Hardly anyone knew what a website was in the mid 1990s. From around 1995 through 2006, the number and type of website designs vastly increased, offering a huge variety of content. These websites included internet storefronts and information portals. Websites created during this time (known as Web 1.0 sites) mostly consisted of alternatives to "mainstream" types of communication media. They had copies of content that already existed in print, audio or video formats.

Today people view websites differently. Websites are seen as boring or stale if they consist solely of static content. Today's websites must contain dynamic content and interactivity, so that site visitors feel they can participate in the website. Content available through the internet often is not available through any other communications medium. The internet has become a primary method of communication. So what are some easy techniques website designers can employ as they develop a new site?

The most important thing to remember when creating a website is that CONTENT IS KING! If your website does not have interesting content like updated information and interested products or services, it will not attract a lot of visitors. The design of your website should focus on attracting visitors and making them want to come back to the site. No matter how sophisticated your website is, visitors will not remain on the site without interesting content. One easy way that designers can use to keep visitors is to establish a blog on the site. The blog can either showcase the items for sale or provide commentary and opinions on the content of the site.

Another step developers can consider in website design is to allow site visitors to interact with the site. Clearly, website surfers enjoy providing comments on the sites they visit. Blogs often have hundreds of comments on articles, newspapers often allow site visitors to comment on articles, and most online stores allow customers to review products purchased on the site. Encouraging this type of interaction serves several purposes, from adding useful content to your site (product reviews, for example) to giving site visitors a sense of ownership in your site. This interactivity can enhance a website.

Developers might wish to think about adding some improvements to a site from a core interactivity standpoint. Modern websites use a number of advanced methods which have shattered the conventional link-click, wait, read page, link-click, repeat, use of the Internet. Now, most useful sites will use methods which make web pages appear to come alive. Such methods are far past the scope of this article, but they include using Ajax techniques; integrating external sites via mashups and rss feeds; and integrating the advanced CSS design methods to make the web page seem as if it's more like a desktop application.

Website design used to consist of selecting a color palate, font suite, set of core images, and general page layout. The days of such static-thinking in this discipline are rapidly coming to a close. The techniques touched on above are core elements in modern design, and should be incorporated in all sites that wish to be successful.

Content is the most important factor to keep in mind when developing a website. A website will not attract many visitors without interesting content, such as updated information, interesting products, or interesting applications. No matter how fancy your website design, without interesting content visitors will not stay at the site. One simple mechanism designers may consider is the addition of a blog to showcase and discuss items for sale, or to provide commentary. Encouraging this type of interaction serves several different purposes, from adding helpful material to your website, to providing visitors a feeling of ownership.