It’s estimated that there are more than 1.7 billion websites and 4.2 billion internet users browsing those sites around the world. 430,000 Guyanese are online today, 55% of our population, and that figure is growing rapidly.
Depending on the type of business you have, the products/services you provide, different types of websites are more suitable to allow you to better reach your target audience.
We’ll give you a rundown on some of the top types of websites and what they typically entail. By the end of this article, you’ll have a better idea of what to make a website about, and some insight into how to make it awesome. Whether you own a business or run a passion project, having a website is a must.
If you’re looking for inspiration for all the different types of websites out there, you’re in the right place.
Here we delve into the top 10 most common types of websites for businesses, each type is better suited for a different type of business depending on your products and/or services.
1. Business Informational Website
Business websites are the largest and most diverse website type. Because there are numerous types of businesses you can start, website requirements will vary on a case-by-case basis. However, here are some of the main features that business owners need, beyond what’s already provided by brochure or portfolio websites: maps, analytics, CRM integrations, booking software, live chat, and customer reviews.
Note: e-commerce is its own category because of how different it is compared to other business types.
Some businesses, like realtors, will need to be connected to an outside database in order to display home listings. This is where price and complexity can skyrocket into the thousand dollar range.
Remember to always detail the requirements of your website before committing to a platform as some tools might not be able to offer everything you need.
Suitable for: Businesses that just need their business information available to potential customers.
2. E-commerce websites
E-commerce websites have come a long way in the last decade. Once upon a time, it was complex and pricey to get an online store up and running. Now, thanks to products like Shopify, selling online has become almost as easy as building a website. All you need is a good business idea and you can start selling.
If you’ve got a fairly complex store with many products, Shopify, WooCommerce (a popular WP plugin), and Weebly (powered by Square) are the tools you most likely want to investigate.
On the other hand, if you’re simply looking to sell a handful of products on your site, you might want to consider a website builder like Wix, Squarespace, or PageCloud, that each offer a different take on selling online.
Suitable For: Businesses that need to sell or market products online
3. Content websites (blogs, news, and media sites)
Whether you’re looking to publish one blog post per month or produce hundreds of news articles per week, the idea is the same: content websites involve adding content into pre-designed templates.
Using templates gives you the ability to modify the look and functionality of thousands of pages at once.
For the most part, blogging is fairly commoditization of data and almost every website building platforms offers a version of it. The real cost of this type of website is the design and implementation of the custom templates and the price to produce the content (hiring writers and journalists). This work can cost thousands, if not millions, of dollars.
The most popular Content Management System (CMS) is WordPress. It’s used by the smallest hobby bloggers and some of the largest brands in the world, including Tech-crunch, The New Yorker, and BBC America.
Website builders can be great alternatives to WordPress as they offer a variety of blogging features that cater to the average business needs. On the other hand, if you need something more robust, take a look at Ghost as it’s considered one of the best WordPress alternatives.
Suitable for: Technical Businesses that need to establish themselves as knowledgeable industry leaders.
4.Review Sites (Directories)
Review websites are another type of content website using templates to manage look and feel. Although you could write a bunch of reviews on a blog, the type of website we are describing here uses customer-generated reviews. To accomplish this, review platforms generally include user login so users can identify themselves in order to validate reviews.
Once again, many companies will use WordPress and leverage a template with plugins, or get a custom design built by an agency ($$$). If you’re looking for more of a plug-and-play solution, there are some niche tools like edirectory that provide you with an easy way to build a modern online directory.
Note: review sites that master their SEO can become lucrative through affiliate fees. Needless to say that this type of website requires a certain experience level and time investment.
Suitable for: Businesses that would like to differentiate themselves through customer reviews.
5. Landing Pages
If you’re not a digital marketer or you’ve never had exposure to landing pages, you might be asking yourself: how can a single page be more expensive that an entire website? Everything has to do with the features that you get when using a landing page builder.
Whether it’s A/B testing, heat maps, deep integrations, dynamic text replacement or another high-value feature, landing pages are geared towards maximizing conversions. And since these landing pages are tied to ad campaigns, improving conversion rates can be extremely valuable.
Here’s a quick example: Your Facebook ads have an average conversion rate of 5% which brings in $200K in sales. Using a landing page tool, you are able to increase your conversion rate to 6% – giving you an extra $40K in sales. You’d most likely be willing to pay $1,000 per month for that tool.
Obviously, there are different plans and solutions for every budget and business need. Most website builders and even some marketing tools (like MailChimp) offer basic landing pages.
If you’re spending $1,000+ per month on ads, you might want to consider premium tools like Instapage, Leadpages, and Unbounce.
Suitable For: Businesses that need to provide information on their products/services that then leads customers to the next step of the buying process.
6. Forums
Until the arrival of social networks, forums were one of the best ways to interact online. Think of them as a public blog where users can publish and interact with content. Reddit, Quora, and Stack Overflow are some of the most popular forums today.
Functionality for forums include, but are not limited to: user sign in, publishing, categories, voting (or liking), mentions, and threads.
Contrary to what you might be thinking, building a forum isn’t too difficult or expensive. Wix Forum and WordPress (using bbPress) both make it very affordable to create a forum that can be integrated into your existing Wix or WP site.
If you’re looking for something a little bit more tailored to the needs of forum users and that can be integrated into just about any website, Website Toolbox might be what you’re looking for.
Suitable For: Businesses that provide ongoing support to customers and need to be in constant communication and also allow customers to share information about products/services.
7. Knowledge bases
A knowledge base is a website that provides a collection of articles and guides that helps customers answer questions related to a product or service offering. A well-constructed knowledge base will categorize the content and give customers an easy way to search for the answer they are looking for.
Because of the increasing demand for knowledge bases, there are many affordable tools that offer this functionality. Typically, a knowledge base feature will be included as a part of online support software such as ZenDesk, Intercom, or Freshworks. However, the are some website builders like Wix that offer this functionality out-of-the-box.
Suitable for: Businesses that provide ongoing support to customers, especially ones providing technical products/services – and need to provide guides to share information about products/services
8.Social Networks
Social networks allow people to share pictures, videos, stories, ideas, and communicate through multiple mediums (private chats, groups, feeds, etc.).
Although they might be the type of website you frequent the most on a daily basis, building a social network is no easy task. Sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest were all built from scratch and cost millions of dollars to develop and maintain.
If at some point you had an idea for the next great social network and were limited by a shoestring budget, you could take a look Ning or Social Engine which allow you to get started for just a few dollars a month.
Suitable for: Businesses that have a community or provide community-type services.
9. Personal/Portfolio websites
Personal and brochure websites are the simplest type of website. These types of websites are essentially content (text, images, videos, etc.) displayed on a static page. Online résumés, “about me” pages, and certain small business websites fall into this category.
They can be created by using a template based builder like WordPress or by using a WYSIWYG (“what you see is what you get”) builder like PageCloud, offering you the ability to modify the layout without coding. There are also tools for very specific use cases like KickResume that allow you to build your online resume in a single click.
Note: Free websites typically come with third party branding and sit on a subdomain, eg: company name.wordpress(dot)com. This solution is not ideal if you’re aiming to look professional online.
Suitable For: Businesses that sell mainly based on their previous work and need to showcase this work to the public.
10. Content libraries
Suitable for: Businesses that provide free content to their potential customers.
Final thoughts
As you can see, with today’s modern software, it’s possible for just about anyone to build any type of website. The key is figuring your website requirements and lining them up with a tool with which you feel comfortable.
Your website can be a combination of multiple types above, depending on your need.
Reach out to us here at marketing.gy for your free consultation to figure out what type(s) of website would be best suitable for you to reach your target customer base. It’s free to get started and our team of experts will be there to help you every step of the way.
