How often do you surf the web? For how long? Come now, be honest.

If I'm to be modest, I'd say I spend around five hours in front of my computer every week day. Over the years this has gained me many obscure talents that I'm only aware of when I think consciously about them, such as touch typing, or that vast repertoire of acronyms I exchange with my electronic friends to pretend we're socializing. LOL!

If those weren't impressive enough however, my latest hidden talent was brought to my attention by one of my real friends, who caught me scouring the web for the cheapest site to buy Nick Hornby's new book, "A long way down". Not being very technologically adept himself, he couldn't for the life of him keep up with my progress as I shot around in my usual manner, unblinkingly, shuffling through the web pages like a pack of cards.

Hence, it occurred to me that through certain overexposure to the internet, that I had fine tuned my brain into being able to scan pages I was looking at, in a few seconds at the most, picking out keywords, subtitles and pictures, gauging the relevance of that page to what I was looking for; my search criteria you could say. Sounds a bit robotic I know, but I was surprised to find many thousands of topics and articles on how we surf the net, all leading to similar conclusions.

A study conducted by Canadian Researchers concluded that we can make assumptions and form impressions of a website, based on its design in around 20ms. Yes milliseconds! That's half the time it takes to blink. Quite impressive, but what does this mean for your website?

There are many factors that could sway a visitor either way, which also means that you can never produce a website that will appeal to everyone. There are a few key fundamental designs that you should incorporate into your site however, that will ensure you appeal to the masses.

People are more likely to respond positively to your website, if it conforms to the schema they have in their minds of how a website should look, feel and function. It's a safe bet that by constructing your site following a standard template or design, you will maintain the comfort and attention of your visitor.

It may feel contrived, even counter-productive to stick to the norm of web design, to emulate the structure of every other website out there, "how will mine stand out?", "I want to make something different!", but your average Joe surfing the web is a timid being. He is easily scared by what he isn't used to, especially when it disrupts the flow of his browsing. Abandoning the norm will loose your visitors trust and credibility, so what are the key design points to follow?

Good navigation. Simple, clean and effective navigation. It is essential for maintaining the flow through your website, making it easier for your visitor to find what her or she is looking for.

Where am I? Always indicate on each page of your site, which page your visitor is browsing, by means of a navigation menu, or a breadcrumb bar. e.g.

Home >> Topic >> Subject >> Article

It is also important for your visitor to know where he or she has already visited. Make sure your links change colour as they're used, giving your visitor a mental map of where they've been, and where they should try next.

Search fields. For the lazy amongst us, search fields are a blessing. Consider adding one to your website if it spans a lot of pages. The Google adsense program also offers "Adsense for search", that adds a search box such as the one on Fortunes-Today.com's footer on your pages. Relative adverts are displayed with searches conducted through these search boxes, that can ultimately generate you revenue.

Colour scheme. Choose a moderate, calm and suitable colour scheme that matches your website's content. Not only does a grass green backdrop suit a Garden Center's website, colour is the major factor that our brains processes in that 20ms we take to make our initial impressions.

Sub Headings. Subtitle your main topics on your index, or homepage, and associate them with relative pictures. People read subheadings and pictures rather than body text to make their decisions on where to go next.

Frequently asked questions. If you provide a service or a product, make sure you have an FAQ page to tick off any mental questions a visitor may have about your product or service. You can quickly regain their trust and confidence if it was lost to ambiguities or doubts in their mind.