Website Types

Once you have decided the reason for building a web site you can then define what type of website you wish to create. The type of web site you build will decide how to plan for its future success. The main website types are categorized below.

Website Types

1. Personal or Family web site

These are sites may focus on a personal hobby, interest or just a sharing of ideas between friends or relatives. The site will be
informal and generally not used for making money. A family site is a great way of staying in touch with family members particularly if they are scattered throughout the country or world.

2. Informational web site

This type of site provides information to others about your product of service. For example if you are an artist you can display
paintings on your site for others to view. When you have a created a new painting you simply add it to your site.

3. Ecommerce web site

These types of sites enable you to sell items to the public. They usually include a shopping cart and the ability to make purchases of your products online.

4. Prospect Generation

This site usually includes a form. The form asks for your name, email address, phone number etc depending on what the site owner wants. The site owner is focused on generating a list of contacts in which he can offer products for sale. Forms can be used for ordering, surveying and subscribing.

5. Direct Response web site

This type of site will contain a sales letter that tries to sell a product such as an e-book or software. The site is relatively simple so as to not distract the visitor from buying the product. The site may only be one page in length with an order button at the end of the web page.

6. Educational web site

Online courses can be conducted with a web site in which students can login from home or anywhere in the world. Sometimes you can even achieve a full Bachelor’s degree by taking all the courses online. Educational sites may also be sites that just offer information to educate the visitor about a product, service or event.

7. Content Management web site

These are similar to educational sites in which articles are written to educate people on what they are offering. This can cover a large spectrum of people from consumer items to politics.

8. Interactive web site

These sites focus on interacting with your customers frequently. Blogs and forums provide daily interactivity by allowing visitors to offer feedback or comments about the information within the site.

Conclusion

There are many other types of sites that are not listed here and the features of each of these will often overlap i.e. an informational site can also include a blog or forum.