1. She is lost. Remember that your nameplate and header should be branded so that she knows immediately where she is. "Oh, yeah, this is Cat's Eye. There's the logo and that face." A good, catchy and relevant headline also helps her identify the topic of your content right away.

2. There's too much clutter. Dump the flashy ads, the pop-up windows and confusing links. And get rid of every widget that doesn't directly relate to your site, your blog, your business. You may love the top ten records by decade widget or the one that shows the rainfall in Belize, but that just confuses your reader.

3. There aren't any sign posts or rest areas. Your readers are scanners. They skim through your stuff looking for the interesting, helpful parts. That means that white space and sub-heads are your friends. Use them liberally. Avoid long pieces of text. In fact, I will write one-sentence paragraphs when I really want to highlight an idea.

4. Those crazy fonts are making it impossible to read. More is definitely not better. With the 100,000+ digital fonts out there, many are not suitable and some are downright unreadable. Stick with one of the web-friendly, easy-on-the-eyes fonts like Georgia, Times New Roman or Geneva.

5. She feels like you are shouting at her. Underlining, bolding and italicizing can drive a point home. But using them in line after line does the opposite. Shouting out every message just waters down your content, so use these features with care.

6. It isn't visually interesting. Wise use of graphics-artwork or a photo, for instance-helps to draw attention to your content. It breaks up the text and gives your reader something to enjoy. We spice up each of our e-tips with an interesting photo.