It's interesting: around 380 new websites are created every minute.
Websites can be categorized by functionality, design, and content. That means an editor, a web developer, and a casual shopper would each describe the types of websites differently. Here is a clear guide to the most popular types.
Popular Types of Websites
It isn't realistic to list every single type of website, but this guide covers the main categories. Bear in mind that most websites fit into one or more of these categories:
- Portal
- News
- Business/Marketing
- Blog
- Wiki
- Educational
- Media / Entertainment
- Advocacy
- Web application
- Content aggregator
- Personal
1. Portal
A website that offers a variety of internet services from a single, convenient location.
- Online community: A website that brings together people with similar interests or relationships. Popular portals have included AltaVista, AOL, Excite, iGoogle, Lycos, MSN and Yahoo!
- Wireless portal: A portal designed for internet-capable mobile devices.
2. News
News websites publish stories and articles about current events, life, money, sports and weather, and often provide summaries of printed articles.
3. Business / Marketing
A business website promotes or sells products or services. Many businesses also let you buy their products or services online, and industries like real estate rely heavily on this type of website. Need one? See our website design and development services.
4. Blog
A blog is a regularly updated website run by one person or a small group, usually written in a relaxed style.
Weblog: An informal website made of time-stamped posts in a diary or journal format, usually listed in reverse chronological order. It reflects the interests, opinions and personality of the author and sometimes its visitors.
Related terms:
- Vlog: a video blog that contains video clips
- Microblog: allows users to publish short messages
- Blogosphere: the worldwide collection of blogs
- Vlogosphere: all vlogs worldwide
- Blogger: a blog author
- Vlogger: a vlog author
5. Wiki
A collaborative website that lets users create, add to, modify, or delete content through their web browser. Wikis are open to modification by the public. Unlike a blog, where readers cannot edit the author's posts, anyone can edit a wiki. Examples include Wikipedia, Foodista and wikiHow.
6. Educational
Educational websites cover a broad range of formal and informal learning. They use games, articles, videos and images to teach their audience, from fun learning for children to courses for adults such as Coursera and edX.
7. Entertainment / Media
Entertainment websites offer an interactive, engaging environment. A media-sharing website is a type of online social network where members share photos, music and videos. Media sites are updated regularly, and big media sites publish multiple articles and videos every day. Popular examples include Flickr and YouTube.
8. Advocacy
Advocacy websites describe a cause, opinion or idea, and usually present the views of a particular group or association.
9. Web Application
A web application lets users access and interact with software through a web browser on any internet-connected device. Examples include Google Docs (word processing, spreadsheets, presentations), online tax preparation tools and web-based email.
10. Content Aggregator
A content aggregator gathers and organizes web content and distributes it to subscribers, either free or for a fee. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a common format aggregators use to distribute content.
11. Personal
People publish personal websites for many reasons, often to share their life experiences with the world. A website can also be a big part of your personal brand: share pictures and thoughts, or treat it like a digital CV.
Portfolio: Writers, artists and designers can go one step further with a portfolio website to showcase their work to future employers, market themselves as freelancers, and get their name and work out into the world.
We hope this guide gave you a clear answer about the different types of websites. Learn more about the importance of websites and the importance of SEO.
