Novice Web users understand that the blue underlined word is a link. Be very careful that your color changes don't confuse your Web site's navigation. Finally, a brief word about background images. The purpose of your site is to present information to your audience in an effective manner. Make sure that your background image doesn't make your text difficult to read.
Every day brings a new toy or technique to the Web.
However, you must avoid the temptation of adding these new technologies for the sake of the technology alone. Techno-lust has been known to lead good Web designers astray. For example, there is no need to use a scrolling Java applet to present a list of subjects on your site. People with browsers that don't support Java can't see the list. People with browsers that do support Java won't necessarily see it, either.