Thou Shalt Not. . .You may not always obey the Ten Commandments, but you'd better follow these 3 cardinal laws of Web site design.

In business today, image is everything. It not only sets yourcompany apart from others, but also creates trust and establishesyour brand. A Web site is no exception. Creating a poorly designedone is like using an inkjet printer to print out your companybrochure. So if your site's traffic has recently slowed to acrawl, perhaps the problem is as basic as forgetting why you have aWeb site in the first place.

"[Different goals] can result in very different Web sitedesigns," says Chuck Norris, manager of network development atINTERVU Inc., a streaming video/audio company in San Diego. Forevery great Web site, there are thousands more that bomb at thestarting gate. "Righting" the wave is easy and can makethe difference between profit or loss. If you fear your Web sitemight be missing the mark, maybe it's because you'rebreaking one of the three commandments of Web site design.