Here’s a little secret many people don’t know about building projects for the web. You don’t have to do everything from scratch. There are so many tools out there that do the tricky stuff for you, that you really don’t have to be an HTML wiz to have a polished looking website.

Here are some excellent tools to help you fake web excellence:

Table Builders

Tables are the nemesis of many well-meaning web worker. They can be tricky to build from scratch, but no need with these.

Quackit HTML Table Generator

TableGen

Code-Generator.net HTML Table Generator

Color Palettes

Color theory is a practice that people spend years perfecting. But you can fake it pretty well with these tools that help you choose complimentary colors.

Color Scheme Designer

Color Schemer Online

Elvan Online

Image Generators

A few well-placed images can help bring your site to life. These three tools help you manage and create pictures to illustrate your pages.

PicMarkr lets you to add custom watermark to your images.

Digital Post It Note Generator

Create A Graph

Free Web stuff has never been more available nor more overwhelming. It’s easy for a budget-conscious non-profit or other small organization to glom on to any of the thousands of freebie apps out there and out of eventual frustration, opt for a paid service.

On the flip side, it’s easy to be deluded into thinking free services can do anything a paid service can do. That’s one mistake that can get expensive. It’s important to pull out the cash when it’s worth it. Even if you save a bit, it helps.

I’m always scouting around for free services and use a litany every day. I can’t name them all here, but here are five of my faves that I turn to regularly.

Free Apps

1. Netvibes is a personal Web browser start page that corrals RSS feeds, news updates, to-do lists and more.

2. Clicky is streamlined and easy-to-use Web analytics software.

3. Remember the Milk is a cute, simple and effective way of managing tasks. Nice for keeping track of web projects.

4. “Google Notebook helps you collect notes and information from the web for anything you might be doing—researching a trip, planning a purchase, or putting together a dinner party.” Useful when bookmarking won’t do.

5. Fax Zero lets you upload and send faxes for free.

Want more?

Monique Cuvelier will be sitting on a panel about free and cheap online tools at the eBiz Symposium in Arlington, MA, on Friday, Oct., 23, 8:00am – 4:30pm. Hope to see you there!