This morning, after reading the news of the day, and of course stumbling several of the news items of import, I also started stumbling (using StumbleUpon of course) one of my favorite categories, Web Design.

Immediately, I came across two that I would like to draw your attention to:

o CSS Basics
o Nice and Free CSS Templates

The first is a lesson-by-lesson, 18 “chapters” leading you by the hand so you can create your own website stylesheet. You can also choose to download all the chapters, or even print them all out (put in a binder, sometimes it’s easier to reference points via print).

The second web site actually gives you 11 pre-made stylesheets. From a single box on a page to a full four-column layout, all your css stylesheet components are right there! Of course this would be the easy route to take, however, I urge you to also visit and study the principles behind doing anything online.

Sure there are WordPress, Blogger, Moveable Type, and other blog frame works from which you can work. There are also numerous html editors one can use to create web sites themselves. I, personally, believe that everyone needs to know the underlying reason and/or methods used that make the magic of a blog or website happen.

Ten years (plus) ago, I knew absolutely nothing about web page creation. In fact, my first “web site” consisted of nothing but banners centered down a page. At the time, I was thrilled to have accomplished even that much. But, as we all should know, that’s just not going to cut it out online. Visitors need a sense of uniformity and the means to navigate a website or blog. Knowing how to do this yourself, independent of the program you use, really understanding the coding involved in linking up, inserting images, creating the framework page, and navigation are but a few of the “I really need to learn this” strategies I would recommend you learn.

Then, you are no longer confined to a web site given to you (or one you pay for or use for free). You have learned a new, and highly valuable skill. In fact, for job seekers or those looking to add to their present skills, learning and implementing coding can be a good job skill enhancement.

Coding by hand is an art. Coding an entire website of say over 100 pages without understanding how it all comes together is insane. After visiting the above, you might also like to check out an article I wrote quite a while back titled, How to Learn HTML Without Even Trying.

Go for it! You can do this – it’s fun and you will never be at the whim and mercy of others. I’ve seen people pay exorbitant prices for web pages (websites) not worth a fraction of what they spent. When you learn a new skill, duh, you grow. Today is your day to do just that

I just visited Business Sphere while working through those money-making “spikes” in CMFAds.

The post that caught my eye was a discussion on Entercard and whether or not the 300 drops per day should be lessened to 150. The question being would that decrease bounce rates and increase quality as one visits someone else’s blog?

That answer remains a mystery, but I thought my own comment was worth repeating for those visiting this blog (and that includes bloggers, web site owners and affiliate marketers alike).

It reads: (more…)

Believe it or not, it is hard to explain link building, trust me. For a few years, a business associate (and good friend) and I had a thriving business that was built strictly for the purpose of building links in the search engines, using natural methods.

The trouble was even though those signing up knew right from the get go that the membership was about building links and nothing more, still the questions would come… primarily “where’s my traffic?”

Building links is one of the many objectives you need to set for yourself to be successful online. So, when a service offers free link building and the tools to get the job done, then you would be foolish not to investigate.

Recently I came across a website called Free Link Building Tools that must have Google’s approval since they’ve got a PR, and their Alexa and membership numbers demonstrate they are growing. In fact, as I write they have 2,894 registered members and 1,786 registered domains. (You’ll be able to see for yourself when you click through to check them out.)

What I like about this website is there are no huge claims, just lots of good information, along with tools for webmasters to get the job done. Don’t be fooled, you do need to know (or know someone who does) how to:

o Install simple script coding on your website and/or WordPress blog, and

o Read and follow directions so that your domains are added and linked up correctly (to reap the benefits).

And, to be truly successful and get everything setup right, I’d highly recommend you first read their Tips section. One article in there, called Link Building Etiquette not only explains the benefits to exchanging links, but also how to do it properly – from who and how to link, to proper titling, to essential information you need to know first to make the most of this search engine optimization trick of the trade.

Not all links are created equal, however, Free Link Building Tools is a resource you will want to thoroughly investigate.

More often than I’d like (okay I really enjoy it but you have to be careful), taking a trip around the root directory of one’s host and/or the admin areas of wordpress blogs (or any type of database-driven “website) means finding ways to cut back on the use of resources.

Recently, and forgive me but I cannot remember where I was or who said it, but they quoted Yanik Silver as saying if you are running more than (more…)