As I mentioned in the Overview, you'd probably be smart to take a class where the teacher can answer your questions and guide you through building a Web page the first time. But, failing that, your best bet is to peruse the online tutorials I've recommended.

Things you need to know up front

• FILE NAMES. Make file names meaningful (so you can remember what they represent), but don't leave any spaces! And it's a good idea to make names of all files (both graphics and HTML files) lowercase. Though most Web servers permit both upper and lower-case letters in a filename, you'll keep out of trouble if you consistently use lowercase names.
• GET THE FILE STRUCTURE RIGHT. Create the file structure of the Web site exactly as it will be constructed on the host server, and use relative paths rather than absolute paths for internal hyperlinks. Robert Crooks walks you through the process. Just log on to his home page, click the Web Design link, then select Building a Web Site. Start with Step 1, "Creating an Appropriate Directory Structure."

  In short, you create one master folder that will house your entire Web site, then create sub-folders within that folder to hold various sections of the site. For instance, most developers put all the graphics in a sub-folder called something appropriate like "images." This is convenient so that GIF and JPEG files will not be mixed in with your HTML files as you're creating the site. And remember, you can reference any graphic file as many times as you wish. As an example, your logo can live in the "images" folder and yet be referenced on several different pages, even if those pages are in different sub-folders.

  When your site is set up correctly, you can simply upload the entire master directory to the host Web server.

• USE RELATIVE PATHS. When you create hyperlinks that connect to another page within your Web site, be sure to use relative paths rather than absolute hard-coded paths. That is, make the hyperlinks relative to other files in the master folder, but don't link to a specific location on your hard drive. When surfers in Des Moines click on one of those links, they won't be able to connect to your computer. For example, you would code it:

  Correct (relative to master folder)
  <IMG SRC="images/graphic.gif" BORDER=0 WIDTH=42 HEIGHT=52>

  Wrong (hard-coded to your hard drive)
  <IMG SRC="c:/mywebsite/images/graphic.gif" BORDER=0 WIDTH=42 HEIGHT=52>

  And you certainly don't want to link to any files that are NOT in the Web site master folder.

• COMMENT YOUR CODE. Use comment tags to annotate your code to make editing easier. It's discouraging even to experienced Web designers to look for problems in a massive block of HTML code. But if you use white space to separate various sections of the code and insert comment tags before and after such sections, it will be much easier to read. Comment tags look like this:

  <!--Start of menu bar-->

  You must include the exclamation mark and the hyphens as shown. Such tags will not display in the browser, but any surfer who looks at the source code can read them. In any event, they come in very handy when you're trying to figure out what went wrong with your code.

• DON'T MIX PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL INFO. The first thing you're going to want to do is to put your kids' pictures and maybe your dog and cat and parrot on your Web site. After all, the relatives and in-laws will get such a kick out of it! And while you've got control of that Web space, it's only natural that you'd put in a plug for your talents and skills. And maybe you're thinking you'd just put your resume out there just in case somebody's looking for a valuable employee such as yourself. DON'T MIX PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL! Build two separate sites. Folks looking to hire you must see you as a professional and are not interested in your menagerie, however cute.
• DON'T PUT YOUR PHONE NUMBER AND ADDRESS ON YOUR WEB SITE! Do you really want millions of people (including thieves, forgers, and con artists) in China, Russia, and Croatia to know where you live and how to call you up? People who are seeking to exploit you can find out plenty of personal information about you without your help. An e-mail address is quite sufficient if you want people to contact you.
• DON'T EXPECT YOUR FIRST EFFORT TO BE A MASTERPIECE. But get started. Just do it. It's certainly good to have some sort of theme in mind when you start, but the important thing is to start working on the tutorials, and as you learn something, put it into practice. Then keep reworking your site as new discoveries improve your skills. You're in for a lifetime of learning since HTML coding standards will be revised and expanded FOREVER. Just get started.