Originally, websites were purely informational. Before the web was opened to the public, educational and research institutions and goverment agencies were able to make information available to each other via text-only websites. Now that we have the World Wide Web, there are more types of websites than you can shake a stick at. Here we will discuss the basic types, noting that we will not include all and that there are hybrids of all those we will discuss.
1. Personal Websites
Your Internet Service Provider may offer you free server space for you to create your own website that might include some family photos and an online diary. Usually these will have a web address (URL) looking something like this: www.your-isp.com/~your-user-name/. This type of site is useful for a family, teenagers, grandparents, etc. to stay in touch with each other. This type is not advisable for a small business because the URL is not search engine friendly and the limited server capabilities your ISP offer may not be sophisticated enough for a small business website.
2. Community/social Websites
These websites build online communities of people who want to interact with other people socially or meet people who share their interests. The best known website of this type is probably MySpace.com. There is also FaceBook.com and a myriad of similar sites. For sharing and discussing mutual interests, there are online forums for practically any subject you can think of. Forum websites can be a great source of information and help for the small business person. (I'm sure there is a forum dedicated to your type of business. Just do a web search for something like real estate web forum.) Now you can see this is where we start to get into the idea of "hybrid" sites. Photo Sharing sites might also be considered community building sites, much as Blogging sites are. Can Dating Sites be considered Community Building Sites, or are they E-commerce Sites. All that is up for discussion.
3. Blogging Websites
People took the words Web Logs and shortened it to Blogs—online diaries, journals, or editorials, if you will. My, how Blogs have taken over the Internet. A person used to be outdated if he/she did not have a website, now having a blog is de rigeur. A blog owner will log-on daily, weekly, or whenever, and write about whatever is going on in their lives or business, or they may comment on politics and news. How wonderful the Internet is! Now anyone who can afford a blog can be self published and allow their thoughts to be read by anyone in the world who has online access. How important is blogging to the small business person?
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4. Informational Websites
A major informational site is wikipedia.org, the online encyclopedia. And it is unique, because it allows visitors to contribute and edit articles. Now your small business may not want such a comprehensive site, but if you have information to share of sell, an informational website would fill the bill. Suppose you have a landscaping business. You could create a website that lists plants with their definitions and planting and caring instructions. This would be helpful to people, and you would use it to lead people to your nursery. Of course you could "hybrid" this site with e-commerce and also sell your plants online.
5.Ecommerce Website
In the days before the Internet, we used the print, radio, and television media to spread the word about our businesses. Now we can cast a large net, reaching literally millions of people with just one website. With your online brochure or catalog, you can show anyone who looks for and finds your website, photos and descriptions of your products or services. To some this may sound like an Ecommerce Website, but there are many businesses that deal in products or services that are not sellable over the web—think hair-stylist, dentist, or day-care center.
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