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Super-fast Web access is revolutionising the way we view the Web - so how should you change your site to reflect it?

Not so long ago, the most important factor a Web designer considered when creating a site was download speed. Images were cut up into smaller chunks and optimised for size, code was fine-tuned and pruned of all extraneous lines.

That was because the world viewed the Web through a 56k modem - yet now, Brits are switching to broadband in ever-increasing numbers and can see the Net in all its glory as download speeds tumble.

So is it time to start considering targeting broadband users with your site? Is there some compelling feature you could introduce for broadband-enabled visitors that would make your site more "sticky" and attract more hits? More importantly, can you add this high-bandwidth content without irritating those who haven't got broadband?

The most important factor here is choice. Sites that fail to achieve a balance between satisfying the "narrowband" demands of modem users with the content made possibly by broadband will serve just to irritate everyone. If you offer that choice, though, at your front door - where your visitor can choose modem-friendly content or ADSL-enabled goodness - then you win both ways.

Unless there's a hugely compelling broadband-friendly feature you can add to your site, don't bother. For instance, if you've got a brochure site and you'd like to add some broadband content, then consider who could possibly gain from it. Will anyone bother to watch a long-winded Flash animation just because it loads quickly? Is there any need for video footage of your products when they don't move anyway? Does adding an ambient soundtrack to your site really add anything to the user experience?

Then again, there are plenty of things you can now add that bring a site to life and take the Internet on to a whole a new level. Imagine, for instance, being able to see some video footage of a house on an estate agent's site, instead of just stills. Or a car dealership which shows the cars in action rather than just sitting on a forecourt.

Anyone with pictures to display online can benefit from panoramic images - these are easy to create and look absolutely superb on any Web page. Realview, iPix and Stitcher are all excellent for this purpose. If you want to include moving footage that's embedded in the page, Quicktime is the way to go. The Quicktime Pro package converts any digital footage into a format that can be embedded. If you'd like to include some kind of multimedia experience for your visitors, Flash is by far the best option - you can come up with everything from a pair of record decks that people can "mix" on, to an action game. Given that 98% of web surfers already have the Flash plug-in, it's the only way to go and if you use Swish then you can create such content without having a degree in animation.

Over the next few years the number of broadband users is going to soar. If you come up with a good use of high-bandwidth content that your competitors don't then you not only have a more interesting site but also a compelling advantage over them. Maybe it's time to get in touch with your Web design team and talk things through?

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