1. Be concise and to the point.
Keep your email as short as possible. Reading an email is harder than reading printed communications and a long email can be discouraging.

2. Answer all questions, and pre-empt further questions.
If you do not answer all the questions in the original email, you will receive further emails regarding the unanswered questions, which will not only waste your time and your customer’s time but also cause considerable frustration. Pre-empting relevant questions will impress your customer who will be grateful for your efficient and thoughtful customer service. Imagine, for instance, that a customer sends you an email asking you about delivery times. Instead of giving the average time, you can guess that their next question will be about delivery charges, so include a list of options and charges. This will definitely be appreciated.

3. Use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation.
It is important to give a good impression so it is best to avoid casual email language and abbreviations. It conveys the message you are sending more clearly and makes the email easier to read.

4. Make it personal.
Receiving an email that appears to be part of a generalized mail-out is generally a lot less effective than a personal message.

5. Use templates for frequently used responses.
Having said that, some enquiries are very common, such as directions to your office or how to subscribe to your newsletter. Replies to these can be saved as templates and pasted into your message when you need them.

6. Answer swiftly.
These days customers expect much quicker replies to emails than they do to letters or faxes. You should reply to each email within 24 hours and, if possible, on the same working day. If the email needs a more considered reply, send an email to say you have received the email and will send a full reply in due course.

7. Do not attach unnecessary files.
Large attachments can take a long time to download and can look suspicious if not asked for. Only send attachments when necessary and keep their size to a minimum. Make sure you scan them for viruses before you send them.

8. Use proper structure and layout.
Since reading from a screen is more difficult than reading from paper, the structure and layout is very important for email messages. Use short paragraphs and blank lines between each paragraph. When making points, number them or mark each point as separate to keep the overview.

9. Do not overuse the high-priority option.
Use the high-priority option sparingly. If you overuse it, people will not take it as seriously as perhaps they should. It can also be seen as a little aggressive so only use it when absolutely necessary.

10. Do not write in CAPITALS.
IF YOU WRITE IN CAPITALS IT SEEMS AS IF YOU ARE SHOUTING. This can be extremely annoying. Try not to send any email text in capitals.

11. Don’t leave out the message thread.
If you receive many emails it can be very difficult to remember each one. A “threadless email” can mean having to spend a frustratingly long time finding out the context of the email in order to deal with it. Leaving the thread might take a fraction longer in download time, but it will save the recipient much more time and frustration in looking for the related emails in their inbox.

12. Add disclaimers to your emails.
Disclaimers can save your company a lot of trouble. Someone accidentally sending a virus to a client or an internal email that contravenes company policy, or even the law, can result in expensive legal settlements if it isn’t made clear by a disclaimer that the contents are not necessarily condoned by the company.

13. Read the email before you send it.
Everybody is in such a hurry these days, and that includes when writing emails. Reading your email helps to avoid sending numerous grammatical and spelling mistakes, as well as helping you to send a more effective message and avoid misunderstandings.

14. Do not overuse “Reply to All”.
Only use “Reply to All” if you really need your message to be seen by each person who received the original message.

15. Mailings - use the Bcc: field or do a mail merge.
If you are sending an email to multiple recipients, putting all the addresses in the “To:” box has two drawbacks. Firstly, the recipients know that it is a multiple mail-out and secondly, you are sending other people’s email addresses to them without their permission. Using the “Bcc:” field solves the second problem but having no recipient in the “To:” field can make your email look like spam, and doesn’t stop the recipient knowing it is a multiple mail-out. If you have Microsoft Word and Outlook, a mail merge can solve this problem.

16. Take care with abbreviations and emoticons.
In business emails it is better to write everything in full. Abbreviations such as BTW and LOL are fine for personal emails, as are emoticons, but your recipient may not understand the abbreviations and the register may not be appropriate. It is better to keep the language of your email neutral.

17. Be careful with formatting.
If you use formatting in your emails you should remember that there is a possibility that the recipient won’t have the same formatting on their email program and so will not see it the way you have presented it.

18. Do not forward chain letters.
Do not forward chain letters. We can safely say that all of them are hoaxes. Just delete the letters as soon as you receive them.

19. Do not copy a message or attachment without permission.
Do not copy a message or attachment belonging to another user without permission of the originator. If you do not ask permission first, you might be infringing on copyright laws.

20. Do not use email to discuss confidential information.
Sending an email is like sending a postcard. If you don’t want your email to be displayed on a bulletin board, don’t send it. Moreover, never make any libelous, sexist or racially discriminating comments in emails, even if they are meant to be a joke.

21. Use a meaningful subject.
Try to use a subject that is meaningful to the recipient as well as yourself. For instance, when you send an email to a company requesting information about a product, it is better to mention the actual name of the product, e.g. “Product A information” than to just say “product information” or the company’s name in the subject.

22. Use active instead of passive.
Try to use the active voice of a verb wherever possible. For instance, “We will process your order today”, sounds better than “Your order will be processed today”. The first sounds more personal, whereas the latter, especially when used frequently, sounds unnecessarily formal.

23. Avoid using URGENT and IMPORTANT.
Even more so than the high-priority option, you must at all times try to avoid these types of words in an email or subject line. Only use this if it is a really, really urgent or important message.

24. Avoid long sentences.
Try to keep your sentences to a maximum of 15-20 words. Email is meant to be a quick medium and requires a different kind of writing than letters. Also take care not to send emails that are too long. If a person receives an email that looks like a dissertation, chances are that they will not even attempt to read it!