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Keep the site easy to read and to navigate, no more then 3 clicks to go anywhere in the site. Visitors don't want to spend their time trying to figure out how to move around or have to put spectacles on to read. Make it as user friendly as possible.
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Make it as fast as possible to load, if takes hours to load dozens of pictures, by that time the visitor has clicked the back button already. Lots of pictures slow down the site, if you really need to have lots of them consider using thumbnails.
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Make the site easy to maintain and update, as it get larger time will be at a premium.
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Test the site for missing links, nothing is worse that click on a link and get an HTTP 404 error because there is no link.
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Keep the page updated, it is a very bad sign to see a site which has not up to date info and show the last update 18 months ago.
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Test the site with as many browsers and screen resolution as possible, not everybody uses IE
6.0 at 800x640 resolution.
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A lot of people says not to use frames unless strictly necessary, we found them fantastic and they give a nice organization to the site. Although the main reason for not using them or to give an alternative is because some browsers do not manage them, but nowadays the mainstream browsers, Internet Explorer and Netscape's browsers are supporting them with no problems. Another reason,
possibly the most important, it is that they are difficult for search engines to index them.
If you can avoid them.
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Content IS KING , if the site is only good looking you can get some praises the first time, but visitors will not return because there is no data they can use and why to go to that shop if has got no goodies inside.
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Try to give options in the site, like search so they will not spend time just looking for the information and become frustrated, also try to give them a personal touch, like a personal greeting.
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Feedback is important, always ask for inputs and what they think about the usability, information, looks and so on....at the end of the day, THEY MUST BE comfy and happy with the site, not only you.
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Adverts are ok if they are in line with the theme and purpose of the site, a link to a porno site is not a good thing for a respectful site.
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Visitor counters are out of fashion, at least not in view, they give you no info on what the visitor did, went or how long stay there. Use alternatives like ISP monitors or cookies.
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Make the visitor comfortable and happy, he will come back, offer to make your site a
favorite in his/her browser with a link.
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Do not use thousand of
colors, maybe just 2 or 3 or a shade of them. Also an intelligent choice of
colors where contrast with the background is high, otherwise an headache is all what your visitor will get.
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Make the loading of the Home Page as fast as possible, the pictures and long data can be in the lower levels (after the menu selection).
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Give interactive access where possible (forums, polls etc.).
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Choose fonts that have a good chance to be loaded on the visitor machine, like Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, New Times Roman.
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Test the site design with IE and Netscape at least, a Mac test should also be done, not everybody uses a PC with win 98 and IE5. Test with as many versions of IE,
Google Chrome, Firefox, Mozilla and Netscape as possible (3-4-5-6 etc.).
Break pages in chunks, maybe use 2 pages rather then 1 long one, people does not like to scroll
I will add as I go along, but for the moment I hope the points above gave you some ideas to have a better website
