Websites are virtual spaces containing all the information a person or company wants to spread through the Internet. They are made up, in turn, of pages that are usually linked to a general menu, and their content addresses topics related to the central theme that the site creator wants to communicate.
This very general definition makes it possible to catalog different types of websites. In this article, you will find the description and some examples of each so that you know your available options and capture the digital project you want to undertake.
We will also share the step-by-step process for creating a website and platforms that simplify this task.
Let’s get started!
What is a website?
A website is a virtual space that contains all the information that a person or company wants to spread through the Internet.
Websites are made up of pages that are usually linked to a general menu, and their content revolves around a central theme.
Google, a digital newspaper, Instagram, and the AFIP portal are examples of websites that we frequently visit.
Now, suppose we stop to think about the content of each one and the reason why we browse them. In that case, we can conclude that websites can be search engines, news portals, social networks, and institutional sites.
So far, everything seems pretty clear, but why do we usually call such sites web pages? Is there any difference? Technically yes, look at it in detail.
Difference between a website and a web page
A web page is an electronic document where we can find text, videos, and images, among other audiovisual elements. For its part, a website is a collection of those pages related to each other.
So, while you are reading this content, you are accessing the web page with the following URL: http://lgmmarketinggroup.com//blog/sitios-web and, in turn, this page belongs to the website called http://lgmmarketinggroup.com//blog.
If you continue browsing the http://lgmmarketinggroup.com/blog website, you will find other pages, such as the home page or the Guide to selling on Instagram.
As you can see, there is a technical difference; however, in everyday life, we usually refer to the website and the web page as synonyms.
Having made this clarification, let’s see the types of websites.
Types of websites
There are different types of websites that we can find on the Internet. In this article, we will describe the best known, which are:
- Institutional
- News portals
- Search engines
- Social networks
- Online stores
- Marketplaces
- Blogging
- Forums
- Microsites
- Briefcase
- Landing pages
Institutional
They are created around a brand or a public or private institution. It contains information about its structure, mission, vision, values, services, and contact forms.
Institutional website example
It is the institutional site. Among other things, the website contains information about the service provided by the company (functionalities, plan prices, etc.), its benefits, and who makes up the team.
News portals
They are characterized by disseminating the most important news of a city, a country, or the world in real time. We can also find journalistic reports with relevant information, regardless of the moment they occurred.
The structure of news portals will depend on the topics addressed by the media. In that sense, these websites may have sections on the economy, sports, entertainment, politics, and technology.
News portal example
BBC World is a news portal that belongs to the British Broadcasting Corporation. It has a network of more than 250 correspondents and more than 100 capital cities worldwide.
In addition to journalistic articles, this news website is characterized by disseminating many videos.
Finders
They are potent tools for browsing the Internet, as they help us find terms or keywords quickly. Its structure is usually quite simple: a blank rectangle with a magnifying glass on the left.
Search engine example
Google is the most visited website and the most used search engine in the world: it has 92% of the searches carried out on the Internet. Can you imagine what volume we are talking about? 5.6 billion searches a day, according to data from Hubspot.
Social networks
Social networks are websites where people and brands that have some business, work, or personal relationship interact. These platforms allow individuals to participate in one or several communities.
The structure of these websites varies depending on the objective of each social network: for example, on Tiktok, we see 100% videos, while on Twitter, text, and images predominate.
Social media example
Facebook is the most used social network globally: it has more than 2,895 million users. It is chosen above all by the so-called millennials and generation X.
See the updated list of the most used social networks in the world
Online stores
They are also known as e-commerce or online sales websites. Their objective is to sell on the Internet and generate profits for their owners.
They comprise a shopping cart and product or service files, making commercial transactions possible. They also require integrations with payment and shipping methods to offer a complete shopping experience.
Marketplaces
A marketplace is a website that connects buyers with sellers. It is usually managed through a third party. It serves as a broadcast platform for thousands of businesses and individual sellers.
A marketplace is like a large shopping center where you can find various brands, products, and prices.
Blogging
The creation of blogs dates back to the 1990s. Initially, I used these websites to share people’s thoughts, feelings, opinions, or experiences.
Today, although there are blogs that retain that initial spirit, brands use them to spread information related to their business for commercial purposes.
Forums
Suppose you want to connect with professionals in your field or discuss a problem you have at work with colleagues from other companies. In that case, a forum is an ideal website.
These spaces are an excellent option for sharing your knowledge because they are built collaboratively and can be updated anytime.
Forum example
Reddit is an excellent repository of knowledge, memes, and discussions with people worldwide. You can create rooms so that its participants talk about an assigned topic, and the users are the ones who add the content.
Microsites
They are websites dedicated to delving into a specific topic of your enterprise or institution. They are created independently of the main website because, in general, the quantity and specificity of the information demand it.
Portfolios
They are ideal websites to show the work that a professional does. It is a kind of curriculum presented more wholly and attractively.
Portfolio example
The artist uses the website to share a section with personal information and a contact page to attract our clients.
Landing pages
Landing or destination pages aim to drive users to conversion, whether they register on a form, purchase, or subscribe to a newsletter.
They are commonly used in online advertising campaigns. They are characterized by the austerity of elements and the null presence of links or vanishing points since they can cause distraction, and users leave the landing page.
SMEs, entrepreneurs, and consumers have a unique shopping experience.
How to create a website
After reviewing the most popular types of websites, now we want to tell you what are the 7 steps you have to follow to create yours.
- Establish the purpose of your site. In other words, define whether it will be an informative, commercial, institutional virtual space, or a mixture of several.
- Get a domain. It refers to the name through which your potential customers access your site. Specifically, it is the URL that you enter in the browser. Here we tell you how to create a domain in NIC America.
- Have a hosting. It is the place where your website is hosted. Read more details on this topic here.
- You are choosing a platform to create websites. The choice will depend on your level of technical knowledge, as well as your resources of time and money. Later we share some options.
- Define a structure. It means that you have to establish what the main pages of your website will be: Home, About Us, Contact, Frequently Asked Questions, etc.
- Create the content. If you want to make a blog, you have to write the first articles you will publish. If it is an institutional site, creating a page about your company’s history is essential. If it is an online store, we recommend writing excellent descriptions of your products.
- Publish and monitor. After publishing your website, you must constantly review the statistics to identify points for improvement and make the necessary adjustments. An excellent tool to do this task is Google Analytics.
Is it possible to create a website for free?
There are options to create a free website; for example, WordPress has a free version if you want to make a blog or an institutional page.
You can also do your development, but this option will only be viable if you have the necessary technical knowledge to program the website.
Regardless of the alternative, you must consider the time you invest because that is also a resource.
3 platforms to create websites
Depending on the type of website you want to create, you can use one of these options:
Stormcloud
- It is an e-commerce platform designed to create online stores through which it is possible to sell products and services online:
- It is easy to configure; you do not need technical knowledge.
- You can do a free trial.
- Integrates with various payment gateways and shipping companies
- It allows you to sell to the whole country and abroad!
- Is constantly updated
- Provide excellent support to your customers
WordPress
It is a web content management system (CMS or content management system), ideal for creating blogs or institutional pages. Some advantages of using WordPress are:
- It is an intuitive and easy-to-use platform
- Can customize it with plugins
- It is prepared for SEO so that search engines like Google index it correctly and consider it in the positioning.
Behance
It is an Adobe platform used to showcase creative work or portfolios. Among its main advantages, we can highlight the following:
- Is free
- You can connect with thousands of colleagues and create your community
- It has a section of jobs that you can apply for.
If you plan to create a website in 2022, we hope this Guide has helped you take the first step.