The Small Business Blog pointed me to an article that's about "Three Traits of Successful Websites.
Since "success" is so subjective, I'd clarify this by saying that the article is about small commerce sites and what successful site owners have in common. While the themes are nothing revolutionary, I think they are certainly applicable and based on reality. They are:
With all the high-brow analysis out there, I think it's good to remember the folks who are just getting started with the Internet and make sure the can get started on the right foot- they may be the innovators that we come to respect one day.