As a web designer, I'd love to be able to say that the most important aspect of a web site is the graphics. But that's simply not true. Look at Google.com: It's one of the most popular sites on the web, and its home page is nothing more than a logo and a text box. There's no fancy Flash page to draw people in--people visit because the site serves a valuable purpose, and gives them exactly what they need. That's the basic key to any successful site: providing something people want or need. If there's no inherent perceived value to the site, no amount of beautiful design is going to attract return visitors. Usually, that value comes from the content of the site.

Having said that, it's important to note that content isn't the ONLY important aspect of a site, and that's where a designer comes in. Accessibility is also very important. USA Today isn't more popular than the New York Times because its reporting is inherently better. It's more popular because it's easy for people to find and read articles that interest them. Extending this to a web site, a visitor must be able to arrive at a site and immediately ascertain what the site contains and where they need to go next. The most important contribution a web designer can provide is creating visual cues to guide the user towards the content they came to see. This can be done through pleasing colors, a sense of flowing space, or, yes, even animated graphics. But a messy, disorganized site is just going to frustrate an audience and ensure they won't come back.

Other key points for anyone involved in creating a site, from owner to developer to designer:

• Proofreading. It's important for a web site to be proofread carefully. Every time I visit a site and see "their" when I should see "they're," my opinion of the professionalism of the site and the company it represents goes down a few notches.
• Updating. This goes back to the importance of content that users perceive as valuable. Regular updates of content and visual elements create return visitors.
• Advertising. You've got to get the site out there somehow. Whether by word-of-mouth or via paid print and online ads, people won't visit what they don't know about.

Finally, there's one key element for good web development that ties all of the above together: Planning. As the old saying goes, "measure twice, cut once." Make sure everything that can be decided in advance has been, and the site is far more likely to be developed on time and within a budget--and users are more likely to find the site to be a satisfying experience.