Firstly, I'll concede that there is some value in the "drag and drop" programs that will graphically put a site together for you. When i need a very complex table built, I'll go to Dreamweaver and export it, for example. They do make some things easier.

That said, I'll say this: if you are serious about building and maintining your own site, do not overlook the virtue in learning how to hand-code HTML at the very least. I learned years ago at http://www.htmlgoodies.com and have since utilized many other sites like asp101.com, four guys from rolla, etc - work up to those.

In this respect - if your using a PC - I would say that the best "free" software for building webpages comes with your PC - its Notepad!

You can make it fun and, while they wont look on-the-mark when you stat, you'll continually get more sophisticated as you learn. Also, you'll be able to update it much more precisely and with greater efficiency if you can hand code updates and other "tweaks".

my $0.02

-gkd