There are several design and development methodologies that can be followed while producing a web site but the bottom line is to meet the goals of the client. With this one key goal in mind, the approach to meeting that goal is quite simple.

Prior to any design work being done, the client must establish what it is they want their web site to do for them. It must be a team approach with open minds on both ends. There must be some give and take while the team is working towards the goal, a good example of this is some clients want their site to be very graphical rich, but that would degrade some of the performance. At some point the team must come to a compromise that ultimately meets the primary goal.