Ok, the first thing to try and do with your site is to imagine you have an a4 sheet of paper (approximately), stand it on end, and keep your entire design with in it widthwise. For example, your W3C HTML 4.01 img boxes on the lower left should go on the lower center. Same with "Web design by" link underneath them.
Also, you need to have a color distinction between your "sheet of paper" and the empty space on either side. Yes, empty space is necessary in any site.
Thirdly, a website needs to be built around drawing in the 'mindless' surfers. That means making everything intuitive, simple, out front, yet not boring. A good start to this is by arranging your site navigation links down the left side of your "sheet of paper" instead of at the bottom. Many people never go down to the bottom of a page if they don't see something interesting there.
Hopefully that will give you some ideas.