4 Rules of Web Design

1. Design for your audience: It can be tough trying to decide between light and dark colors, bright and dull colors, or even loud or laid back design. When it all comes down to it, if you're building an alternative music for teens, a dark site with a loud feeling might work great. However, the same design would fail miserably if targeted to an older generation. You can do just about anything, if that's what the target audience wants.
2. Give the audience what they want / Less is More: The website has become well-known for being somewhere where anyone can go for quick and easy information. On the flipside, it's also become a place to get lost confused and frustrated. Your user wants to be able to find whatever they're looking for in as few steps as possible and with as little hunting as possible. Keep an common navigation scheme and keep it simple. Studies show that your users may leave your site if they haven't found any good leads within the first three seconds on your page.
3. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should: There are a lot of neat flashy things that can be done to websites. There are the little .GIF images that will do the same little animation over and over again. There are spinning logos. There are the characters that follow you all over the screen. It can be tempting to jump on that boat. However, all of those little "perks" add clutter to your page, give it a less professional feel, and can actually cause seizures in some users. Think about the special effects you use. If your animation isn't going to give somebody a seizure and has a clear purpose, it MIGHT be okay.
4. Most people spend their time on other sites: People spend a great amount of time on the internet. Believe it or not, a vast majority of that time IS NOT spent on your site. People have come to expect certain things from years of browsing. For instance, the navigation is almost always found at the top or left. There's usually a little logo in the top right that will take you to a home page. A magnifying glass indicates a search. The list goes on and on. Familiarize yourself with some of these conventions and mimic them whenever possible. Doing something "out-of-the-box" may just confuse your users.