There are many things you need to know to be more successful online. There is one thing that I would suggest you have to know in order to have a chance at being real successful. You need to learn basic web design. I’m not saying you need to know how to design great websites and win awards, I simply mean you need to know the fundamentals of web design. This includes, learning basic html, css, and how dynamic sites work etc.
You can find all kind of website in a box programs, or run your site using blog software but in every case there will come a time when you are going to have to make changes to the code. If you want to be in the internet industry, don’t you think you should learn as much about website design as you can? This will allow you to run split tests more effectively and just make simple changes to your site so you don’t always have to rely on someone else.
The reason I write about this is because with many of the people that come to me to help them get started, this is the thing they try to avoid. Learning html and css may not sound glamorous but making a lot of money online does. I submit that you can’t have one without the other. This doesn’t mean you can’t make a good amount of money online without this knowledge, it means that I don’t believe you can maximize your earning potential without it.
Here are some great resources on both html and css:
HTML Made Really Easy – This is the site I used to learn html back in the early days.
HTML An Interactive Tutorial For Beginners – This is a reall good tutorial as well but it is very difficult to navigate around the 799 ads on every page.
CSS Tutorial – A good tutorial on CSS.
So there is no excuse now not to learn the basics of this stuff. If you want to make serious money online, you need to take this seriously.
5 comments On What you’ll have to learn to succeed online
I won’t deny that HTML and CSS can help you succeed online, but I don’t believe they’re requisite.
I don’t know a lick of CSS and make my living online. I know some very basic HTML (how to make a links or use EM and STRONG tags) but nothing too extreme.
Good food for thought, though!
Thanks for the comment Bob. You will agree that a basic knowledge of html has been necessary.
I can concede that CSS isn’t absolutely necessary but I highly recommend it to make cleaner code and “pretty up” your websites.
It might not be necessary to know it right now. However, if you don’t start to learn it soon you might get left behind.
Great tutorial Adam. Have you ever thought about writing a book on all of this knowledge you have?
You may not HAVE to know CSS to get by, but if you don’t learn it you’re pretty much committed to paying someone for every minor change you want to make, or being limited by whatever tools you’ve chosen to use.
Protoscopic got it right, who wants to have to manage all of the back and forth with a web guy, when you could learn to make 80-90% of the desired changes on your own?
I like the idea of having a professional build the initial design, but for maintenance and tweaks, I’ll gladly do it myself.