First, let’s talk about the type of website you need.

There are several main types of websites that you could create. Each type is going to have its own design and structural requirements and its own unique purpose. Here are the main ones.

1. E-commerce Websites

Any website that sells goods online is an e-commerce site. It could be a stand-alone store or a store that’s just a small part of the business (like the Google store that sells T-shirts and cups with the Google logo).

An e-commerce site usually consists of a homepage, category pages, products pages, and a checkout page. It also has various promotional pages, a referral/loyalty program, and a customer service page where consumers go to get answers to their questions.

2. Blogs

Blogs are one of the most popular types of websites on the internet. There are over 700 million blogs online today and billions of blog posts. Blogs provide a very powerful mechanism for brands to increase brand awareness, tell their brand story, attract readers through content marketing, and make money through affiliate marketing. The two most popular blogging platforms are WordPress and Medium and many publications are built and run on them.

3. Online Courses

There are a ton of entrepreneurs that offer online courses. This is a great way to leverage your experience and expertise in a particular subject and grow an engaged audience around it.

There are stand-alone course sites that are either custom made or you can build and host them on platforms like Thinkific, Podia, or Teachable. There are also course platforms like Coursera or Udemy, where course creators upload and showcase their offerings.

4. Service Websites

This category includes any website that sells services. Think of your local tattoo artist or massage therapist. A service site usually has pages that describe its services, a homepage, and some way to checkout and book an appointment.

5. News and Trends

Online news publications are another great business model. They are sites like MSNBC or TechCrunch that offer their readers news articles about a variety of subjects. Some news sites have online shops where they not only sell subscriptions to the site but the various products that they write about.

6. Personal Portfolio or CV

A lot of freelancers or consultants create their own personal portfolios or resume sites. These are sites that showcase their work, their projects, and have a simple contact form. They are meant to showcase their personality, attract potential buyers, or promote a newsletter.

7. Review Sites

Online reviews are increasingly becoming a powerful tool for e-commerce. Studies show that 93% of consumers use online reviews to make shopping decisions.

There are review sites like Yelp or smaller review blogs. E-commerce platforms also use product reviews on every product and category page. Amazon reviews are the most famous example of that.

8. Event Sites

Events sites are a subset of services. They are websites that display various events, both online and offline, and sometimes sell tickets to these events.

Website Topics

One way to pick the best type of website you want to create is to narrow it down to a few specific website best content topics that you want to cover. Select your topics based on the following questions:

• Is your site going to be content-heavy?
• Are you going to sell physical products or services?
• Will you be writing news?
• What is the purpose of your website?
• Which industries are you most familiar with?

Once you answer these questions, you’ll have a better idea about the kind of website you want to create.