Discover how many types of websites are there and what are their main characteristics.
This post is loaded with information for you to solve all your questions about what types of websites exist. Take note so that you can distinguish the type of website that best suits your business.
What is a website and how can you classify it?
Websites. You use them all the time, some more often than others. Surely, some of them you love to browse while others seem like a nightmare. However, despite your closeness to them, it is possible that you cannot define what a web page is.
A web page or electronic page is a document capable of containing text, sound, video, audio, programs, links, images, hyperlinks adapted to the Word Wide Web (www). You can access them through a web browser.
It is very common to confuse a web page with a website, but they are not the same, because a website is made up of different web pages. One of the main characteristics of a web page is that it has only one URL, while a website contains several URLs.
To differentiate them, you can try navigating the website of a university, that surely is conformed by different pages like: inscriptions, school control, the pages of each department, among others.
Surely, you notice that not all pages are the same, beyond the design they have characteristics that define and distinguish between them. Here we present a classification considering three factors: structure, technology and objective.
Types of websites according to their structure
Depending on their structure we can find two types of websites: static and dynamic.
Static web pages are those in which the user cannot make any interaction. Its operation is very simple; the user accesses it and the server only downloads an HTML file in the browser, it is as simple as downloading a PDF.
You are probably more familiar with dynamic web pages, as the vast majority are designed that way. Their main feature is that they allow the user to interact with the page, either by selecting options from a menu or by filling in information.
Of course, their construction is much more complex and used to require specialized technical knowledge to build them; today it is possible for anyone to have their own without needing to know how to code, since they can use different graphic interface programs or site builders such as Duda, GoDaddy, Shopify or WordPress.
Types of websites according to their technology
Regardless of the complexity of their construction, we can also divide web pages according to the technology used in them. In this sense there are three types: HTML, PHP and HTML5.
- HTML. HTML is a programming language, from which Internet pages can be built. It only allows the construction of simple pages, so most of the pages built with this language are static. They can be combined with CSS for better visual effects.
- PHP. This is another programming language, a little more complex, it allows the creation of interactive pages, which is why most of the pages on the web are created with this language. This programming language is characterized by organizing information in databases.
- HTML5, WebGL and WebAssembly. These three are the open source programming languages that came to replace Flash, since it ceased to be updated on December 31, 2020. Many of the websites built with Flash migrated to these protocols.
The pages developed with these languages allow the incorporation of videos, images, animations and sound, in general they are very colorful, but correct an error that existed with the pages created with Flash; they had a difficult time appearing on search engines.
Now with HTML5, WebGL and WebAssembly you get a page as dynamic as those designed with Flash, but with the possibility of positioning it in search results.
Types of pages according to their purpose
If you are about to create your own website, you do not have to base your decision on the language or the structure of the site, because regularly, the most important thing to consider when creating your website is the purpose of it. That is to say, you have to answer one question: why do I want a website?
Depending on the possible answers to this question, there are types of websites that are designed to help you meet your goal. You can choose between:
1. Blog
This type of website is designed to disclose and prioritizes text entries. They are usually focused on showing information about a specific topic. They are ideal as a portfolio for writers, but they are also good for news or tutorial sites.
It is very easy to get a free blog as both Blogger and WordPress offer a free version, but if you want to position yourself quickly and project a professional image, we suggest you hire a premium version and register your own domain. You do not need very specialized technical knowledge to have a website of this type, because the interface is very intuitive.
2. Corporate website
The purpose of these sites is to present general information about the company, highlighting location, services, prices and contact information, but they are not focused on making transactions of services or products. Its construction is simple and you can create it with platforms such as WordPress or Wix.
3. Web shop (Online store)
Web shops or online stores are web pages designed specifically for making transactions, usually with an online shopping cart option and a payment method.
There are different subtypes: B2C or sale to the final consumer, B2B sale to entrepreneurs or wholesalers, B2A sale to public administration and Marketplace, in which different retailers offer their products to final consumers on the same platform. Amazon, Facebook Marketplace and Mercado Libre are websites of this type.
Because of its characteristics, it is a much more difficult site to build, however today there are online platforms that help you to build an online store, for example Shopify or Duda.
4. Forum
They are websites where the main objective is to promote discussion on a specific topic.
5. Governmental site
They are the official websites of each government, and they can have two objectives: to provide official government information to the citizens or to provide services. A clear example of these websites is Curp.mx which provides your population registry key number after filling out a questionnaire.
6. Wikis
This type of websites are characterized by the fact that users can create and modify the content from their own browser. The most famous website of this type is Wikipedia.
7. Educational websites
Since a few years ago, websites focused on offering educational services and functioning as virtual classrooms have become popular; this type of sites besides containing multimedia content, prioritizes user interaction.
Today, with the confinement due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the demand for these sites has increased exponentially. Examples of such sites are LearnAla, Moodle or Google Classroom.
8. Comparative websites
In recent years these websites have also become rapidly popular, due to their objective, which focuses on comparing and presenting the price and quality of a given service from different sites.
The success of sites such as Trivago or Rastreator, for example, is due to the fact that they help the Internet user to save valuable time.
You can see that the possibilities of websites are endless and the best thing to do is to think about how having a website can help your business. Maybe your business is not ready for an online store, but a corporate website can be a great option.
In our guide section, you can find some tips to help you make a website.
Tell us if you know another type of website, we are happy to hear from you!
