Don't force visitors to wade through a lot of information that is on message for you, but unimportant to them, just to find what they are looking for. You may succeed in force-feeding them once, but they will not return. Design your site so that your seekers and recruits can easily find the sections and information that are designed to meet their specific needs. Don't clutter the screen. If there is too much happening on a screen it becomes difficult to differentiate information, and it tends to turn into noise.
Visitors become frustrated by distractions and delays in their searches.
Consider the amount of time involved in maintaining your site. Don't adopt a complex, labor-intensive design. It will add little to the usability of the site, and updating your page will become an unnecessarily time-consuming task. The Congress Online Project is a two year project to study Congress' use of the Internet, identify and award best practices, and provide guidance to help congressional offices use Internet technologies to inform and communicate with constituents, reporters, and the engaged public.