Ok, some web designers don't understand business, but a headline is a headline :)

Here's an example: "20 Rules Of Smart And Successful Web Design", which could also be titled "A Few Ways Not To Make Any Money". Some good stuff in there, but perhaps "smart" and "successful" mean different things to different people.

The article is a reminder about how some web designers could cost you your web business if they choose to place the cart before the horse. I'm not a web designer, but having dealt with enough web designers, here's my Top Ten Rules For (Commercial) Web Design:

1. It's not about you, it's about them.
2. It's not about you, it's about them. (Technically, that's the same as rule one, but it is so important, it's worth repeating).
3. If you're commercial, you need a revenue model. Technique does not a revenue model make.
4. Don't reinvent the wheel. If it works, do more of it. Be wary about doing something else entirely because the reality is that most people do not like change, and adapt slowly, which is why there is a great deal of risk in reinventing wheels.
5. Standards are nice to have, but in reality most people DO NOT CARE.
6. A website should work in every browser, or degrade gracefully. If it works in some browsers but not others, it is a sure sign the site is too complex. Simplify.
7. Be concerned about search engine optimisation. Easy to include, too big a free lunch to ignore.
8. Being funky may impress your mates, but it doesn't sell stuff. On the web, function rules over form, and anyone who thinks otherwise clearly doesn't get paid based on a sites' revenue stream. A rare exception is flashy designers whos' product is flashy design.
9. If you don't understand the web client/supplier relationship, and where the power lies in that relationship, get out of the web design business and into the starving artist business.
10. It's not about you, it's about them.
11. Exceed expectations.