I keep telling myself this, day after day, however there’s that part of me that wants everything running at once.  Whether it’s infinite features on a website I’m building or just more plug-ins for a wordpress blog, I get caught up on the small things and forget what REALLY matters.

For a website to be functional, in my opinion, it needs to load quickly and present the newest and more accurate content that it can.  This is where CMS scripts and blogs really shine, however even these can easily be bogged down with modifications and take time out of the little that you already have to catch the audience’s attention.

1. You should start focusing on the bare minimum, and nothing else.  Unless you are showing off photography, your audience is most likely not there for pretty images.

• Basic content.
• Minimalistic design.
• As few ads and images as possible.

2. Once you start generating significant content and the site is loading smoothly, star looking into developing your design into what you think it should be.  Again, the question should always be asked “how will this benefit my audience as well as myself?”

3. Don’t overdo it. Simple. Don’t overdo it.

When you think of the most popular websites, for the most part they all focus on this same idea.  Google, Facebook (atleast the old Facebook) and Twitter all focus on delivering content in the most minimalistic manner. The new Facebook takes away from the content aspect with the new interface, either in an attempt to make the site more pretty or to deliver content in a more timely fashion.