Once you have figured out what your website is going to be about, the next question is going to be something like what kind of site is best for my business?
After all, websites vary so much these days. They can be an e-store, a blog, an online catalog or brochure, a business page, a marketing portfolio, an industry guide, or a mixture of several of these.
Your website can be anything you like, depending on what you want to achieve – do you want to attract customers to purchase goods or services perhaps? Are you looking to generate leads?
It is normal for business owners to think long and hard about what kind of website they want to have. After all, a website can make or break a business, so it is a very important decision. You will want to ensure your site appeals to your audience.
Your Website Should Complement Your Profitable Niche
A successful website is one that stands out from the crowd and creates a pleasant, unique online experience for your audience.
If you already have a profitable niche, ensure it stands out from the crowd.
One way to do this is find the best keywords in order to drive traffic your way.
So ask yourself if you plan to sell a business or service?
Do you want to write about products and earn money?
Do you want to gather leads for an existing business?
Take a look at the following questions to inspire you further, and then jot down the answers that come to mind:
- What purpose do I want my website to have?
- What types of business websites do I enjoy visiting?
- How would my audience like to interact with my business?
- Would I prefer to interact with customers via the website, in person or via social media or email?
- What would I like my audience to do on the website?
- How am I going to market my website?
Now you hopefully have some answers written down and you have some idea of what you want your website to do for you, it’s time to look at different types of websites so you can get a clearer idea about which suits your needs the best.
Remember you have a choice of whether your website is going to act as a support for your business or whether it is going to be the main part of your business.
So What Kind Of Website Should I Make?
Let’s take a look at answer to common question “What Kind Of Website Should I Make?“
#1 Blog
Think back to when blogging first became popular. Back then blogs were simply online journals where people wrote about their lives and hobbies, and shared it with whoever wanted to read.
Modern blogs are quite different however, and often people start one as a way to make money online. A blog can actually be a business in itself.
Take a look at the Akanksha Redhu lifestyle blog for example. Sher shares tips about fashion and life and makes an income from this lifestyle blog.
People who want to include affiliate links or similar advertising strategies often choose a blog format for their website.
It is also possible to earn money via sponsorships with brands, for example by writing a post for a specific brand and focusing on their products, while typing it back into your blog.
Other bloggers like to sell their own products, such as ebooks or coaching courses, on their websites.
If you are in a lifestyle industry, such as food, crafting or fashion, the content is going to be the main income source but you can also use that to branch out into other kinds of income streams.
If you want to sell your own products however, you might prefer an ecommerce website with a blog attached to it, so you have somewhere to showcase your products on the site.
#2 Affiliate Website
Instead of direct sales, you might prefer to make money through the affiliate sales of a product or service.
Affiliate links let you earn commission whenever someone buys the product or service you are linking to.
Bloggers use affiliate marketing as an additional income source but it is also possible to set up a website where the content is solely or mostly based around your affiliate links.
One potential issue with an affiliate website is that it can take a long time to become successful.
You need to work to build up the website and get potential customers to have faith in your recommendations.
This could take months and months, or even longer, depending how you go about marketing the site.
#3 Ecommerce Website
If you sell a number of products and want a website which primarily showcases those, consider an ecommerce website.
Overstock.com and Amazon.com need no introduction as two hugely successful ecommerce websites. They make most of their money through product sales and have thousands of items in stock.
If you want to do most of your selling online, an ecommerce site could be a good choice.
One drawback is that ecommerce sites aren’t as easy to set up as other types of sites like blogs. You will probably have to invest money to get it up and running.
A lot of ecommerce websites are missing the personal touch that appeals to clients.
This means you might have to reach out to clients in another way as well, perhaps via social media or a blog.
#4 Google AdSense Website
Bloggers like to implement Google AdSense into their websites to earn money when visitors click the links.
Other internet entrepreneurs prefer to develop their websites in such a way that Google AdSense is their main source of income from the site.
This typically works best if you offer something helpful that people want, such as a free photo resizing tool, just as an example.
You can make this tool completely free, and add some other content making good use of keywords to attract traffic in the first place.
Once you place the ads around the free tool (or whatever you are offering) some people will click them and you will earn money.
It can be difficult to perfect such a site though. We have all seen terrible looking websites which are a huge mess of ads obscuring half the content, and this tends to be a real turnoff for visitors.
Try to balance Google ads with useful content for the best result.
Also read: Difference Between a Wiki and a Blog
#5 A Brand or Business Website
Some companies use their website just to provide information about their business.
A brand website is more for a company that is already established. Also, since there are not many pages to optimize, it can be tricky to get a good ranking with such a website.
#6 Support Website
If your business is tech related, it might make sense to create a support website, such as the one offered by Apple.
Their support website is only there to offer technical help for various Apple products and services.
You will need a team of experts to run such a site which can work out expensive, although in the early days of your company, you could likely get away with just offering a support contact link on the main site.
#7 Lead Generation Website
This might be the model to choose if you are only using a site to get business leads.
These websites tend to be among the easiest to make, and they typically offer company branding as well as a contact form. This is a good way to generate the leads you need for your digital or physical business.
It is common for lead generation sites to have more than one page however, although the landing page is where most of the traffic will come from.
Along with the lead generation page, you might like to consider another type of business website too.
A Final Word
Regardless of the type of website you decide to make, you will need to attract traffic to your website.
Using keywords is a great way to do this, as is offering useful, unique content and linking to other high-quality websites.