Content is king
Decide what you want to publish and who the target audience is, then determine the mood of your website. Will it be informal, professional or high tech? What kind of graphics, animation or music? How will the text be arranged and which fonts will be used? How will visitors navigate through your site? Whatever you decide, try to maintain the same theme and style throughout your site.
The most important part of your website is the content. What you write should add value and make the visitor want to come back. Review your site objectives and your target and make your message fit that audience. Don't forget to check your spelling and grammar before publishing your pages. Focus on content!
Publishing on the net is different from writing for hard media in that you are able to take advantage of multimedia capabilities. Photos, graphics, music and video can make your site interesting. Don't to overdo it. Graphics, for example are often large files that take time to download. Most people won't wait more than a few seconds for a web page to load.
Don't forget that people use many different types of personal computers, modems and versions of software. A web page that loads quickly on your PC might not function quite as well on a MAC. When adding content to web pages, the golden rule is: small is beautiful!
To keep life simple, all pictures, animations, graphics, music, etc. that you plan to use on your home page should be stored in the same directory as your main web design program file. If you haven't already done so, create a directory on your hard drive to consolidate all the software components that you will use on your page.
more tips coming soon