Iuvo, LLC 
Website design possibilities change on a daily basis these days. There are a myriad of choices to make when developing a website that reflects your corporate identity and culture. You can fill up the pages with whiz-bangers that go beep in the night, images that zoom across the screen and pop-ups that blast the unsuspecting visitor.
However, in general, simpler is better. Usability is the most important aspect of web design. If a user can't get around your site quickly and intuitively, he/she will get frustrated and leave - often with a bad impression of your organization.
So what does usability mean? In its simplest form, usability refers to making it easy for the viewer to find information quickly.
Wikipedia defines usability as:
Usability is a term used to denote the ease with which people can employ a particular tool or other human-made object in order to achieve a particular goal. Usability can also refer to the methods of measuring usability and the study of the principles behind an object's perceived efficiency or elegance.
In human-computer interaction and computer science, usability usually refers to the elegance and clarity with which the user interface of a computer program or a web site is designed. The term is also used often in the context of products like consumer electronics, or in the areas of communication, and knowledge transfer objects (such as a cookbook, a document or online help). It can also refer to the efficient design of a mechanical objects such as a door handle or a hammer.
However, this can get quite complicated when you consider that different browsers display web pages differently, different computer screens display colors differently, and screen readers for the visually impaired "see" the page entirely differently.
In addition to these considerations, there is a subliminal message that is sent when the website is viewed. It gives the viewer an impression of the underlying entity whether it is intentional or not. Understandably, it is far better to control this aspect than to let it just happen.
Finally, a websites works best as part of an overall marketing plan where a consistent message is conveyed through multiple media channels.