The only point I would disagree with is that we should eliminate as many pages as possible. Having many page can be a good thing (especially from an SEO perspective). Consider any blog. Adding fresh (and good) content regularly is very important to the success of any blog, but every new post is another page. On non-blog sites, often times the designer would be well served splitting up longer pages into smaller, more focussed pages. That would add pages to a site, too. Or think about Wikipedia or ehow.com. They have millions of pages and are adding more every day, but I wouldn't consider that a problem. So, I think the number of pages is not issue, but whether the pages serve a purpose.

All that said, I would agree that removing unnecessary pages from processes on a website (check out process, sign up, etc.) is good.

Kenny, great point! What's the point of spending any time creating a message if it won't accomplish what we want? Much better to be thoughtful and get better results from the message.

I find that spending some more time upfront against these strategic factors often helps find the simpler message for the job. It is hard to dedicate the time and focus, but rarely a waste of resources when it is done!

Thanks Steve! You are one of the leading champions for making communications simple.

That's exactly why my communications blog is called Clear & Simple, (insert shameless plug) http://www.stevefogg.typepad.com because I think as communicators we've added to the clutter and noise that is out there. It's our responsiblitiy to simplify our communications to increase the effectiveness.

I agree with your last point that we often don't lead people into an obvious next step. If we want our communications to be effective, we need to help people respond.