Another question I like to ask myself, after writing and before sending, one you might like to use, "Will reader be able to file image I'm sending in same folder they began with?"

Our brains file information just as if we were dropping files in a filing cabinet manner.

Instead of just telling reader, show reader image, and what folder to tuck their image in. The reader is expecting this answer. If they don't receive it, they wonder what to do with image, it doesn't match any file in their cabinet. This splits their focus, slows down their

connection, or can even halt connection in toto.

I am sure you have your own favorite topic transition phrases; here are seven of my own. When you give these transition phrases a line of their own, receiver’s brain acts quickly to note an orange is coming.

1. Let me guess what you might be thinking.

2. As odd (unusual) as it may seem...

3. I am not at all surprised.

4. There’s a story that goes with this, and I will get to this in next paragraph.

5. Let me see if I can make this a little easier.

6. Its hard to believe, but...

7. In other words,...

The Reaction Phase. Writing an email response is not same as speaking to that person. You don't have immediate feedback from their body language, their silence, or huh, when it isn't clear. Connecting via email with its time lapse also causes difficulty. You experience same thing when you call, leaving a voice mail, and party returns your call days later. If you don't state in voice mail what you are calling about, or person doesn't restate purpose when they call back, your mind takes moments looking for appropriate filing cabinet and file. Sometimes I receive a response back several weeks later and original email I wrote isn't included. Then I must stop to think or even hunt for original email; a very time consuming process.

I find it best to begin a returning response with a "this is where we left off" paragraph. Don't assume reader still holds previous image in their mind. They don't. Many images came and went during that space and previous email sits in their inbox, file folder, or cabinet or worse dismissed due to lack of connection, in order to continue their processes.

It is important to reread email before hitting send. Not just for grammar or spelling but to see that you convey right image. It is time to ask, "Did I convey appropriate image with a file folder connection?" If yes, then hit "send".

(c) Copyright 2005, Catherine Franz. All rights reserved.

12. Do not add any pages to site that do not pertain to visitors' reasons for coming to your site. People do not have time for irrelevant information.

13. You do not need an engineer or a web site designer to design your website. In fact, while they would not like to hear this, you do not need them. They may do everything right technically, but they do not know how to get people to stay at your site or buy from you.

Marketers know how to do that. While 98% of engineers and web site designer claim they are marketers, less than 1% know anything about marketing. The truly rare commodity is a fantastic marketer who is savvy about web site design.

Building your site is just like building a house: without an architect who knows about layout, structure air flow, etc., all you have is a construction company building house from their sense of style, direction and beliefs.

Know where advice is coming from and hire them only for their expertise. If you are reading an article on marketing on Internet that was written by someone who is a web site designer, a red flag should go up.

If you are talking with a marketer who does not have web site design experience and you are looking for help in building your web site, raise that flag again. The rare person with unique combination may be hard to find, but we exist -- I designed my learning to be one of those rare ones.

I have helped many people clean up their web site after they have worked with web designers and/or marketers. And trust me, clean up is more time consuming than starting all over.

14. Don't make your buyer feel stupid while they are in process of buying from you -- in "cart" process. Internet service providers (ISPs and web site hosts) do this frequently. Just one example of this is when they ask their nontechie buyers option, "Choose your server"

The majority of their buyers have no idea what this means. They do not understand that you are asking if they want a Unix or Windows based system. Moreover, even these same buyers are asked in this manner, they still do not have any clue what are advantages or disadvantages of either one.

So, they feel stupid. You will lose more buyers with questions like this. The buyer feels frustrated and 99% of time leaves without buying. Look on your site, are you asking any questions that make buyers or visitors feel stupid?

15. The most common place to click on any web page is top left-hand corner. Put choice to go to next page or to pick most popular page or product in this location. If purpose of page/site is different, you may want to put back and forward buttons there.

Don't put graphics, especially your logo, on upper left hand corner. This is prime real estate for your website. If you have a retail site, place your top-selling item in this space or a drop down menu of three of top selling items.

16. Answer visitors' main questions in one easy-to-find and readable paragraph. Don't make font too small to read and do not make it go across page requiring reader to scroll. I've seen young web site designers use small fonts on their website which wants to attract a market that’s in their 40s and 50s. Fact, older you get bigger font.

17. Don't talk down to your visitors. They are intelligent people who will not stand for it. They will leave and never come back. There is a difference in talking down and presenting a conversational style. Talking down is like explaining it to your child; other is like talking to another adult. Technical people have a big tendency to talk down to nontechnical people.

18. Make it easy for them to share their comments with you. Whether it is about a hyperlink that does not work or other errors they have found. They may want to tell how much they appreciated your information. Create a place on every page where they can feel comfortable about submitting their comments. Comfortable also means that they have a choice on whether to send their contact information or not.

19. Organize your site from visitors' point of view. If you are not sure, ask some typical visitors. "What questions did they have when they landed on first page?", is a great question to start. Get them to walk you through their thinking. You will pick up some patterns after first three or four. This is best research you can do and it will save you years of revisions.

Do not ask family members or friends. Ask clients who have just finished visiting your site. They are familiar visitors and they will want something different from a new visitor. You need to set up your landing page to handle both familiar and new visitors without being confusing.

20. One of most valuable pages in a web site that is sadly overlooked is "thank you" page. If someone signs up for your ezine or places an order, include a popup saying "thank you for visiting." Use whatever way you can think says it best, but don't leave it out. The other half of this equation is not to loose opportunity to cross sell or up sell on thank you page.

First, say thank you and then give them an offer they cannot refuse. On thank you page, you can provide a coupon for 10 percent off on anything in store or 10 percent off on any overstocked or limited stock item.

Now that you have these tips on what mistakes not to make, you need to put them into practice. Choose three and start completing them. Then move on to next three and keep moving through list. You will be excited of results.

Bonus Tip 1: 60% of buyers opt out of purchasing a product on Internet in between first cart processing page and last page. It is usually because it took too many clicks to complete transaction or it took too much time to think about it or to make choices. Check your web site and eliminate any obstacles or places that do this so you can reduce this percentage on your web site.

Bonus Tip 2: If you have questions on your page, divide them into categories and don't put them all on one page. Spread them out between pages. It looks easier and faster to person answering questions. Give them an incentive to move from one page to next and give them encouragement between incentives.