A homepage is a single file located somewhere on the web. Making the leap from homepage to website requires planning and vision. Merely linking a few pages together doesn't constitute a website. A website must have a theme and a mission . A visual representation of website design will help emphasize that structure and planning are essential to the development of the website.
Text is loaded into browsers very quickly.
Wait time is the gauge by which many surfers choose which sites to hit. Monster mega-graphics, no matter how 'cool' you may think they are, can hurt your website. Be sure to take it through a graphic conversion program to try to massage it down to the smallest package that you can. While on the subject of graphics, try to select graphics that will be repeated on the same page or on subsequent pages. Header and footer graphics, bullets, separator bars, etc. are good candidates for repetition.