Reducing - initial, recurring and total cost is our goal; abiding by some basic principles helps us achieve that.

Scope:
Design for people with disabilities - Section 508 Web Development Guidelines. Build sites such that they work on both UNIX™ and Windows™ platforms. Develop for the major browsers v4 and above. Reduction of development costs is a principle driver.

Architecture: Build a roadmap.
Define the What, Where, Who and How of it all.
[What] is the site about. Are there configuration, maintenance or construction issues. [Where] will it be hosted. [Who] is responsible for what.[How] is the site configured. Is everybody seeing it the same way.

Documentation: Write stuff down.
Document requirements and expectations. This includes architecture, requirements, comments, design and code. It just makes things easier for everybody.

Standards: Set and Enforce design standards.
Recognize that if things are difficult to do or use the they don't get used much. Designing and building to industry standards reduces user learning curve.

Simplicity: Keep it Simple - is hard work!
Changing a web site should not require an advanced degree or super human capabilities - it should be simple.