Web 2.0 design concepts are nothing new.  The buzz word has become the battle-cry of the web geek world, but really there are some very important elements to web design today that make some websites easiest to read and successful, while others not so good.

Disclaimer:  Trends change almost weekly on the net, but in general these principles are always good practice for design.

Functionality is king!  Yep, you may not believe it and a new web designer may disagree with that statement, but you know, if it doesn't work, it doesn't sell.  If it doesn't sell, it doesn't survive.  Functionality can encompass anything from a custom work-flow of content to merely a button that is on a main menu that should work that doesn't work.  When a feature doesn't work or isn't available, that immediately flips a switch in the web surfer's mind that says "doesn't work, don't go there anymore."

That rule not only applies to menu buttons, but also to websites in general.  For everyone that has tons of domains in your account for ideas and plans to dominate the world that go nowhere, you are already behind the curve.  And please no more "under construction" web pages.  Contact a competent web designer.

Keep it simple!  Less is still more.  The more cluttered a site is, the harder it is to find something. Consider a better menu system or a trendy navigation page.

Why simplicity is good

• Attention span is short, A.D.H.D is not an epidemic, it's a way of life
  
• It's your web designer's job to make a site easy to navigate.  It's also a client's job to tell their designer what needs to be easy to access to their viewers.
  
• Too much "crap" hides what a site needs to deliver.  If you feel like you need to stuff your site with "crap" then you may not know what markets your site.  Try fewer elements that work very well, rather than tons of elements that work not so well.
  
• Less is more, more or less.  So if you only do something simple, keep your site simple, there's nothing wrong with that.

1. Remove unnecessary features.  Come on, you know what I'm talking about.  Does the Little Sister's of The Poor website REALLY need that gaudy Flash Chat module?

• For Content Management Systems, remove components that are redundant and not really necessary."

1. Cut the clutter.  Let a button be a button and a menu be a menu. Stop making everyone's life so complicated.