Research the 'Best Website' Thoroughly..

If you're selling a product on the best website in the world - you've probably already done the website research with regards to it.  If your website is purely topical, the subject matter may well be something that you already know lots about.  However, the website research is not over yet - you will need to know how to present your material as presentation on your web pages can be the deciding factor as to whether someone just takes a fleeting glance and leaves for another website, or wants to read on.

Know what type of audience your website will attract, i.e. if they are young they are more likely to appreciate an informal website design, if they are older or in a professional business-like position - a more serious and formal foundation will need to be built upon.

Get a feel for the type of site that you are about to embark on producing; are there sites that you've been on where you thought 'Wow this is a great website!'?, or have you ever visited a website that you really unimpressed you? Make a list of the positive and negative points - the things you would like to be on your site and those that you want absolutely no association with.

Figure out what sort of website layout, theme and attributes are right for your type of content and/or product.  If you were bringing together information about theme parks for instance - you would want to create a colourful and lively atmosphere, but if your website focuses on meditation - you would maybe edge towards using more serene, natural pastel colours and images.

Research websites in a similar niche as your own with the aim of doing something different on yours; something positively original that will make your website stand out and be remembered.

Research into the legal aspects of publishing the best website - it's important that you aren't infringing on any copyrights, or in any way breaking the data protection act (particularly if your site is interacting with a database).

Once you're happy that you've exhausted the research avenue, move on to the next step..