As you design your website, there is more work involved than just making use of HTML for every web page you have. Here are some fundamental elements of a good website.

The first one would be balance. This is basically the effective distribution of the lighter and the heavier elements of a web page, as it is a visual interpretation of the design gravity of the entire website. You need to make sure that the layout you use would be the most effective.

Balance could be achieved through asymmetrical balance, symmetrical balance and off-balance.

The next element would be the contrast of the various sizes, shapes, colors and textures which are present on your website. As you apply good contrast in your web design, you need to go beyond just colors. You have to consider this element so that you would be able to get the attention of your readers.

Contrast is achieved through the provision of links, the changing of fonts, the use of contrasting colors and the use of various image and element sizes.

And then, there is emphasis and as you consider this element in your web design, you need to apply it based on an efficient element hierarchy.

You also need to take the element of rhythm into consideration. Rhythm is also referred to as repetition. Having rhythm would be equal to having a good consistency to help your viewers understand your website and its content easily. To achieve rhythm, you could repeat your HTML tags, use a background repeat property as well as repeat navigation elements and use images several times.

Finally, there is unity or proximity, which would be how your entire web design comes together. It is the art of making sure that the elements are similar and yet diverse enough to be well coordinated, thereby resulting in a very effective web design.