Web page backgrounds are to web sites what wallpaper is to your computer's desktop: a great way to add a background image, texture or pattern to your virtual presence on the Web. Regardless of whether you use a PC or a Mac, adding or changing your desktop's wallpaper is a simple point-and-click exercise. However, adding web page backgrounds to a web site goes beyond basic point-and-click skills. Fortunately, there are several ways to change a simple white background into a much more appealing visual experience for your web site visitors.

The most demanding of these is to create your own backgrounds. Because you'll need to create high-quality GIF or JPEG images for your backgrounds, you will need a basic familiarity with some kind of graphic design software. Although you don't need an expensive program like Photoshop, if you're a quick study you can download a free 30-day trial copy of Photoshop from Adobe and dive right into the process of creating your own web page backgrounds. Remember, too, that you'll also need a basic understanding of HTML to add the HTML tags to your website that will make your background images appear.

If you don't want to go the graphic design route, an alternative is to find web page backgrounds on - where else? - the Web itself.

Most beginning web masters will head for free clip art sites when they first decide to use a background on their web page. This is exactly the choice I made a few sites ago and the backgrounds I found were pretty uneven in terms of quality. What they frequently lack is a truly first class image that doesn't show any seams as the image tiles across the browser window. Many of the web page backgrounds found on clip art sites also have a tacky or garish quality.

Interestingly, a fair percentage of people who google "web page backgrounds" are actually looking for something else: a professionally designed web page template to use as the basis for their site.

Choosing a professional-grade template is the third way to give your web page a great-looking background. These ready-to-use web templates are not only easy to use and customize, they also look fabulous and include beautiful pictures and backgrounds that will absolutely put your site head and shoulders above the competition. With this framework in place, you basically just need to add relevant content to make your site sing.

That's why, in the long run, choosing a template is the fastest and easiest way to get your web site up and running while also giving it the professional look you want.