This is a set of guidelines released by Apple in December 1996 as to how you should go about building the perfect website. They still seem to ring rather true today, and if applied would improve many current websites.
A few of their lessons that they go into in some detail.
Take Advantage of Keywords
Provide a Directory of Your Site
Show Users Where They Are
Minimize the Need to Scroll and Resize
Avoid Dead Ends
Include Links to the Key Locations in Your Web Site
Use Familiar Terminology
Define a Language Style (or Use an Existing Style)
And many, many more good points
They do say however that you should Keep Pages Short, which is great in theory but perhaps not the best thing to do in order to make yourself as SEO friendly as you can be.
Considering this is nearly 13 years old and was sent to me as a piece of good practice, there is an astonishing amount we could still learn from if we implemented half their ideas today.
You can download your own copy with this link Apple_Web_Design_Guide.
Perhaps that’s why Apple is such a brilliant brand. It has clear thoughts and then sticks to them in all of its corporate and product communications.
Johnny Lyle's new brand thinking 