what really makes a website good?

In your opinion what makes a website. I'm guessing most would say content? How about community? Flash? Streaming-media? All of the above?

Definitely content.
And I like web sites with an attractive layout. What is 'an attractive layout', that's a matter of taste.
Flash? It's ok if it's used wisely. Personally I do not like all-flash sites.
Streaming media... naah.

And background music is a definite no-no (especially if it's in midi format) ;-)

Content.

The rest of the site should be as simple and efficient as possible. I hate flash-based websites.

Actually HTML makes a website

1. content
2. content
3. content

Content is king. Doesn't really matter how "flashy" you site is, if there is nothing of interest people won't come back. Content should be new too and updated regularly -> also make sure that the visitor knows it is updated.

Usablity is the next most important thing. A user has to be able to find what he is looking for in under 3 clicks. Page download times can also be grouped in this category (so nice clean HTML is a must). Text should be easy to read, and to a certain extent a user should be able to modify the page to suit his needs. Some accessability features, i.e. using accesskeys is a nice extra.

Communities -> OK if you have a market for it. I have written a number of sites, but only made one forum -> for a football club -> there was a demand for it.

Streaming media -> depends on what your website is about. If you are record company, then yes. If you are a bank -> no.

Flash -> again depends on what your site is about, but make an alternative for people without flash. Personally I think flash sucks, so don't use it (much) and certainly don't visit sites that the main features are flash based.

You have to make sure you think you know what your target audience is, carry out research and user acceptence testing.

Good luck.

In my opinion, what makes a website good is that you know what you are trying to communicate, why and to whom...

One more vote goes to content, than organization of it and finally loading speed. If you can combine that with good look, great!

You should be able to communicate in minimum words within a few seconds the visitor is willing to give to a new site.

I agree - don't have too much writing on your homepage - try and keep the description short and snappy

Yes, it's good to have short texts and paragraphs. You read in avarage 25% slower from a monitor screen than from a paper (something to keep in mind).

Does that include pages with stuff like a good line-height and letterspacing. It this known or are all the figures about pages from the days of way back...

(like my black with white font page from 1995... )

Yes proper font size, line height and letter spacing are important. It should neither read like a banner nor should be a strain on eyes.

This is a milliom dollar question. There're many different types of websites and different types of content and pages. Different website owners set different goals for the same type of website. A good website is a collection of different content type that achieve your goals.

Absolutley (said like lara croft)

And spelt like Helen Keller