Types of Websites: 11 of the Most

Popular Types of Websites

Last updated on May 11, 2020 by Hannah Whitfield in Designing Websites | Comments {0}

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It’s thought that as many as 380 new websites are created every minute.
That’s over six websites every single second!

With so many different websites out there, it makes sense to sort them all into
many different ‘types’. In fact, when talking about types of websites, you could
write a list that goes on forever – but we’ve narrowed it down to the 11 most
common instead.

The 11 most popular types of websites

1. Blog – online journal or informational page that’s regularly updated.

2. Business – generic website detailing all areas of a business.
3. Brochure – one or two page-website displaying a company’s basic
information.
4. Crowdfunding – used for accepting ‘pledges’ and donations for any
given cause.
5. Ecommerce – website selling products or services.
6. Educational – usually an interactive website with educational
information on any given topic.
7. Media or Entertainment – regularly updated content on current affairs,
sports, and entertainment.
8. Nonprofit – similar to business websites, but encouraging visitors to
assist with any given cause.
9. Personal – online resume displaying your work experience and kills.
10. Portal – typically internal websites for schools or businesses where
users log in to systems.
11. Portfolio – online portfolio displaying your creative work.
A blog is a website that’s regularly updated, run by one person or a small
group, and is normally written in a laid-back style.

In terms of the content, when it comes to blogging, the world really is your
oyster. Hell, there’s even a blog about oysters!

Even if your site won’t be a blog, it’s still a handy extra feature to add interest
and authority to your site. Just make sure you’re committed to keeping it fresh
and updated!

Find out more:

The 9 Best Blogging Platforms – Which is the best blogger?

How to Start a Blog in 2020 –  The complete beginner’s guide.

How to Start a WordPress Blog – WordPress knows best, but how does it
work?
A business website is any kind of website that represents your business.
Even small local businesses need a simple online presence (see ‘Brochure’
below) to be taken seriously in today’s digitally-minded world.

A website is one of the easiest ways to show what your business is all about,
and find those all-important new customers. Your website should have an
about page, and details of how people can find you. After that, the sky’s the
limit. Check out our ‘Ecommerce’ section below for businesses that plan to
sell directly through their website.

How to Build a Business Website – 8 easy steps to online success.

9 Best Small Business Website Builders – Which one is right for you?
When categorizing websites by functionality, a ‘brochure’ website is the
simplest type. Brochure websites typically only have a few pages, and are
used by small businesses that need a simple online presence. They
effectively act as an online brochure, giving an overview of what the business
is, and how you can get in touch. The content on these websites is generally
pretty ‘static’ – that’s to say it’s rarely updated.

Find out more: Compare the Best Business Website Builders

Crowdfunding is the modern way to fund your idea. From the sublime to the
ridiculous, crowdfunding was the secret to bringing everything from fidget
cubes to meat soap to market.
Crowdfunding websites work by taking ‘pledges’ of different amounts from lots
of people, in order to hit the target amount needed to produce the product.
Popular crowdfunding websites include Kickstarter and Crowdcube.

n ecommerce website is any website that directly sells a product or service.

Not to be confused with a business website, with an ecommerce website you
can add products or services into your cart, and pay for them through the site.
Ecommerce makes up an ever-increasing portion of sales in the US.

Find out more:

5 Best Ecommerce Website Builders of 2020 –  Which platform should you

sell with?

10 Best Ecommerce Website Builders for Small Business – Sell today and
start growing.

9 Best Free Ecommerce Platforms of 2020 – Save while selling online.

14 Types of Ecommerce Businesses – Learn more about the industry trends.

 
The term ‘educational’ covers a broad range of websites.

Educational websites use any combination of games, articles, videos and

images to educate their audience. These might be geared towards fun
learning for children, or offer courses to adults, such as Coursera and EdX.

Media websites contain regularly updated content on current affairs, weather,

sports and entertainment. News sites like CNN and entertainment sites
like ELLE both fall into this category.
The content on media sites is dynamic, meaning it’s updated regularly. Big
media sites will publish multiple articles and videos every single day.

Nonprofits may not be classed as businesses in the same way, but they still
need a website. These will generally be quite simple, outlining what the
nonprofit is about and showing visitors how they can get involved, donate, or
support in some other way. Nonprofit websites will 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.
ou might have heard the phrase ‘personal brand’ bandied around, and having
a website can form a huge part of this.

Share pictures, share thoughts, or treat your site like a digital CV. The choice
is yours!

You don’t need to be a creative (see ‘Portfolio’ below) or a blogger (see ‘Blog’
above) to benefit from having your own website – and you don’t even need to
spend any money making one.

Find out more:

How to Make an Online Resume – Build your reputation online today.

5 Best Resume Builder Websites in 2020 – Create a killer resume online.

Portal websites, like Yahoo, bring together information from lots of different

sites and present them in one place.

Web portals can be internal websites for organizations like schools, or for big
businesses. It’s a centralized place to share news, training and updates, and
for students or employees to access their emails and files. Users will need
their own specific login to access these portals.
If you’re a writer, artist or designer, you’ll want to go one step further than a
personal website – this is where a portfolio website can help.

These are a way for creatives to showcase their work to future employees,
market themselves as freelancers, and generally get their name (and work)
out into the big wide world.

Find out more: 9 Best Portfolio Website Builders

Go to the top 

We’ve taken you on a whistle-stop tour of 11 of the most popular types of

websites around today.

In the time it’s taken you to read this article, around 1,997 new websites have
been created. If you’re yet to create yours, why wait? You can draw some
inspiration from our picks:

The 11 most popular types of websites

1. Blog. A regularly updated, casual stream of content.

2. Business. A place for customers or clients to find more information
about a business online.
3. Brochure. A simple, informational site that’s particularly apt for small
businesses.
4. Crowdfunding. A fundraising site to help bring your ideas to life.
 5. Ecommerce. A site that sells a product or service directly. 
6. Educational. A website that’s made to help people learn things!
7. Media or Entertainment. A site featuring regularly updated content on
current events.
8. Nonprofit. A site that makes it easier for visitors to support the
organization.
9. Personal. A site that functions as a portfolio, a CV, or just a space for
your thoughts.
10. Portal. An organized presentation of information from across the
web.
11. Portfolio. More in-depth than a personal website!
Find out more:

How to Build a Website: the Step-by-Step Guide to Easy Setup

Tips for Working with a Web Designer

Popular Ways of Building Websites

Go to the top 

Now you have an idea of the different types of websites available, let’s take a
quick look at how they’re built.

When it comes to building a website, there are two different routes:

1. CMS

The first option is to build a website using a Content Management System

(CMS), such as WordPress. You can do this yourself by
downloading WordPress or another CMS system, buying a template, and
building your site using code. You’ll need to pay for a domain name, and to
host your website too.

There are advantages to building a site this way, but you’ll need some
technical know-how to get you there. If you choose to enlist a web designer to
build your site, this is the route they’ll probably choose.

2. Website Builder
Website builders are online platforms that let users create their own website
based on a selection of templates. You don’t need to know how to code to use
a website builder – they’re generally really easy to use, and you’ll pay a
monthly fee to keep them going. They’re perfect for business websites,
ecommerce websites, blogs and portfolios. More complex websites – think
portals and media sites – will most likely need to be built with a CMS system.

Not all website builders were created equal, though. And if you’re going to
commit to using one for your website, you’ll want to know it’s the best one for
the job.

That’s where we can help.

We’ve carried out extensive research into website builders over the last few
years. We paid for plans with all the biggest website builders, and got
everyday people to use them and give us their feedback. We’ve compared
features, and compared prices too. Read our guide to the best website
builders to see what we found.

FAQs
1. How much does a website cost? This really depends on what type of
website you need, and how you want to go about building it. Many
website builders offer free plans, so you could get a website live without
paying a cent. More complex websites will require work from a web
designer and/or a web developer, and could cost upwards of $10,000.
2. Which websites are best to build with a CMS? A CMS is a must for
large-scale websites that churn out a lot of content regularly, such as
portal sites, media sites and extensive blogs.
3. Which websites are best to built with a website builder? Smaller, more
personal blogs are easy to set up with website builders. Website
builders are also ideal for portfolios, brochures, nonprofits, and local
business sites. If you’re posting a manageable amount of content, then
website builders are an easy way to display that content beautifully.
4. Which is the best website builder for e-commerce websites? Shopify is
the best all-around ecommerce website builder on the market,
combining awesome sales tools with an easy-to-use functionality.
However, Wix eCommerce is a brilliant option if you want to create a
stunning website and sell a few products.
Source: https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/designing-websites/types-of-websites/