You don't need to know or learn HTML to have a website created and to do business online. But if you don't, you will be at the mercy of people who do this work for you, and will charge by the hour costing you lots of your hard earned money. Also, you will not have any control over when the changes you need done, get done.

You don't need to be an HTML guru. Basic HTML is quite simple actually and almost anyone can learn the basics. And that's all you need to know are the basics. There are lots of free HTML training websites online today. Here are just a few:

http://www.w3schools.com/html

http://www.goodellgroup.com/tutorial/toc.html

http://www.utexas.edu/learn/html

and there are many, many more. Again, just go to my favorite search engine www.google.com and type in "learn html" or "learning html" and you will finds plenty of websites that teach this stuff. You can also pick up books at the book store or even e-books that teach all this. One very good e-book is One Hour Html and it's very easy to read for any beginner. E-books are great too because once you purchase them, you are immediately sent the e-book and can be learning within minutes of your purchase.

HTML is the same as anything else. The more you do it, the easier it is. You just need to practice and you will get the basics down very quickly.

There are also some great website template sites like A+ Templates and Template Monster that offer very affordable, professional looking website templates you can use to create your own professional looking website.

Next on to Creating a Professional Looking Website or Contracting It Out.