The Very Basics of Great Web Design
LAYOUT
Layouts are table based. Think structured rows and columns. Boxes, as opposed to free floating shapes and images. There is a good reason why the "3 Column Layout" is so common. That is, 1 main center column of content with a left and right column flanking each side. The viewer expects to see this. The eye naturally flows to the center, more open area of the page, and navigation and site features, placed along the sides, are unobtrusive, but can catch the peripheral vision and interest of the viewer. Another common layout would be "3 rows". Header at the top, a second row for navigation, and the 3rd row serving as the main content body. Again this is a familiar layout that the viewer finds useful and welcoming.
CONTINUITY
The layout should be more-or-less continuous on each page to ingrain branding with the visitor, and to avoid confusing the client by expecting them to adapt to a new design on each page. This method of 'templating' also makes updating to the site much simpler. It is a common mistake of new designers to try to develop overly creative layouts, sometimes even changing the layout page to page. In the end, the usability and delivery of the content is compromised and website traffic will reflect it. The header, navigation and footer should remain more or less the same page to page. The content area will be different on each page.
NAVIGATION
Really there are only 2 types of navigation you should be interested in using. Vertical and Horizontal. The viewer expects to find everything they are looking for in either a horizontal menu near the top of the page (below the header) or in a vertical menu down the left side. As an example of what not to do... Recently I had a client request a custom menu that consisted of a flower, with each petal linking to a page. Although this could be done, I could foresee this being problematic in the future. There is no room for growth with this style of menu; no function for drop-down menus, no space for more or less pages and time consuming to apply edits of any kind. Also the client would not be able to manage this menu on any level.
FONTS
Use only 1 font. Using several fonts throughout the site looks messy and amateur. Use only standard fonts so that you see what your viewer will see. The browser can only display what it has installed, so if you use Crazy Font 3000 as your default font, it will be translated by the viewers browser into their default font which may end up looking really bad. If in doubt, stick with Verdana, Geneva, Arial, or Helvetica. Use bold, italic, underline, color and sizing to add style to your fonts.
TEXT
Use real text as much as possible! Don't have your text imbedded in images, as the search engines can't read it, and your viewer won't ever find it. You want to have as much text content as possible. As a general rule, text should be aligned to the left. For most cases text should be black (or almost black) on white. Or white (almost white) on black. Colored text is difficult to read, so should be used sparingly, for headings or otherwise emphasized text. It is important to have proper line-spacing and white space (margins) around your text. Text should be on a solid background.
ROOM FOR CREATIVITY
Make your header the most exciting part of your site. Make it bright and bold or stark and clean. Add animation or have a slow moving slideshow of images. This is really where there is the most room for unique design.
Style your menus well, so that they are both interesting and beautiful but also easy to use. Add a footer at the bottom of you site and add any images you want here. Have fun with background textures and images.