Links are the foundation of the World Wide Web. All Internet users depend on links to travel easily from site to site, and, most importantly, to move from page to page within your site. Have you made some of the common mistakes that cause "link shock"? Find out the causes and cures of this Web syndrome. You might be surprised by what you hear.

Examples of Link Shock

1) A link is labelled, Contact Mr. Jones. As many sites include a form to make a contact, users expect this. What happens instead is their e-mail program opens!  The cure? Label any "mailto" link as follows, Send an e-mail to Mr. Jones.

2) A link is labelled, Our Reference Document. Most users would expect a new Web page to appear. Instead, they get an error message, "Unknown plug-in". Often this is caused by Adobe's PDF files. The solution? Label your link as a "PDF Document" and make sure you include a link to Adobe's free document reader

3) A link gives the message, "404, File Not Found". Very annoying to any user, and common, especially for outside links. The cure? Use the free link checking program called Xenu to verify your links are unbroken, both inside and outside your site.