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The Breakdown:

1. Content Consistency - Content is basically "subject" -  whatever the content of your site be it very general such as a resource site or quite exclusive such as a site that is only about the German Shepherd dog, keep it consistent. If it is a resource site; keep it on the subject of resources. If it is only about German Shepherd dogs; keep it on the subject of German Shepherd dogs.

2. Richness of Content - Is it interesting, informative, alive? Websites are like reading books. I have read books where at the end I felt nothing; simply closed the book and never thought about it again. I have read books that I absolutely could not put down and when the book ended I was actually upset that it ended.

3. Consistency in Theme Design - Design has a theme layout. If you have created a very conservative type of business site then please keep it in that theme throughout the site. It is important that a visitor knows they are still at the same site. I have been to sites where you enter into one theme where it was very plain, straight forward - simple design - and then clicked on a link only to find myself somewhere similar to Disneyland. Be consistent.

4.  Easy navigation - Navigation is crucial to a website. It can be a complex set of buttons that hop around and do tricks on command or simple text links, doesn't matter; if your visitors get lost and can't find their way around they will become frustrated and leave. Always have a link on every page that will take a visitor back to your home page. If you have multiple links on different pages it is always best to direct your visitor back to that referring page.
     Example: On your home page you have a link to The diet of a German Shepherd (don't ask me why I have picked this particular subject) and on The diet of a German Shepherd there are 4 other links; be sure on these other 4 pages that there is a link back to The diet of a German Shepherd page as well as one back to your home page. Proper navigation is a sign of a professional web designer.

5. Use of Graphics - Banner, buttons, logos, pictures...how do you use them? Graphics can be a real asset to a website or a real nuisance, depending on
a. How and where they are placed: Placement of graphics is important and it will show. Cramming too many graphics together will look cluttered and will overwhelm your visitors. Spread them out too far and your page will look too desolate and cause too much scrolling. Use discretion when placing banners, buttons, logos etc.
b. How many are there and how big?
If you have a heavily loaded graphic site, like mine, indicate that on your main page and then do everything possible to reduce their download time.
I totally understand that if I enter an art site there are going to be graphics, but if on that art site I enter the gallery and find I have to wait while all 30 of the artist's images download to that one page, I won't understand at all. I love art but I have my limits and most people do not like to wait. Use thumbnails, pop up windows, anything that will reduce the download time. This goes for any site that has graphics on it. Size of file and format come into play here too. Keep those file sizes down down down, as best you can.
c. What kind of graphics.
 For artwork being displayed I understand it is difficult to keep it a small file and at the same time not lose the quality. In artwork, quality is senior to file size in my books. If it is a banner that can be reduced and it loses some quality, that's okay (within reason of course). Just keep it small as you possibly can. GIFs create smaller file sizes but you lose quality. JPEGs are best for artwork and photographs that you want to keep the quality, however they do not compress as much as a GIF. Too many animated images, blinking text, pop ups, scripts that do strange things to my curser; these can kill your site dead. I am not a big fan of blinking, exploding, or neon flashing graphics, however, I am not opposed either as long as they are used politely.
Clarity: Try and imagine that your website is an actual physical building, and you have a sign outside that says, come in and see my drawings or dogs. People start coming in. How will you greet them? Will you you run over in a bright flashing clown suit with a big neon sign that blinks WELCOME over and over again? The answer is yes!...if you have a circus or amusement park in the building. When designing; imagine real physical people walking into your home, your office, your gallery... etc. - this should help keep a little perspective.

6. Creativity -  Here's the key. I am an artist and so I tend to notice creativity more than anything. I love to see creative work (and not the bright flashing blinking lights and words creativity). If I see a site where the creativity is on high; I will like it. 

Creativity - will keep me coming back time and time again.

  Good Luck ......     artisticdesigns@ca.rr.com