Nettuts+

http://net.tutsplus.com/

I don’t think I even have to say a word about this one. The whole Envato network is simply “mind-blowingly” solid.

CSS-Tricks

http://css-tricks.com

Chris Coyier has a pretty unique way to tutor you through the countless issues he’s faced in the past. If you go through all the posts in CSS Tricks and pay attention you will save yourself a thousand headaches.

jQuery 4 Designers

http://jqueryfordesigners.com

While not updated as frequently as the blogs mentioned above, every single screencast Remy Sharp’s done on jQuery is extremely informative. No doubt he is a busy guy. If you’ve never used jQuery before, and have some programing experience, this site will give you a lot more to “write about”.

David Walsh

http://davidwalsh.name

David is pretty much Remy’s evil twin. The former a die-hard Mootools fan and the later a die-hard jQuery fan. Take your pick.

Web Designer Wall (Nick La)

http://webdesignerwall.com

I had to praise the local talent as well! Nick’s blog mixes artistic inspiration with valuable information like a true pro. I hope his obvious gift with the pen tool is contagious.

Digging Into WordPress

http://digwp.com

Another site co-authored by Chris Coyier & Jeff Starr (Perishable Press) released to compliment their also awesome book Diggin’ Into WordPress. Both the book and the site are meant to fill in the gaps when it comes to WordPress configuration, coding and administration.

WP Beginner

http://wpbeginner.com

Like the name suggests, this is a great place to start if you are thinking of coding your first WordPress theme. Even though I’ve been doing WordPress sites for quite a while, going over some of WP Beginner’s knowledge base has proven worth my time.

Smashing Magazine

http://smashingmagazine.com

I remember landing on Vitaly’s Friedman’s personal site back in the day and thinking He’s only 18!. He is now one of the main faces running the Smashing Network.

Sitepoint

http://sitepoint.com

Sitepoint tends to cover both technical and broader topics all related to web development. It is a great resource to keep up with general knowledge and news about the industry. They also tend to shine the spotlight on the newer technologies pretty quickly.

And it goes on…

I seriously think reading and understanding everything already written in the sites above would easily take you more than four years. In that sense, the Internet has become a gift and a curse on all of us, and that’s all I meant in the introduction. Going to College or University also helps with other valuable aspects such as building social, teamwork & project management skills, providing field experience while being fun at the same time.

There are also many, many, many other sites out there that fit in this category. For example, w3schools is a great resource when it comes to any language related to web development. Others like CSS Perk, and CSS Elite are great sources of ideas and inspiration, and yet others like Freelance Folder hammer on the aspects of running your own business.

As far as SEO goes, I am no expert, but if I must point you somewhere for that, I would look at the Google’s  SEO Starter Guide to begin with, and on that note, I think that nothing beats high quality content, but the SEO field can be extended much further if you consider things like ad campaigns, information architecture, keyword analysis, landing pages, etc.

Last but not least, if you know of any other great resources for web development, please leave a comment! Writing this article also made me realize that I don’t really know any outstanding sites for learning how to make websites using Flash (not that it is my niche, but maybe soon I’ll make the time to learn it. I know things changed a lot with ActionScript 3.x and there must be as many tools out there for this purpose as there are for CMS sites today). Furthermore, none of the Joomla! tutorial sites I’ve been to have left a good enough impression. For that, the official Joomla! Forum and the Joomla! Developer Site have been pretty useful.

I hope this list helps us make the web a better place and also helps our clients understand how much work can go into every project.

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