Creator: Sue Polinsky, blogger for Download Squad.
Purpose: To avoid having a small business website that sucks.
Manifesto: 10 rules for your small business home page (edited)
1. WHO ARE YOU?
Contact information is critical to your site visitors and it shouldn’t be hidden on the “contact us” page.
2. WHAT DO YOU DO??
Is there a single statement that says what you do or sell smack in the middle of your homepage?
3. WHERE IS IT??
Does your site have a homepage search field?
4. OUCH! MY EYES!
Did you go through your font list for the weirdest fonts that exist, add neon color and then enlargify them?
5. BIGGER ISN’T BETTER
If you don’t know how to work with photos on the Web, hire someone who does.
6. LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!?
Generally, if you’re selling anything online, lose the total-page Flash and make the site look sleek, professional and trustworthy.
7. TOO BIG, TOO SMALL, JUST RIGHT?
If you’re not sure how to make the page flexible, then make it wide enough for an average monitor (750 pixels, and if you don’t know what pixels are, please hire a Web person).
8. NEW FROM 2004!?
If your homepage has news or upcoming events and the latest one happened in 2004, get it off your homepage. In fact, get “news” off your homepage because no one updates their site often enough.
9. HELP! I’M LOST!?
Navigation (links) should be clear, logical and intuitive. If I can’t find what I want from your homepage, I’m leaving.
10. NOTHING TO SAY??
If you have nothing to say, delete that page from your site.
Source
For the complete article on Download Squad