Professional designers think about the big picture. They create a visual language for your brand that is consistent across different contexts. Your website, logo, business cards, and even your Twitter profile have to form a coherent whole.

You’re not looking for clicks. You’re looking for visitors who browse through your site and get to know who you are. Remember that most people will leave after one glimpse at your site.

Good-enough websites just don’t cut it anymore. Within one industry, there are many sites that look the same. They say the right stuff, the design isn’t too offensive, but they don’t make the effort to speak up and say why they’re special. That doesn’t mean you have to pull out the sparkly graphics to get attention.

you are the expert on your own business, but you are not an expert on web design. Sometimes there needs to be a compromise between what you want and what works for the web. Quality web design also comes from the experience of knowing how to translate ideas into web pages.