1. Follow the content or business logic: Many web designers just design a website without properly understanding the business logic. You will often find that most important content (like, sign up form) is below the fold or screen real estate or overtly visible in the main content area. To design a great website, you must define and understand the purpose of the page and follow the chronological order according to importance.

2. Keep it simple: Once you have identified the purpose of a page, focus on achieving it in the simplest possible way. Once you start making things simple, you will notice that it is really very tough to achieve simplicity. However, that should be your aim. Did you notice the recent change in Google.com home page! The top navigational links are visible only when you move the cursor. Otherwise, they are hidden for you to focus on their core business – “search”.

3. Color Scheme: if you are trying to develop a professional website, 2 basic colors are sufficient. You can always use different shades of those colors to get the best possible effect (you can search in Google for color scheme generators). If you are not sure about the colors, visit other websites in the same industry. Every industry has a very similar color scheme and you can follow the same.

4. Follow web standards: Web is developing very fast. To add to this, social networks are changing end user’s expectations and experiences while interacting with a website. Static HTML pages had been the web standard for a long time but today a web page can do much more than that. However, think twice before you add or remove something – will it really help to enhance user experience or meet the end result? If the answer is negative, there is no point in experimenting with web standards.

5. Follow conventions: Many web designers love to experiment with common norms. For example, some designers would remove common navigational links. This is good at experimental websites. But if you are doing business, these experiments may cost you a lot. Conventional structures are good, as the visitor already knows where to find what he or she is looking for.

Web 2.0 does not mean glossy buttons: There is a common misconception among many web designers that adding glossy buttons in a website will make it web 2.0. In fact, a lot of website owners ask for glossy button to get a web 2.0 site. You must understand that web 2.0 is more about user interactivity rather than glossy buttons.