a:link { color: #ff0000; } is surely better. In fact, you can write that colour in shorthand as
a:link { color: #f00; } 
Also I would say that only using Verdana as a font is possibly a bad idea. I know Verdana is a cross platform font, but you should include a font family just in case.
Also you need to specify units for the font size really. Commonly used is pixels, but you can use % or ems values. Google them to find out what they mean. Sorry for trying to complicate your CSS
And to Dane, oh boy... CSS is a pain the backside at times, but it's a really great way to make consistent styles. Before you say templates do the same thing, CSS allows you to have multiple styles. In fact what is what I have done on my site. Check it out
here. Created using valid XHTML 1.1, pure CSS layout and I even have 3 styles (to switch styles, use something like Firefox or similar. I can use javascript to do it in IE, but I feel like punishing IE users
)
