6 Types of Website


Each site in the list serves different needs and most sites fall into one or more of these categories:



Single Page Website

The web page acts as an on-line business card advertising a product or service. The page can be simple or can contain text and graphics with a theme that helps to market a business. The theme gets the viewer's attention and you provide further convincing evidence that you are offering something valuable. Information provided includes contact details so people can get in touch by telephone or e-mail.

A single page website could also be used as a portfolio page for art or photography.


Brochure Website

Examples: Hotels, Restaurants, Salons, Professional Services, Art & Photography.


Brochure sites contain a just few pages giving factual information about you and your services. They are the on-line version of traditional printed brochures but they can provide lots more information.


The design usually consists of text, pictures and internal links. Useful features include a contact form and a way to change and update the web pages whenever you want.


The page count is usually small (3 - 6 pages) and each page should have professionally written copy; good pictures and graphics; and all pull together to sell you and your business.


Each page should contain keywords so your ideal visitors can find you in the search engines. This is basic internet marketing and a well planned website can generate a lot of interest and enquiries if done right. For a quick primer see my article on Basic SEO which has some worked examples.


You want to update a website site sometimes. A "Latest News" section can keep a site fresh and prevent stagnation. For this you need an administration page to handle the updates. In the web industry this is called content management and it can be simple or complex depending on what functionality is needed. A monthly or quarterly newsletter is also something to consider because it can build customer loyalty and let people know that you keep moving and have things to tell them on a regular basis.


Brochure sites can be simple and very effective. With a good design you can leave a great impression on your visitors and ensure that they remember you in two months time when you send out your newsletter.


Gallery Website

Gallery Websites are suited to art and photography. Other people who use them include musicians, designers and estate agents.


There are hundreds of available solutions for building gallery websites that can plug into an existing site.


There are several on-line providers such as Clikpic who have all the facilities for creating and running an on-line gallery. They all offer a few templates and colour schemes to change the look of the site but the thing to look out for is pricing and image management features.

These on-line services can be expensive in the long run so do compare pricing structures.


Creating one off gallery websites can be the most expensive option for creating something unique but those who do this are usually very serious about their business image.


Ecommerce Website

Successful examples: elara.ie, amazon.com, pcworld.co.uk


There are also small hybrid websites that act as marketing tools to sell services.


Ecommerce sites are like traditional printed catalogues on steroids. They both serve the same purpose but there is much more you can do with an ecommerce website than just let people buy products or services. You can also write product reviews and articles for your visitors to inform and entertain them. If you act on the feedback provided by visitors then you have one of the best marketing tools possible.


The cost of an ecommerce site varies hugely and the final outlay may run from a few hundred into tens of thousands depending how much business you plan to do on-line and the degree of customisation that is required. If you are very successful and end up selling a lot of products then the initial cost of the site may turn out to be a good investment.


There are off the shelf scripts available for those who have the technical savvy and like to learn by themselves. It takes effort to learn how to use them so if time is not an issue they could be a good option.


Ecommerce sites need to be run and managed on a daily basis and you need to ensure that you get a system that is very easy to run.


Information Website

Examples: Government Departments, Company Intranets, Educational sites.


These sites provide information about one or more subjects. Information is categorised by subject and users begin browsing from a list of categories that is presented as a list or menu.


Categories can sometimes contain sub-categories and so on. This is when tagging is very useful because it lets people enter keywords in the site search box to return a list of items containing those keywords. If every information article is properly tagged and described then it makes the site more searchable and those searches will return results that people can read in plain everyday language.


Users should be able to find information fast. A website fitting this criteria is the Irish employment website FAS. I have used this site for 6 years and every time I go to look at the job listings it takes me about a minute to find my way into the part of the site where the jobs are located. If this is a problem for one who is well trained in computers what would it be like for someone who has little experience?


Users should also be able to quickly form a conceptual model of how the information is organised.

Layout and good navigation can act as a visual map that reflects the site structure and makes it easy for visitors to find things.


Some people run information sites about a hobby or interest they are knowledgeable about. They use google ad-sense in the sidebar to carry adverts that generate cash from clicks. This type of site is inexpensive to run and provides a great example of a site that benefits the owner and the users.


Information Website Conventions:


Use of colour coding for each subject area.

Search box and site map.

Meaningful titles for documents - visitors can read document titles in the search results.

Keywords included in the meta tags of each page to help broaden the search criteria.

Printer friendly versions of each web page provides more user value.


Community Based Web Site


Examples: Bulletin Boards (Forums), Blogs & Social Networking.


Community web sites allow people to share common interests.


These sites allow users to interact with each other and they do this by adding and editing content, sending messages and forum posting. One site that is community based is Wikipedia, the on-line encyclopaedia where users can add and edit new or existing content.


Content Management Systems (CMS) are another form of community based web site that allows non technical users to add content and publish it live. Businesses often use Content Management Systems so that members of staff take over the responsibility of running and maintaining the site. There are different levels of security for each user and permissions are granted to people depending on the seniority of their role within the company. This can save money if it is well managed and the business does not need to pay the web site creator every time they want to update the site. Content Management Systems can also help with your Search Engine Optimisation efforts because adding page Meta data is simple.


Forums are great for people who need answers to specific problems. A site that sells products of any complexity can easily add forum forum software to an existing site to build a community of customers who bought the products. This is good because it allows you to see what customers think about your business and you can use this information in the design and marketing of future product offerings.


Recently I bought a graphics tablet that came with digital painting software. The software company has a forum on their site where people post tutorials and help other painters out. Next time you need software look at the software company's web site and see what it offers by way of education, forums, free stuff etc., against that of their competitors offerings.