Internet Marketing and eCommerce Expert – Nigel Burke's Blog

There are hundreds of options available when it comes to developing a website but which one should you choose? This article is dedicated to describing the main types of websites that are available and how to pick the most suitable type.

A couple of things first before we look at what’s available, you need to answer the following questions

What is the purpose of the website?
Is the purpose of the website to sell products online, take bookings or simply provide information to your customers?

How often will you update it?
Some website are updated everyday while otherwise are only updated once a year. Will the updated be done by your web developer or do you want to do it yourself?

What is your budget?
Do you have any idea how much your website is going to cost? There are a lot of people that just want to take your money, but there are also people who will give you a fair price for a good website. Get multiple quotes and trust your instinct.

The types of websites available
Websites can be broken into the following three types -

Static website
This is a website with one page up to a dozen pages with a contact us form. This is ideal for small businesses that want a web presence without a large investment in developing the site and ongoing fees.

Site updates are done only a couple times a year. I do not recommend leaving a site without any changes for longer than 12 months. You want to demonstrate to customers that you have an up-to-date website with current information on your website.

You can make this website yourself using a website builder or have it professional designed by a web designer.

Flash websites would be included in this website type because changes usually need to be done in Adobe Flash.

It is commonly referred to as a brochure website because it’s purpose is similar to a printed brochure.

Content Management System (CMS)
CMS websites are template driven and suitable for websites that are update often. It could be updated a couple a times a day or a couple times a month. These websites consist of two areas – the public website that everyone sees and an administration area to manage the content.

CMS websites require more investment to setup but updates can be done more easily. With little training, the business owner, receptionist or other employee can update the site. The user simply adds, modifies or deletes the content through the web-based administration area. The web developer is only required to make major changes such as modifying the template.

Examples of open source content management systems include – WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. Some companies create their own CMS software but requires a large budget and more time to develop.

Shopping Cart System
Online shopping carts are very popular today enabling small businesses to compete with the big guys. Customers are comfortable purchasing online and paying by credit card. Many online stores have started as owner operators and expanded into large businesses employing hundreds of people.

Shopping carts can range from one page order forms – a static web page suitable for 10 products or less; or full e-commerce systems (suitable for 10 to 50,000 products) with backend administration capabilities to add, modify or delete products.

Examples of open source shopping carts include – CartXpress, osCommerce, Magento, CRE Loaded and Zen Cart.

Website designs
There are two popular types of website designs available – custom design and templates. A custom design may be suitable to give your website the same look and feel as the rest of your business. Website templates allow you to see what you get before the project is started. Website templates are available for all types.

You can browse our templates here – Template Shop.

Wrap up
You may use one type of website or a combination of website types within the one website. Some website have a static section, an online store and a blog (CMS).It all depends on what your needs are.

Before you talk to any website developers or designers, know the purpose of your website and browse the web to get some ideas. This will be very helpful when you talk to your web developer.