While the exact number of websites keep changing every second, there are well over 1 billion sites on the world wide web. (Source: Siteefy).
Paying attention to website design is crucial to building your business. As a designer or small business owner, you need to be familiar with the different kinds of websites, so you can decide which will meet your needs.
Here are eight types of the most popular types of websites you’ll see around the web. While there’s some overlap between the different categories, in general, every website exists to achieve specific goals and has its own set of best practices.
1. eCommerce Website
An e-commerce website is an online shopping destination where users can purchase products or services from your company.
A robust e-commerce web page makes it easy to browse products, filter by categories, highlight offers, and make purchases. Examples of an e-commerce website are Jumia, Shopify, Alibaba, etc.
2. Business Website
A business website is any website that’s devoted to representing a specific business. It is usually branded like the business (the same logo and positioning) and communicate the types of products/services the business offers. This type of website is generally required to have certain elements, such as user-friendly website navigation, mobile-friendly layout, etc. Charisol website is an example of a business website.
3. Landing Pages
A landing page is a specific page type created for a marketing campaign that drives visitors to take a specified action. The content on a landing page is mostly limited and pointed toward the call-to-action (CTA) users will be expected to take. Click here to view a sample of our landing page for individuals who want to request a service.
4. Portfolio Website
Just like a physical portfolio, these types of websites are used to display and promote examples of previous work. Primarily used by those in the creative industry, a portfolio website can be used as a CV, demonstrating your skills to impress clients, customers, or future employers.
5. Nonprofit Website
A nonprofit website is generally quite simple, outlines what the nonprofit is about and shows visitors how they can get involved, donate, or support in some other way. These websites often have a function to collect email addresses, and to create a database of people interested in keeping in touch with the organization through newsletters.
6. Social Media and Networking Websites
These sites are usually created to let people share thoughts, images or ideas, and connect with other people. Social media sites are also increasingly becoming the go-to destination for people to read up on the news. In 2020, an estimated 3.6 billion people were using social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to almost 4.41 billion in 2025 (Source: Statista)
7. Educational Website
These websites have the primary goal of either providing educational materials to visitors or providing information on an educational institution to them. The websites of educational institutions and those offering online courses fall into the category of educational websites.
8. Wiki or Community Forum
A wiki website allows people to collaborate online and write content together. The most popular example is Wikipedia itself, which allows anyone to amend, add to, and assess the content of each article.
What Type of Website Would You Like To Create?
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 you commence is finding the best hand to handle your web design project.
Charisol designs and develops user-centred websites that will appeal to your visitors and in turn, increase your ROI. For more information, get in touch with us today, let’s talk about your website.
Building a website does require some work, but the benefits of having one are usually well worth the effort.
