Here in Egypt broadband is a relativly new thing and many people still use dialup modems Which is my reason for asking about the important points of designing a website for quick loading.

These are the few I know:

*Minimum usage of graphics
*If graphics have to be used, they have to be compresses and as small as possible.
*No flash animations

For dialup aim to make each page no more than 100k (including graphics), though I used to aim for 60k as a rule.

You could offer two versions of your site, one for dialup and another for broadband.

Design your site with html and css. Using an external css style sheet will reduce the download time. Also, any javascripts you use, move them into an external file.

You are right about no flash and compressing images. If you can combine 2 images into one, go with one image. That can cut down the download time too.

Optimize your graphics using jpg compression etc.

Don't make separate images for buttons etc.. instead make one image (or two if you want the button background to change when mouse over) and create the actual link/button as text link on top of the image.

Optimize your code...write it with text editor, keep it clean, use as much css as possible (prefer classes and general rules over id rules) and use external css style sheet.

if you have external content like advertising on your site make sure the loading doesn't hold if the server from where the ad comes from is slow...you can do this for example using an iframe.