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Hi CorpsCon08 (Daniel),
What mistakes to avoid when starting a rebuild of a website? Boy, that's a wide open question! Here's the 50,000 foot view (the broadest mistakes typically made):

1. Not using CSS to layout the page. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) allow you to "move" all of your styling elements off of the webpage itself. This allows your HTML code to be very clean, and incredibly light, which makes it easier/quicker for a search engine bot to read your pages. PLUS, when you want to change a font, font size, color, or page layout, it can be done globally to your whole website, instead of manually making changes to each individual page - which can take hours or even days. There are FREE website templates available online with pure, clean coded CSS.

2. Trying to create something different! Basically, websites targeted toward business usually are 2 or 3 column websites. Don't try to break the mold on a new design when business users are used to seeing a standard layout.

3. Massive header! You do not need a huge header at the top of your web page! Think of a web page as real estate, and the most important real estate is ABOVE THE FOLD (the part of the page you see in your browser before you have to scroll down). You have 5 seconds to get the visitors' interest, so make the best use of this all important real estate!!!

4. Know your colors! Colors are very important, especially for websites. What does IBM, Dell, and Microsoft have in common? Blue! Blue is a color of trust. Do a search on business consulting, look at other sites, and choose a color pallete. Then send the color pallette to 10 of your friends before deciding. You'll get the picture real quick!

Let me know if you need specific questions answered.
Good luck!
Cliff