16 December 2019 Types of Websites

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Most Popular Types of

Websites
The web is vast. As of now, there are billions of websites online, all competing
for some share of the attention people give to their online browsing each day.
When you’re starting a new website, it can be overwhelming to think about all
the other websites out there.

But it’s helpful to remember that within that huge number of websites, you have
a lot of different categories of types of websites trying to accomplish different
things. As you consider how best to build your own website, carefully consider
what type of website you want it to be. When you can narrow down the goals
and setup you have in mind, you can more easily identify the other websites in
your category to look to for inspiration.

Here are twelve of the most popular types of websites you’ll see around the web.
While there’s some overlap between the different categories, in general each
type of website has certain goals to achieve and its own set of best practices.
Which one will your website be?

1. E-commerce Website
An e-commerce website is a website people can directly buy products from.
You’ve probably used a number of e-commerce websites before, most big brands
and plenty of smaller ones have one. Any website that includes a shopping cart
and a way for you to provide credit card information to make a purchase falls
into this category.

If you’re setting up a website for your business and plan to sell your products
through the site, then this is the type of website you need to build. There are
some specific steps you have to be sure to include when building an ecommerce
website, like investing in ecommerce software and getting your SSL
certificate to ensure your customers can pay securely. And you’ll want to make
sure your web design and copy are all crafted with the site’s main goal in mind:
making sales.

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Ecommerce websites can be an extension of a business you already have or

become something you build a new business around.

2. Business Website
A business website is any website that’s devoted to representing a specific
business. It should be branded like the business (the same logo and positioning)
and communicate the types of products and/or services the business offers.

By now, every business out there should have a website. It’s a widespread
expectation. Every potential customer you encounter will just assume that if
they Google your business looking for more information, they’ll find a website.
And if they don’t, it makes the business look less professional or legitimate.

E-commerce websites are business websites, but it’s also possible to have
business websites that don’t sell anything directly, but rather encourage visitors
to get in contact for more information (a lead generation website) or come to a
storefront if they’re interested in becoming customers.

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3. Entertainment Website
If you think about your internet browsing habits, you can probably think of a few
websites that you visit purely for entertainment purposes. They could be
humour websites like The Onion, webcomics like XKCD, or just websites with
fun or interesting content like Buzzfeed.

Most of these websites do aim to make money like business and e-commerce
websites do, but usually through the advertisements that show up on the page
rather than through selling specific products or services.

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If you want to start an entertainment website, you’ve got a lot of options for
formats that can take. You could make funny or informative videos, write
entertaining blog posts, draw comics, or create fun quizzes.

Since there are so many entertainment websites out there, you should anticipate
it taking some time and work to find an audience that connects with you (and
even more time and work to start making money, if that’s your ultimate goal),
but if you’ve got ideas for content to create that you think people will find
entertaining, an entertainment website is one of the best ways to get that
content out into the world.

4. Portfolio Website
Portfolio websites are sites devoted to showing examples of past work. Service
providers who want to show potential clients the quality of the work they
provide can use a portfolio website to collect some of the best samples of past
work they’ve done. This type of website is simpler to build than a business
website and more focused on a particular task: collecting work samples.

This type of website is most common for creative professionals and freelancers
that are hired based on demonstrated skill and can be a more efficient
alternative to a business website that serves a similar focus.

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5. Media Website
Media websites collect news stories or other reporting. There’s some overlap
here with entertainment websites, but media websites are more likely to include
reported pieces in addition to or instead of content meant purely for
entertainment. This category includes sites like the Washington Post website,
Slate, and Inc.

Media websites generally make money through either advertisements that show
up on the site, subscription models, or some combination of the two.

Many media websites are the online branch of media properties that often exist
in other forms, like TV channels or print magazines and newspapers, but some
are online only.

6. Brochure Website
Brochure websites are a simplified form of business websites. For businesses
that know they need an online presence, but don’t want to invest a lot into it
(maybe you’re confident you’ll continue to get most of your business from other
sources), a simple brochure site that includes just a few pages that lay out the
basics of what you do and provide contact information may be enough for you.

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Brochure sites were more common in the earlier days of the internet when
businesses knew they needed a website, but also expected not to be dependent
on it for success. Now that the internet is such a big part of how people research
and find just about every product and service they need, most businesses
recognize that they need something more competitive.

If you have a business and know you don’t need your website to be a marketing
tool that brings in new business, you just need something more like an online
business card, then a brochure website may do the trick.

7. Non-profit Website
In the same way that businesses need websites to be their online presence, non-
profit do as well. A non-profit website is the easiest way for many potential
donors to make donations and will be the first place many people look to learn
more about a non-profit and determine if they want to support it.

If you have or are considering starting a non-profit, then building a website for
your organization is a crucial step in proving your legitimacy and reaching more

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people. You can use it to promote the projects your organization tackles,
encourage followers to act, and for accepting donations.

Note: To take donations through the website, you’ll have to take some of the
same steps that the owners of ecommerce sites do. Make sure you get an SSL
certificate to make sure all payments are secure and set up a merchant account
so that you can accept credit card payments.

8. Educational Website
The websites of educational institutions and those offering online courses fall
into the category of educational websites. These websites have the primary goal
of either providing educational materials to visitors or providing information on
an educational institution to them.

Some educational websites will have advertisements like entertainment and

media websites do. Some offer subscription models or educational products for
purchase. And some serve as the online presence for an existing institution.

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9. Infopreneur Website
Infopreneur websites overlap a bit with business and ecommerce websites, but
they represent a unique type of online business. Infopreneurs create and sell
information products. That could be in the form of
courses, tutorials, videos or eBooks.

Whatever form it takes, infopreneurs need their website to do the hard work of
building up a knowledge brand – convincing visitors that they know enough to
make their educational products worth buying – and the work of selling those
products.

To sell information products securely, they’ll need some of the same tools of an
ecommerce website, including an SSL certificate and a merchant account. Those
with a lot of knowledge products should also invest in ecommerce software to
make it easier for visitors to select and purchase the ones they’re interested in.

Infopreneurs normally create a mix of valuable free content and premium

content they charge for. The infopreneur’s website serves as the central location
for both things – the free content which serves as a marketing tool to get people
onto the site, and the paid products that account for their profits. Building a
good website is therefore crucial for this type of business model.

10. Personal Website

Not all websites exist to make money in some way or another. Many people find
value in creating personal websites to put their own thoughts out into the world.

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This category includes personal blogs, vlogs, and photo diaries people share with
the world.

Sometimes these websites can evolve into something that makes money if they
become popular enough and the person who started them wants to make that
shift, but they primarily exist as a way to share your feelings, insights, and art
with any friends and strangers that might be interested.

Building a personal website is easier than most of the other websites on the list
since the goal has lower stakes. You just want to make it look like you want,
rather than worrying about driving sales or making ad money. Some simple
templates or an easy-to-use website web builder should be all it takes to get
something up that satisfies your desire to share.

11. Web Portal

Web portals are often websites designed for internal purposes at a business,
organization, or institution. They collect information in different formats from
different sources into one place to make all relevant information accessible to
the people who need to see it. They often involve a login and personalized views
for different users that ensure the information that’s accessible is most useful to
their needs.

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Web portals will generally involve more complicated programming and design
than most of the other websites described on this list, so make the most sense
for skilled and experienced web programmers to consider.

12. Wiki or Community Forum Website

Most people are familiar with wikis through the most famous example of one out
there: Wikipedia. But wikis can be created on pretty much any subject you can
imagine. A wiki is any website where various users can collaborate on content
and all make their own tweaks and changes as they see fit. There are wikis for
fan communities, for business resources, and for collecting valuable information
sources.

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Starting a wiki can be simple, especially if you choose to use an existing software
or wiki site builder rather than trying to create the website from scratch. This
option makes the most sense if you need to organize available information and
resources into a central space that you want others to have access to.

Conclusion:

Whatever type of website you choose to create, it’s important to think through
what you want from it and make sure you design it based on the particular goals
you have in mind. And one of the first things you’ll need to figure out before your
website goes live is where to host it.

Reference links:

https://www.hostgator.com/blog/popular-types-websites-create/

https://99designs.com/blog/web-digital/types-of-websites/

https://www.expertmarket.co.uk/web-desigFn/different-types-of-websites

https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/designing-websites/types-of-websites/

http://www.webyurt.com/popular-types-of-websites

https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-different-types-of-websites

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