The larger web environment shapes the expectations that users and readers bring to any site.
As interface expert Jakob Nielsen points out, your readers spend the overwhelming majority of their time on sites other than yours. Any site design should consider the larger design norms and user expectations of the web and avoid self-indulgent exercises in interface or design novelty. Your site will succeed and draw visitors and customers if you provide great content and services. No site succeeds because it has a cool home page. Your site could easily fail if you ignore user expectations and create a peculiar, unusable framework for your content.