The best websites are the unique ones. Of course you can see some trends, but every business has its own story to tell and thus its own way of using trends and techniques.
So, one important rule for a successful website is to be unique, but usability is also very important. You can have a very unique website with a beautiful webdesign, but when the usability is crap, the site isn’t successful.
Sometimes I come across those kind of websites and than I think they missed a great opportunity. For now another 10 websites of businesses that did understand how to make a great, unique website.