HTML Editors and Website Creation Software

**UPDATE**XsitePro Version 2 has now been released and is even more powerful than V1!

Although I will be reviewing a number of HTML editors, the product I am using most at the moment is XsitePro from Intellimon. XsitePro really is one of the easiest and quickest tools for getting a complete, professional looking website online in a relatively short space of time.

Cost: $197 (at the moment, but this will increase when version 2 is released later in 2007)

URL: XsitePro.com

Pros:

> You only need to set the layout of your site once and all pages will follow the same template.

> XsitePro contains a number of pre-installed templates to speed up the site building process.

> Menus and site maps (including an XML version just
for Google) are automatically created for you.

> XsitePro has inbuilt SEO capabilities, offering suggestions and even full scale reports showing where improvements can be made for better search results.

> Intellimon provide a wide range of free tutorial videos in addition to the .pdf XsitePro manual

> Although they do not offer a free trial, you do get a 365 day, no questions asked money back guarantee

Cons:

> The code produced by XsitePro is not always as "clean" as other (more expensive) tools like Dreamweaver.

> If you want to customise the CSS styles, you either have to insert the CSS code between the header tags (making the resulting HTML code bulky), or publish the site to a local folder and then manually update the CSS file you just published in notepad etc..

Verdict:

XsitePro is a very capable tool and offers excellent value for money. Although squarely aimed towards internet marketers, XsitePro would also equally suit a novice webmaster who does not have the money to invest in more expensive software, or the time required to master it. If you are in a hurry to get your web presence felt, then XsitePro should be your first choice. If you want to know more, I have created an XsitePro review and resources site, or you could also visit the official XsitePro site

HTML Kit is another useful tool for webmasters, and is really handy if you just want to make a quick amendment to an existing web page.

Cost: $0 ($79 for registered version which comes with additional tools and integrated CSS support)

URL: http://www.chami.com/html-kit/

Pros

> It's free!

> You can preview your work either as you go along or as a split screen view, so it is a good first text based editor to start with if you are moving from a WYSIWYG editor

> The program is really quick to load up - ideal if you only need to make a quick tweak to an existing page

> Tool buttons to add common tags and objects speeds up the process, as you are not having to do 100% hand coding

> HTML Kit is updated regularly, and automatically checks for updates on startup

> Produces clean HTML code

Cons:

> Not many really - a good text based editor to start with if you have been used to WYSIWYG editors up to now

> You would have to create CSS style sheets separately, as there is no integrated CSS editor with the free version, but you can buy "HTML Kit Tools" if you register the software at a cost of $79

Verdict:

Although I use mainly XsitePro and Dreamweaver, I still use HTML Kit on a regular basis, for instance if I am building a quick redirect page for affiliate links, as it is quick to start up and the preview pane makes it a breeze to spot any mistakes.

Myfreewebsitebuilder is a brand new product from the famous internet marketer, Ewen Chia.

Cost: $0 - It is genuinely free (the only "cost" being your email address and first name in order to receive the download link). You will be given one of those famous "one time offers" on the download page, but the choice to accept or not is entirely yours

URL: Myfreewebsitebuilder.com

Pros

> No cost software

> Ideal for beginners

> As good, if not better than NVU

> Easy to use and well developed

> Extremely good video tutorials included in the free download

> Free web design ebook worth $19.97 also included

Cons

> Cr#ppy name!

> In order to get the download link, you are added to the mailing list - but you can alsways unsubscribe if you do not like what they offer

Verdict

Quite similar to NVU in use, Myfreewebsitebuilder is good if you are just starting out and are looking for a free website builder to download, or do not have the funds available for (preferably) XsitePro or Dreamweaver. The software comes preloaded with 100 templates so you can build your website for free straight away

If you have just started out building websites, chances are they are quite basic in design. A great way to get inspiration for your own designs is to look at other websites on the same subject as yours.

It always helps to have something to refer to for guidance when putting together your own site, and I have found the videos from Web Design Tutorials very helpful when I first started building my own sites

Finding affiliate programs worth promoting using the standard clickbank directory search options can be a real pain. I put together a video to make things easier for webmasters. You can find the video here: Mastering the clickbank directory search

Not quite a website builder, but a definite "must have" for a webmaster with the intention of making money from his or her sites is a new piece of software recently released by Brad Callen's Bryxen Software.

A lot of webmasters are spoiled for choice and buy this, that and the other, racking up thousands of dollars before they are done. Affiliate Elite (released 6th November 2007) will make a lot of those redundant. At between $149 and $199 (depending on whether you get a special offer - if you are lucky, you can get it for as little as $4.95), it is not cheap, but if you add up $47 here, $97 there for items that provide just one part of what Affiliate Elite does, then you can see it is not expensive either.

Affiliate Elite starts by helping you find products worth promoting in both Clickbank and Paydotcom, and their member training helps you to make the decision on the ones most suited to your needs.

Affiliate Elite then expands and lets you see who is making money to promote a product as an affiliate and ALSO how they are promoting it. You can then use the inbuilt adwords(tm) search to find the ads that are making money and use those to inspire you to write your own. You can also find the keywords that are making money for that product (both paid ads and organic listings). Affiliate Elite is definitely a powerful tool if you would like to make money online.