The Basics of Making Electronica/Dance Music

What You Need to Know to Begin Producing
1. Drums. Drum beats provide the heart and soul of any track you hear out on the dance floor. Creating a strong drum beat that cuts through the rest of your mix will make your song much easier to dance to and much more  
appealing to those listening to it. Boost the EQ of your drums around 80-160 hz to make your kick drum have 
more bass and power. Boost the EQ of your drums from 2500-6000 hz to make your snares have a little more 'snap' to them. It has also become much more common to add distortion to your drums to make them dirtier and harsher sounding.

Not only the specific sounds of your drums, but the ways in which you arrange your drum sounds will have a huge impact on a track as well. Drum breakdowns and build-ups are important components of a song and songs with especially exciting drum breaks and builds will get large crowds fired up.

2. Bass. Most hard clubbing tracks (and note I say 'most' and not 'all') are built around a strong bass sound, be it a synthesizer (the industry norm) or a sample or some other type of instrument. A melodically intriguing or 'catchy' bass line within your track can carry it straight to the top. Think of the Benny Benassi song 'Satisfaction', nearly everyone instantly recognizes the bass line on that track and it is a simple 8 beat loop. Just goes to show the power of simplicity.

Adding distortion and sidechaining a compressor to a bass line are two ways you can make your bass really jump, but in the long run it never hurts to have a super catchy melody.

3. Vocals. Not all Dance tracks (very few actually) have sampled or recorded vocals, but one glance at any music chart will show that those tracks with memorable vocals tend to be more successful and are easier to market to a wider crowd. Just something to consider.