Of course, you can never go wrong with black type on a white background. If you use an image as a background, the same applies. As a basic rule of thumb, use a table to shorten your line length. Avoid making entire sentences links. It's cleaner and simpler to link off one word or a short phrase.
White space helps the reader's eyes rest on what's important - whether that's an image or words.
It helps unclutter your design and focus your concept. Focus your ideas. Make sure everything on your page has a really good reason for being there. Make sure you spend as much time picking out your images and colors as you spend on your copy. Keep it simple.