1.) Don't put too much stuff in one page (especially the main page). Just divide the contents into separate pages (links go to the Links Page, Webrings go to the Webrings page, Awards go to the Award page etc.) I know several websites that I never bothered to explore because they had too much stuff on it, and I don't have time to waste waiting for the pages to finish loading. Besides, one page with less clutter looks better than one page overloaded with stuff.

2.) It's best not to use any large & colorful JPG pictures for backgrounds because they do load slowly. The best background is just a solid color (like this grey background), and, it's okay to use small and plain GIF tiles for the backgrounds. The animated ones are definitely a no-no, because they can be very distracting and annoying to the visitors.

I know of many websites that use animated GIFs as a background, and those GIFs cause pain to the viewers eyes. So be wise in choosing a background. For you want to make sure that the text is very easy to read against the selected background. Don't you think it seems easy to read these words against this grey background? It's also a good idea to use the same GIF tile throughout your website for faster loading even though it may bore some visitors.

3.) Be very cautious with using any large images because they load slowly. We have many impatient visitors out there on the net, so it's better to use the small images. Any very small JPG images (an example size:  50x60 pixels) also load quickly too. However, just one large image per page will work as long as there are not too many other smaller images to congest the loading. Keep that in mind when using the thumbnails for your fanart/image galleries.

4.) Use the animated GIFs very sparingly or even better, don't use any. Since each animated GIF is made up of a number of GIF images (like a movie tape), they have a very bad habit of congesting the loading of a page. Also, they can be distracting to the visitors.

5.) ALWAYS include your Email address on each of your pages in plain view. I've stumbled across many websites that didn't have any Email address on them. How can I contact the Webmaster(s) of those websites?

6.) To avoid any possible broken links, it helps to type in a full address while making a new link. Be sure to double-check it too by previewing your site before uploading. An example of a full address:

7.) Any technical stuff like Java, Flash Plugin, & Comet Cursors may be not appreciated by many visitors. For example, there are people who don't want to download Comet Cursors, and they can get pestered by the pop-up windows asking them to download the Cursors.  That will keep them from coming back to your website armed with Comet Cursors. I have one idea on how to avoid using Java. Just use only JPG and GIF images. I myself, consider that type of coding to be unnecessary trinkets. You can make a great website without them.

8.) Keep in mind is that that each person runs on a different computer, modem, resolution, and browser. That means that your website, on your computer, may look different in someone else's computer. I advise you to make sure that your computer is set on 800x600 resolution which is the most common resolution used. My counter statistics show that 70% of the visitors' computers are set on 800x600 resolution, and 15% uses 640x480 resolution. The 1024x768 resolution is not really a good idea because it makes everything seem so small, and those people with eye problems may have difficulties with such resolution. Due to the differing speeds of the modems, it's best to be as economical as possible.

9.) Page building tools such as Netscape Composer, FrontPage, and Dreamweaver affect the quality of your website. Any Drag & Drop Pagebuilding tools usually make the pages very slow to load, and may make some websites look distorted in certain browsers, while the pages built with word processor-like programs such as Netscape Composer and FrontPage load faster. I did an experiment with Geocities Pagebuilder, and Netscape Composer using my Main Page as a "Guinea Pig". It turned out that my Main Page built with Netscape Composer loads two times faster than one built with PageBuilder.