As an avid “Stumbler”, I see a lot of websites.  There are sites I like, sites that make me laugh, sites that make me go “ooooh!” and “awwwh” (you know the cute puppy dog pictures get me every time).  There are sites that I bookmark, and then there are pages I copy the URL to text file so I know to come back later because I want to reference them in some shape or form.  StumbleUpon is a wonderland of great information, beautiful pictures and gosh darn funny videos.

Then there’s the “other” side of StumbleUpon that just makes me keep moving on to the next site.  I don’t know how many different times I can take seeing that page of “Houses with a Great View”, or that rather large woman with the Pittsburgh Steelers t-shirt, or one more article of something that’s been regurgitated 15 times over …. you know “Top 10 Things a Redneck Does ” or “Top 20 Reasons Microsoft Sucks”.  It’s something that makes me as a stumbler hit the “Stumble” button or “Thumbs down” button quicker than Donald Trump can say “Your Fired!“

So here’s 6 reason while I’ll keep hitting the Stumble button past your website.  And yes, I think I have seen one to many “Houses with a View” tonight, so forgive me if my 6 reasons are loaded with cynicism.

1.  Your Page Has More Ads than Content
We all know that 90% of people who start blogs think its a quick way to make money.  Unfortunately most of that 90% think they have to load up the blog with so many ads in order to get people to click.  They forget that a blog is about the content it produces, not the ads that they put on the pages.

2.  I Have to Scroll Past Ads to  Finally Get To Your Content
You’ve seen these types of pages, I’ve certainly seen the, for that matter, we all have.  Flash banner at the top, then Google AdWords block underneath that, followed by content navigation, some pictures, and then, finally content.  If I can’t see the content above the fold, I’m “stumbling” on.  If you don’t make it easy for me to see what your page is about, I’m off to the next page and I won’t even give you a thumbs down, since I wouldn’t know what I’ve judged in the first place.

3.  Your Ads Suggest/Show Porn Sites
I’m not a prude, I swear!  But I am woman, and if I come to a site that’s been stumbled and is supposedly about a serious subject, social media marketing, blogging or even search optimization, I’m expecting to see that.  I’m not expecting to see ads for watching naked girls, dating 18 year olds or “MILFS”, finding sexy Russian brides or any Girls Gone Wild type videos.  Really now, how do you expect anyone to take you seriously with ads like that?  Yes, that’s right “Stumble!” on I go.

4.  Your Page Takes To Long to Load
I really don’t care if your server crashed, or why it crashed.  All I know is that your page won’t load when I come to it, so how in the world can I give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down?  Just like Digg, Stumbleupon can have a hard hitting affect on your servers, if there’s even a potential for being picked up on Stumbleupon, make darn sure your site can handle the increased traffic!

5.  You Page is and Obvious Ripoff of Someone Else’s
Love those “icanhascheezburger” photos?  Yeah, me too, it’s why I go to icanhascheezburger.com.  I really don’t want to see your page which rips off their content.  That photo collection of “Houses with a Great View”, yeah, I’ve seen it before 10 other times.  Guess what?!  Yup, you got it “Stumble!”

6.  Your Page Is A Dumbass Marketing Attempt
No, honestly, I don’t want to see your dumbass page on how to make 100k in a month using Real Estate.  It’s why I have a spam filter on my inbox, it’s why I don’t click those popup banners ads, and it’s certainly why I’m clicking on…. You got it, “Stumble!”.  Whether it’s photos of your products that everyone else sells too, including Amazon (lame!), a “services offered” page, or some sillly multi-level marketing scheme - do you REALLY think I’m going to give that a thumbs up?  And don’t just think it’s left to web pages and photos folks, no there’s some dumbass marketing attempts on video, too, just as “Peter” demonstrates us here.