Remember not everyone is from your country - This is called world side web, and you must remember that your document will be read by people all over planet (and maybe even from outer space!)

- Be sure your dates make sense. For example, 01/02/01 means January 2, 2001 in United States but February 1, 2001 in many European countries. I prefer dates in format 1 January 2001, although you may also write 2001-01-02 (year, month and day).

- If you write a time, be sure and indicate time zone.

- Be sure and include your area code on phone number, and specify which country if appropriate.

Include height and width on images - This allows browser to "pre-allocate" space for graphic on display, which makes it all look better. In addition, if ALT tags are included with images, then something will display even if image is not.

Include ALT tags on all graphics - By including an ALT tag on graphics, you ensure that your page will look good even if your visitors surf with images disabled.

Include a contact method - Web sites are created by human beings, and web surfers appreciate knowing they can communicate with someone. Some webmasters like to include a "mailto" link on every page. I prefer using a link to an email form so my email address is not harvested by spam robots. Whatever method you use is fine, as long as visitors have a way of reaching you.

Check your pages - Once you've finished a page, be sure and test it. Check each link to be sure it actually goes somewhere. It is also a good idea to check each page in major browsers - Netscape, Internet Explorer and Opera. The pages will not always look same, but you should at least make sure they look decent.

Make your pages consistent - Your navigation and layouts should be consistent from page to page. Your visitors will then know what to expect as they surf through your site.

Keep your colors sane - A pink background with bright florescent green letters is probably not best way to win friends. Use all of colors you want, but it's best not to make your pages resemble an LSD nightmare.

Keep down page size - Remember most surfers are still using dialup connections. Thus, you need to keep your pages small (including graphics). Thirty to fifty kbytes per page is about right size.

Don't use ActiveX controls - Personally, I will immediately leave a site which asks me to download an ActiveX control. Why? Because ActiveX depends upon surfer trusting person who created control. How would I know if this thing is safe? I prefer Java security scheme, which is much better defined and safer (in my humble opinion).

Don't use popup advertisements - You really want to annoy your visitors? Popup advertisements are a good way to get people really unhappy. It's a good idea to never throw an ad up in front of your visitors - that is, if you want them to come back.

To create an animated GIF just use a GIF editor like GIF Animator, then include it in your web page just like any other animation. Nothing else needs to be done. One of great advantages of GIF89a is that no plug in is required and your visitors do not need to download anything to make them work. Unless you have a really old browser, support is just built in.

But remember, please, that most visitors to your site don't want to see a whole lot of animations. Most people find looking at bouncing balls, dancing girls, juggling pineapples and spinning clocks to be incredibly annoying. Having a lot of animation is a good way to get your visitors to become ex-visitors.

Also, GIF89a files tend to be large, so again you want to be careful what you include. A good rule of thumb is no more than one or two small animations on a page and only when necessary. And be sure to make most of your animations non-looping, meaning they stop when they've gone through all of frames.

GIF animation is rarely essential for a web site to work properly. Think through if you really need it before you put hundreds of animations on a single page. A small bouncing sign that says "buy me" is good in right conditions, but a dozen blinking, spinning, twirling banners virtually always causes me to hit that old back button right away.