1. The Myth of "Content is King, No Animation/Sound/Java/etc"
The saying "Content King" is still a rule of thumb and still applies to all websites, I'm not disputing that. People tend to add animation, sound and allot of graphics to make websites "fancy", but it causes the page to take a long time to load. Some people may not even bother waiting and leave your site instantly. I have noticed that pages with more graphics and animation have a larger bounce rate.
Be that as it may, putting those two together does not actually mean that all pages with animation, sound and applets are necessarily bad. The trick is to know when they're well-suited and to make the download speed as fast as possible.
Choosing when it is appropriate depends on your websites goals and target audiences. For example, Nick Jr.'s website is loaded with fancy flash animations of numerous characters. When you click the characters, they respond immediately. The site may take forever to load on a 56k modem, but it is a justified trade off since the children are there to play. Likewise, sound and animation may be appropriate sites for gaming and online cartoons.
Take my site for an example. I sell web design services so I want my site to reflect that. The saying "Content is king" does apply but most people won't stay long enough to make that statement true. Many people see my site as an example of what I can do for them, so you want to make a great impression, even though it may take a little longer for the page to load. It is an appropriate trade off.
Like all things, how you design your site depends on your topic and your target audience. Keep that cardinal rule in mind and you'll be fine.
2. The Myth of "Good Web Design is in the Graphics"
On the other hand, there are people who think a good website consists of allot of sound, color, graphics, sound and animation. This group is usually made of people who are either new to the web, have no web experience or browse with a high-speed connection.
A friend of mine once showed me his website proudly. In the middle of the page was a large animation that had little to no value. It was not a logo and provided no useful information. It was purely decorative. The page took a while to load for almost no reason at all.
Don't misunderstand me, decorative graphics are absolutely fine. They make a page more appealing to the eyes and in effect, more likely to read. But you should always make graphics as small as you can. A graphic that is a few hundred kilobytes is unacceptable.
3. The Myth of "Web Design is For Techies"
This couldn't be further from the truth. There are free html editors out there like CoffeeCup that will help you a lot with your design. Also, there are templates that have been pre-created, so all you have to do is insert your text. Most editors have uploading capabilities for saving your work right to the web.
An even simpler alternative is to use a content management system. Most of them have what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) editors similar to Microsoft Word to make editing text a lot easier. You can also even create pages and add rearrange content on some of them. The most popular CMS system seems to be Joomla.
So before you go and enlist an expensive web designer, make sure you look into the solutions above. You may be able to get what you need at a much lower cost!
4. The Myth of "Flash Will Enhance Any Website"
If you intend on using any Flash, be sure to use it efficiently and sparingly.
Remember that not every person is has high speed connection. Some people may still be using a 56K modem, so this means the animation will take some time to load.
Flash should enhance the users visit, not ruin it. You don't want people to become impatient and leave before they even see your key message.
Also, people may not have Flash installed in their browser so before they can view your site, they must download it.
Don't get me wrong, Flash can be a nice addition to a web site if used effectively. Just make be sure you test it out on a few members of your audience to get their feedback.
Also, make sure you give your visitors the ability to view a "non Flash" version of your web site for those who cannot or do not wish to read the Flash version. You wouldn't want to lose visitors because people cannot view your site properly.
5. The Myth of "Lots of Colors Enhance A Web Site"
Remember that actual people will be visiting your site so make it as visually pleasing as possible. If your visitor's eyes hurt from reading your pages, chances are they won't return.
Your site should only have 2 to 3 colors and remember to always put dark text on a light background. Even though yellow and orange may be your favorite colors, they don't generally team up very well for a text/background combination.
Also make sure that your hyperlinks are the same color on every page. Most people think you should only use the standard blue color for your links, but I don't agree. As long as they contrast from the background and are consistent throughout your site, the color shouldn't matter.
6. The Myth of "You Can Never Have Too Many Images"
When used moderately, images can really enhance various pages on your web site. They are great for visually describing and illustrating certain points, and if you're creating a personal site, you may want to add a photo album.
One important thing to remember about images and graphics is that they can make your pages load slowly. If your page doesn't load in 10 seconds or less, you are in danger of losing many visitors.
Ideally, your pages should not be larger than 40K in size -- this includes the images and HTML. If you find that they are too large, use an image editing program to size your pictures down.
Additionally, ensure that all of your images are saved in the correct format. Photos should be saved in .jpg format (more colors), while web images, clip art, etc. should be saved in .gif format (fewer colors).
A technique that I use is to always include the "height" and "width" HTML attribute on all of your images so your text will load first instead of waiting until all the images load.
7. The Myth of "Your Site Is Always Viewed Equally"
This is a common mistake made by many websites. Just because your site looks fine on your PC, doesn’t mean it looks the same everywhere.
Remember that all browsers handle HTML markup a little differently. So if you've checked your site in Firefox, make sure you also check it Netscape.
Also keep in mind that not everybody has the same resolution. If you are building your web site with a resolution of 1024 x 768, check it in 800 x 600 also. The latter is the most popular (although dropping), so you want to make sure your site looks fine there as well.
If you are using tables, you should set the widths in percentages rather than pixel values. That way if you have the width set to 90%, for example, it will take up 90% of the screen no matter what resolution you view it in.
On the other hand, if you set it to 900 pixels wide on your 1024 x 768 resolution monitor, it may look fine, but if someone else is viewing your site using 800 x 600, they will have to scroll left and right to view your entire page. That is a huge annoyance.
Always design for the masses!