If HTML isn't your thing and you're planning a website with lots of content, you might want to consider using a "Content Management System," also known as CMS. With CMS, content is stored in a database away from the site's templates, which makes it almost impossible to destroy the content of the site when editing the design.

CMS systems allow anyone to edit his or her website, regardless of technical skill level. Pages can be added or changed easily without knowing any intricate coding. Many websites that use CMS resemble a portal design. This type of system also works well if multiple people or departments will be making updates to the website.

Most CMS systems must be installed on your web server and require that PHP and usually MySQL also to be installed. Once you decide that CMS is for you, you'll need to decide on which software you'll want to use. Many content management systems are "open source," and most come with complete documentation for setup and use. Most all of them also offer support forums if you run into problems when installing or you need to ask a specific question.