1. First, your main page (including HTML, graphics, etc.) should be under 60KB in size, and at     the maximum should take 30 seconds to download at 28.8. "Less is more,"; just take a look     at Yahoo!, the most popular website on the Internet.

2. Don't require more than four clicks on the scrollbar to get to the bottom of a page.

3. Make sure that your main page tells visitors what your site is about and has something to     grab their attention. Otherwise they'll leave.

4. Believe it or not, one of the most common mistakes perpetrated by webmasters is to neglect     to include their e-mail address. Always put contact information on your site so that people     can e-mail you with complaints, suggestions, and compliments. Try to reply to all e-mail     within 48 hours.

5. The more often you update your site, the more visitors you will get. Change your site at least     once a week. You don't have to spend hours modifying the entire site -- just 10-15 min/day     will do.

6. Content, content, and content. Your site can't be like everyone else's. It can't be just a     couple of pictures that you stole off another site and called, "Bob's page." It should to be     unique and provide interesting content that you can't find anywhere else.

7. Make sure you properly promote your site. Visit sites that have a theme similar to     yours; check out how they've made their pages, learn from their mistakes, and offer to     exchange links.

8. When you search for keywords that describe your site, check out the sites that rank at the     top. Look at their sites and source code to see how they have achieved that ranking. You     might also e-mail the webmasters and offer to exchange links.

9. On the Web, it's not, "Build it and they will come." It's "Promote it and they will come, and     keep promoting it, and they will keep on coming." Once you stop promoting your site and     updating it with fresh content, people will stop visiting.

10. Test your site with different browsers, screen resolutions, and color settings. Build your site      to the lowest common denominator, and if you must have a page for the newest browser(s),      then offer visitors to your site an alternative. Making your entire site for only the newest      browsers will cut your visitors by 50% or more.

11. Make sure all the links on your webpage work. There are several tools that will do this for      you. There are very few things as annoying as "Error 404 file not found."

12. Make sure all the images on your site work. It gives your visitors a poor first impression if      images don't load, and they will often leave. One common mistake is that the path to the      images looks like this: <img src="c:\website\pics\logo.gif" alt="Welcome to my site">. For      people visiting your site the images won't load, but for you they will.

13. Check and recheck your spelling, especially if you're trying to run a business over the      Internet. Use a spell checker. Having lots of mistakes makes your site look like it was      made by an amateur.

14. If you are selling something through your site, state it up front on your main page; don't      force people to go down 4 links before finding out that you are selling something. Give a      picture of the product. Tell people why they need it. Assure them that their credit card is      secure, and offer an address and phone number.

15. Keep your site consistent throughout. Don't have a different background color on every      page, or a different navigation scheme. Try to have at least one small icon on every page on      your site, somewhere at the top preferably, so that people will know they are still at your      site.

16. Make navigation on your site easy. Have navigation links at the top, bottom, left or right      side of the page. Use tables or frames. Keep the navigation consistent throughout the site.

17. If you have to use Java on your site, offer your visitors an alternative right up front. Java can      be slow and buggy, and it tends to crash browsers.

18. Try to keep the number of clicks required to get from your main page to any other page on      your site down to 4. If it's more than that, you may have to re-consider your navigation      scheme.

19. Do not have sound "autoplay" whenever someone visits your website. None of the Top 100      websites on the internet do it; neither should you.

20. Keep the number of 468 X 60 banners on each page down to a maximum of 2; be they      advertisement banners or banner exchange banners.

21. Make sure all the text on your site is easy to read. Avoid "busy" background images that      draw the attention of the visitor away from the text.

22. In general, use anything outside of a white or black background with caution. White      backgrounds are used for sites with a lot of text content, while black backgrounds are      usually used to achieve an effect of "coolness."

23. Don't get too discouraged early on. Everyone has to start somewhere. Keep working on      it, use the resources found on Webmaster Tools, and your site will grow and keep      growing.    GOOD LUCK!