Most companies need a Web site, but making one is typically a chore. You can always hire a Web designer or developer, but who wants to spend the money? Luckily, there are some excellent HTML editors out there that make it easy to create a great looking, standards compliant, and even interactive Web site without the hassle of learning HTML. Here are five HTML editing applications for Web novices.

1: CoffeeCup Visual Site Designer

CoffeeCup has been making well-respected HTML editors for a long time now. Its Visual Site Designer application is completely WYSIWYG and uses a theme system so that you don’t even need to be a design expert to make a good-looking site. It also features built-in site publication, and the price is attractive.

2: WebPlus

The WebPlus HTML editor combines an easy-to-use WYSIWYG editor with a variety of nice additions for the new Webmaster. For example, it comes with six months of free Web hosting, has built-in search engine optimization (SEO) assistance, and can handle eCommerce, blogs, maps, and other interactive pieces of functionality without any code work needed on your part.

3: EZGenerator

EZGenerator is another template-driven site. What separates EZGenerator from the pack is that it has both offline and online tools. You use the offline desktop application to perform the initial site design, create pages, and so on. Then, once the site is online, built-in content management tools allow you to make changes. It also features eCommerce, SEO, and other functionality all in one zero-code-needed package.

4: Sandvox

Unlike our previous entries, Sandvox is written for Mac OS X. Sandvox is designed to let you easily add multimedia files to your site, including podcasts. In addition, it lets you put your own HTML, PHP, and JavaScript into your site if you feel a little more advanced or have a snippet of code form elsewhere that you want to use.

5: RapidWeaver

RapidWeaver is also made for Mac users. Like Sandvox, it makes it easy to insert multimedia resources directly from your computer. One interesting feature of RapidWeaver is that plug-ins are available for it to extend its functionality, and the API is public so you can write your own if you wish. It also has integrations with Apple’s MobileMe platform. You can also use custom CSS, JavaScript, and other code as necessary on your site.