If you are going to code your own site, and don’t have clue as to how to get started, and excellent book that can help you to learn basic HTML is “Laura Lemay’s Teach Yourself Web Publishing With Html in a Week.” Even if you plan to use one of the leading web design packages, knowing HTML will help you when something doesn’t work the way you intended.
There are a few really good development tools for the entrepreneur who has decided to build their own website. The top three in no specific order are:
An excellent article that compares the features and capabilities recent versions can be found at Consumer Search. Why use a web development tool. Basically because it does all the work for you. It’s like using Microsoft Word ® to create a website. The tool will then take care of getting your page(s) posted to your website for others to view. For the novice who wants to do everything themselves, this is the way to go.
Do you need the latest versions of these software packages to do the type of development to support a single product or service. Not likely. It’s possible that you can get by with an older version, as long as it is compatible with the Web Host package your are using, supports forms, and your shopping cart and any other special features you might be considering. If you plan to use PayPal’s cart, you’ll be inserting HTML code into one or more of your web pages for the shopping cart, however, if you’ve read Laura’s book, it’ll be a no-brainer for you!