What is the Different Types of Websites ?

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12 Feb, 2023

Creating a website is a good step, but creating the right one is even better. Making money online is not just about online sales and dropshipping. Accelerating your growth through digital means addressing a concrete problem: which channel should you choose? What are the principles of different website types? Will the outcomes align with your investment expectations?

Decision-makers embarking on such projects are often left without adequate support. Web advice tends to be too vague, and quotes, at times, inflated for website creation services that might not be the right fit. However, for such ambitious projects, it's crucial to understand your options and strengths. This way, you can create a feasible action plan and a coherent website specification.

Having a clear understanding of the different types of websites is an excellent starting point for separating reality from fiction. Given the myriad of options available, you need to be able to define a genuine digital strategy. A well-designed website, when executed correctly, offers more than just a new distribution channel. It enables you to establish a broad online presence. Over time, this digital communication builds trust with your audience, yielding more sustainable results than a simple advertising campaign.

The MMONET not only lists and explains various website types but also guides you in choosing the one that aligns with your goals, sales objectives, and ambitions.

Showcase Website

In the fashion of a digital business card, a showcase website isn't meant for selling products or services directly. Instead, it aims to provide as much information as possible to generate interest and the intention to purchase among potential customers. Companies with showcase websites consolidate everything a customer might need:

The company's activities, along with visual representations of their work
Contact information, including addresses, phone numbers, and online contact forms
Details of products and services offered, highlighting their benefits
Sales arguments, customer reviews or video testimonials, and brand value
Contact or quote request forms to acquire new customers

Over time, internet traffic generated by natural referencing or SEO will attract an increasing number of potential customers. Curious individuals drawn in by the site's offerings or users seeking information will fill out contact forms. This process, known as generating incoming leads or inbound marketing, replaces the need for extensive advertising expenses. Many brands opt for investing in creating a showcase website instead, ensuring a steady flow of prospects to their sales teams in the long run.

Why Use a Showcase Website?

A showcase website adds credibility to companies that have one. Nowadays, before making purchases, applying for jobs, or contacting sales teams, potential prospects, candidates, customers, or investors instinctively research companies on Google to verify their existence. If your site is well-referenced locally or nationally, it improves the likelihood of attracting users actively seeking professional services in your sector, resulting in higher-quality traffic and increased conversion rates. The main advantage of this method is that it allows sales teams to connect with potential customers without the need for extensive prospecting.

Who Should Consider a Showcase Website?

A showcase website is recommended for craftsmen, service professionals, and B2B companies. Even though it doesn't facilitate direct online sales, this digital investment serves as a powerful growth lever for continuously acquiring new clients. Additionally, a well-constructed showcase website can reassure prospects, attract investors, and entice new recruits who want to learn more about your expertise and assets.

One-Page Website

Also known as a business card website, a one-page website is a simplified version of a brochure website. Typically created under budget constraints, for streamlined navigation or to offer an intuitive user experience, this website consolidates all information onto a single page, which can make search engine optimization challenging. However, focusing on creating a one-page website ensures a user-friendly interface, particularly suitable for mobile devices where users can scroll vertically to find the desired information easily.

Who Can Benefit from a One-Page Website?

One-page websites are primarily beneficial for professionals with physical locations, such as stores or workshops. These websites don't support online sales or the dissemination of extensive brand, company, or product information. They essentially serve as digital business cards, providing essential contact details and a brief overview of the business.

What Is the Purpose of a One-Page Website?

One-page websites can be linked to Google My Business pages, ensuring that your company appears in local web searches and on GPS applications, making it more accessible to potential customers. For instance, restaurants can utilize one-page websites to display menus and phone numbers, making it easier for customers to place orders or redirecting them to delivery platforms such as Deliveroo or UberEats.

Online Sales Website

Online sales represent a lucrative avenue for businesses with physical stores. Over recent years, online sales have witnessed unprecedented growth, with a significant portion of the population now making purchases online. In 2020, e-commerce accounted for 13.4% of retail sales, totaling €112 billion in revenue. As online purchases become more frequent, the average basket size also grows, leading to a decline in traditional retail revenues.

Establishing an online sales website is the ideal way to expand market reach beyond physical locations and promote products to a broader audience. Companies like Veepee (formerly Vente Privée), Amazon, Zalando, and Asos have successfully built substantial customer bases and transformed shopping habits through web marketing, effective advertising campaigns, and search engine optimization. These websites now attract millions of repeat customers daily, all without the need for physical stores.

Who Should Consider Creating an E-commerce Site?

Today, virtually anyone can create an online store with a few clicks on specialized platforms like Woocommerce, Drupal, or Prestashop. Many entrepreneurs also explore dropshipping, a practice involving the creation of an e-commerce site to resell products without managing inventory or shipping. Companies typically turn to specialized web agencies to create custom e-commerce sites with well-designed layouts, clear product categories, and comprehensive back-office functionalities.

Blog

Blogs are ideal for sharing specialized expertise in a particular field of activity, serving as a platform for enhanced visibility. The concept of the long tail effect is often emphasized in SEO. It involves targeting rare, specific, and uncompetitive search queries, which, when ranked by a blog, attract a highly qualified audience interested in the niche subject matter.

Blogs typically focus on specific topics, such as "How to Choose a Heat Pump for an Above-Ground Pool." These specialized articles drive regular traffic from users genuinely seeking information. The author of the blog gains visibility and builds their reputation in the process.

How Can Businesses Utilize Blogs?

When visitors exhibit a particular interest in a blog's subject matter, they are considered potential prospects. Companies can leverage this interest by promoting products or services related to users' search queries. Many brands engage in product comparisons and collaborate with bloggers to create quality content. Maintaining a consistent schedule of well-crafted blog posts can drive more traffic to the blog and, consequently, increase sales on the company's website.

Who Can Create a Blog?

Creating a blog requires minimal technical expertise and only demands an interest or passion to share. Companies can easily integrate a blog into their showcase or e-commerce websites using platforms like WordPress, Wix, or Shopify. Patience and compelling content are essential to captivate and retain readers.

Institutional Site

An institutional site, also known as a corporate site, aims to enhance the image of an organization. It provides information about the company's values, news, activity reports, financial statements, CSR policies, and recruitment opportunities. Unlike e-commerce or landing pages, institutional sites don't focus on online sales but prioritize brand image management and improvement.

Difference Between a Blog and an Institutional Site

While both blogs and institutional sites offer rich content and information, the latter focuses on the company or organization and its actions to garner approval from target audiences. These audiences may include the general public, employees, potential recruits, or shareholders. Blogs, on the other hand, concentrate on specific subjects.

Who Should Consider an Institutional Site?

Creating an institutional site is typically advisable for SMEs or large corporations in addition to their showcase or e-commerce websites.

Forum or Collaborative Site

Forums serve as online spaces for community members, registered users, to engage in discussions and exchanges. They are often associated with magazines or online media. Collaborative sites, like Wikipedia, Marmiton, and Avis-Vérifiés.com, rely on their community to generate the majority of their content. These sites usually generate a vast amount of user-generated content, necessitating moderators to review, edit, or approve contributions.

Who Can Create a Collaborative Platform?

Creating a forum or collaborative site is relatively straightforward, whether you're a professional or an individual. However, it's essential to recognize that building a well-known and engaging website, as well as managing content moderation, can be time-consuming. Additionally, accommodating the exponential growth in data generated by users may require a substantial budget for servers and hosting over time.

Web Application

A web application is a form of software accessible online via a website, with or without registration. Unlike mobile apps, users don't need to install web applications; they can access them directly through a website. Web applications can either function as standalone single-page experiences or integrate into existing websites.

Developing a web application requires a specific skill set and expertise, typically involving web developers (both back-end and front-end for feature development), a web project manager, a UX designer for ergonomic design, and a web integrator. For access to this expertise, companies often turn to specialized agencies, such as digital agencies, web agencies, or application development experts.

Other Types of Websites

In the world of the internet, various other types of websites exist, including mobile sites, responsive sites, wikis, intranets, and more. These terms often describe variations or versions of the website types mentioned above.

Conclusion

Recognizing different website types and their specific characteristics is a crucial initial step in creating a successful website.

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