With your organization in mind, answer the questions above. Using these answers, formulate a mission statement for your site. To design an effective Web site, it is important to know who your audience is and what their needs are. The needs of your audience should be the determining factor for all design decisions, i.e., the site structure, page layout, colors, graphic design, style and navigation. Without a firm grasp of your audience, you will be unable to make informed decisions.
Many people float from site to site, simply browsing to see if things catch their interest.
Web surfers tend to be more sophisticated and don't need to their hand held. The best technique in designing for this group is to pull out the best content and highlight it, much as how stores put their best inventory in the windows. You hope to keep the surfer at your site as long as you can. Make sure internal links take precedence to external links. Also, keep descriptions short and clear.