tbear - 7:50 pm on May 15, 2006 (gmt 0)

The advice above is very good.
I would suggest, rather than do a course, since you know something of SEO, sit down and learn HTML, not hard) and CSS (easy, when the penny drops) then put your own sites together (experimenting with your new skills).
You will then be 'including the plumbing' as you construct the pages.
If you wish (need to), you could then get learning a scripting code (PHP, ASP or whatever), but basically all you need is the HTML (CSS is very useful) to go out on your own.
I think that 'knowing about' SEO is a great advantage for your visitors when you are building new sites.
Good luck!