Well, early last week I went hunting for something that would be my help desk and give me live support. I had some pretty strict requirements because I am not always sitting in front of my computer. I needed it to work like my present contact system and have live help built right in. I finally found something that works for me.

It's called helpcenterlive and if you do a search for it, you will find it in a heart beat. I was a little disappointed at first because even though it was free, I kept closing window by mistake. Today I started going through all of features, and I actually went to their website and roamed through their forum. I found out that they have an application that sits on your desktop and works just like browser.

As president of a copywriting firm that writes and edits dozens of online projects a year, I've come across several common blunders that prevent effective communication via Web. Here are my top five:

BLUNDER #1: Hiding who you are and what you do.

It's sad that many sites make it a challenge to figure out what they're about. Yes, it may be cool to have a giant dancing logo on your home page, but don't forget WHY your visitors are there: to learn what you can DO for them! Be sure your home page includes a *short overview* that clearly and concisely describes what you have to offer. It's also a good idea to repeat your tagline or a short mission statement on *every page* of your site. Why? People can pop in and land on an inside page via a search engine/directory link that you may not be aware of. Make sure they know who your are right away.

BLUNDER #2: Writing for print.

Reading copy on a computer screen is different than reading printed text. We read online text more slowly, and we tend to scan rather than read because, visually, words are harder to digest. Help your users find key words and concepts quickly by making your copy "scannable." Instead of intro paragraphs, use subheads. Use shorter sentences, paragraphs, and pages. Use bulleted lists. And use hyperlinks to give readers more info if they want it.

BLUNDER #3: Writing too formally.