West Egg Ltd

1. Follow the conventions: Most readers will expect (a) a logo in the top left (b) a search function - if you have one - in the top right (c) contact details in the banner or the left hand navigation and (d) navigation below the banner or in a left-hand column. Don't disappoint them.

2. Build the site architecture around your readers' needs: Consider why they're on the site, and what questions they'll be asking, and develop a structure that meets those needs and answers those questions. A reader arriving on your home page should immediately understand: what the site is for; how to search; how to browse; and how to get to the best stuff.

3. Aim for simplicity: It's tempting to cram in every possible message, feature, logo etc on a page - especially the home page. That's fine, if you want your readers to be confused and go away. If you want to keep them, focus on what they're most likely to find useful and provide simple navigation to the rest.

4. Choose a tagline that describes your site: The tagline sits below or beside the logo in the top left corner. The two together should give your reader a clear, instant understanding of what the site's about. The tagline is especially important if the site's name doesn't clearly indicate what it's about - for example www.amazon.com - the world's biggest bookstore, and www.level.org.nz - the authority on sustainable building.

5. Write for easy scanning: Most people don't read websites word by word; they scan. You can help them by using short paragraphs and breaking up text with meaningful headings and bullet points. See the scannable document for more.

6. Put the key points first: Readers should know as soon as they reach a page why it's relevant to them - they're not going to scroll through a whole lot of irrelevant text looking for the punchline. Putting the key points at the top also helps search engines to find you.

7. Be brief: It's hard to read long documents on screen. Keep web pages to a length that readers are likely to be comfortable with. (Note: some people say you should write half as much as you would on a paper document. We don't agree with that. It means your paper documents are too long.)

8. Use straightforward, meaningful headings: Search engines will use the headings and the introductory text when they index your page, so punny or clever headings will cost you readers.

9. Use graphics and flash presentations only when they're meaningful: Graphics make your website slower to load, so you're best off using them only to illustrate a point, not as decoration. Flash presentations can look great, and are worthwhile if they add value to your site - for example, if you're a multimedia company showing off what you can do. But if your readers are looking for information, flash presentations can be a drag.

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The best book about websites is Steve Krug's Don't Make Me Think. His website, www.sensible.com, is pretty handy too.

The Poynter Institute's Eyetrack study traced exactly what people looked at and for how long as they looked through several sample news websites. The results show how to design home pages and article pages to get and keep readers.

Web Style Guide is a free online book covering pretty much all aspects of web development from planning to site architecture to content.

British company designspring has several pages on briefing web designers.

Website awards: the Webby Awards seem to be the biggest, but the FWA Awards are cooler.

This BBC news item covers research suggesting that people form an opinion of your website less than a second after they see the first page.