 😉 Sometimes I just get frustrated and let me fingers do the venting

  8. There are definitely some sites out there that fall into this category. I, myself, might be guilty of one or two of these things, too. However, I try and keep my content relevant to my topic; houses and finance, while keeping it interesting.

    The sites I eventually stop reading over time usually talk too much about dry topics over and over again or like to share their stats way too much. Okay, so maybe I’m jealous, but I really don’t like reading that information every other day!

    1. I didn’t mention those sites that throw their numbers out there simply because they actually help motivate people which is good thing. I may not personally feel like opening up my books to the world, but that’s just me.

      Sometimes it’s almost impossible not to fall into one or more of these traps at some point. My biggest problem is that there are sites that constantly repeat the same “mistake” as I would refer to it.

  9. Have to admit, I’m guilty of at least one of these. But I would have to agree that they are all things that irk my nerves as well. I stopped reading blogs for a while, just need to find a good set that I like.

    1. Stranger in the house!

      I haven’t been around for a while myself for various reasons. Unfortunately, during my absence not much changed, which was probably the trigger for finally putting all this stuff out there rather than keeping it private in one-on-one convos.