1. Looks are important

You may not like to judge a book by it’s cover, but online, appearance is the most important thing after search placement. If your site doesn’t look  and function correctly, visitors won’t stick around long enough to find out if what you’re offering. "You site is your Shop Front".....Ask yourself this if you arrived at a business and it looked run down, and the service was poor, would you do business with them? Well its the same with your site. The very fact that Google has recently introduced Instant Preview – a function to allow searchers to vet websites according to a thumbnail of their homepage – is proof of this.

2. Design is about more than just looks

Design doesn’t just refer to the way your homepage looks. It also is in the structure and content  of the site. A bit like a building: it’s design is like the architectural blueprints and floor plans of a house. In the same way you need to consider which way the door to each room opens, you need to make sure that each page on your site links to the others in a logical way. This is easier to stay on top of if you remember that less is more with web design. Start with the basics and work your way up.

3. Flash is not always the best option

Flash may look great, but it’s not very practical. When people visit your site, they want to be able to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily; lavish animation just presents another barrier. In saying this Flash does benefit certain online businesses including photography, gaming, personal and kids sites to name a few.

4. Avoid clutter "keep it simple"

Don’t have too much on your homepage. Having a cluttered page is going to scare your buyer away. A busy page is like a messy room: uninviting. If there is space for your homepage to breathe, it’s more likely that your visitors will stay for the 3-5 seconds it takes for them to figure out if your business is relevant to them or not. More like this, less like this.

5. Above the fold

As with email newsletters, the most important part of your entire website isn’t just your homepage – it’s the part of it that visitors see as soon as they arrive. The ‘fold' is the cut-off point for their very first look at your homepage, before they start scrolling down and exploring. It’s vital that the information that appears above the fold shows them that they’ve come to the right place. This site is a perfect example.