A website is one of the best ways to establish your presence. Your website can reach far more people than a brick-and-mortar store, and potential customers often look online to research and assess the credibility of your business. This can include looking at your website. As Bill Gates once said: “If your business is not on the Internet, then your business will be out of business.”
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What are the different types of website design?
You want to be able to market your website however, you first need to decide what type of website you want. This section looks at some of the most common website types and provides some real-world examples.
- Ecommerce websites
- Blog websites
- Brochure websites
- Business websites
- Portfolio websites
- Event website
What is an Ecommerce website?
eCommerce means the sale of goods and services over the internet. Your eCommerce website acts as an online shop that allows you to sell your products and services to anyone. With an eCommerce site, you can process orders, accept payments, as well as manage shipping and logistics. We also recommend you obtain an SSL certificate for checkout security if you have an eCommerce store. An SSL certificate authenticates the website and provides an encrypted link between the web server and the web browser, offering your customer peace of mind when entering private and sensitive information like their bank details).
Your eCommerce store needs several key features:
- Detailed product description – To sell your goods, you want to ensure your product descriptions are detailed and cover as many product specifications as possible.
- High-quality imagery – Nobody will spend time looking at your product if you have not used proper imagery. You will want to take a picture of your product on a white background to make it stand out. You can add multiple images showing the product from different angles.
- Easy site search – One of the most important aspects of any website is easy and understandable site search. The search bar needs to be easily visible and also able to narrow down the search.
- Easy navigation – Make sure your navigation is organised and easy to understand.
- Reviews – Product and company reviews help to build a business’s reputation. Always ask those that have ordered to leave a review.
Examples of Ecommerce stores
Business to consumer (B2C) – The most familiar to most people, a B2C eCommerce store allows users to buy from a business.
Image Credit – asos.com
Business to business (B2B) – B2B eCommerce websites are those which have transactions between businesses.
Image Credit – HubSpot
Consumer to consumer (C2C) – Sites that act as an intermediary coordinating an exchange of goods between two consumers. Splendid examples of C2C are eBay and Vinted.
Image Credit – Vinted.co.uk
Consumer to business – These sites allow a consumer to provide goods or services to a business. An example of this is Fiverr which allows freelancers to offer their services to businesses. The below screengrab is an example of those offering services in “eCommerce”
Image Credit – Fiverr.com
What is a blog website?
Writing blogs is a great way to share useful information with others. Your blog website’s main purpose is to educate or inform the visitor about specialised knowledge (for example DIY, cooking, or even blogs like this which inform you about website design!). Some people think that blogging is dead as the world gravitates to video, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Did you know that over 77% of internet users read blogs on WordPress alone, and over 70 million new blogs are posted monthly? That equates to around 30 blogs a second being published, now that’s a lot of information!
You can monetise your blog using AdSense where Google will place advertisements on to your blog. Google’s AdSense will serve ads on your blog page that are relevant to your blog. If you blog about travel, for instance, Google may show ads related to travel insurance, holiday destinations or even holiday clothing. Once you have signed up for AdSense, you then make ad paces available on your website by pasting a small piece of code from Google where you want the ads to appear. Advertisers will then bid on your space and Google awards the highest bidder the space and the ad appears on your site. Google then pays you.
A blog website can often offer the most flexibility in terms of build and ease of use. You do not just have a traditional blogger layout, there are many options to build off the back of a blog website. You can create static and dynamic pages. A blog can also form part of other website-types too. Having a blog section on your website is a great way of showcasing your knowledge and can even improve your search rankings if you create high-quality content in a structured way. An example of that is LOCALiQ. We have a website that encourages you to use us as a digital marketing agency as well as a blog section, where you can read blogs related to digital marketing.
Image credit – LOCALiQ Blog
What is a brochure (catalogue) website?
This type of website is for a business to display its products and services online. Your brochure website will be more simplistic than an eCommerce site as there is less information needed. Your brochure website does not have an online checkout like an eCommerce site, instead, users can click to go through to a different site to order or be given details of how to order a product or even contact the business for a quote.
If you look at our page, you can see we offer a catalogue of services for businesses. Each of these services invites you to contact us for a bespoke and tailored quote.
Image credit – LOCALiQ
What is a business website?
A business website provides information about your business and establishes your brand’s online presence. As we said at the beginning of this article, every business needs an online presence. Your online presence will give potential customers a sense of who you are and if you are trustworthy. Your business website does not need to be an eCommerce store, it could be some information about the company (name, address, phone number), the brand identifiers (logo, tagline etc), some history of the company, links to where to buy your product (especially handy if you sell your products to companies to sell), you can even include some images of your products or physical store. Look at the Topline Windows website. They include a thorough link to services as well as high-quality images highlighting their product. They even include testimonials which add further “proof” that they are a trusted supplier. This website was designed by our dedicated web dev team.
Image Source – Topline Windows
What is a portfolio website?
These websites are a fantastic way to highlight what the business or person has achieved. These websites are popular with service providers who may want to show off past work they have undertaken in the hopes of securing new business. Whereas a business website will focus on telling you all about the business in words, a portfolio website allows the graphics to do the talking. There is more emphasis on showing off the work done rather than talking about the work done.
Matrix Create is a specialist website development business. When you look at their website, you will see examples of websites they have completed. The work is laid out in a simplistic fashion highlighting high-quality websites made for others (with links to those websites).
Image Credit – Matrix Create
What is an event website?
Another popular type of website is an event website. This helps businesses to plan events and provide information for attendees. This example is from Brighton SEO which runs in-person and online conferences bi-annually. Their website allows you to purchase tickets to their in-person event as well as book for the online event.
Image Credit – Brighton SEO
Of course, your website does not have to conform to just one of the types listed above. Many websites have multiple elements that in turn provide a holistic experience for their customers. Some websites incorporate the details of a business website with a blog and eCommerce store. We specialise in website design, including eCommerce. Why not contact us today for a free consultation and see how we can help you grow your business?
Try our free website grader
Get an online health check for your business. Our grader tool will review your online presence and give you an overall digital score, plus tips on how you can improve.
