Let’s get started. Before you even choose a website or business name and logo, you have to know what kind of website you need and the best and easiest website builder for you. Are you looking to sell products or services? Do you want a one-page website template? Let’s dig in and find what is best for you.
A Quick Summary:
The type of website you need depends on your website and business goals. After that, each type of website will tell you what kinds of pages you need to feature. And then, when you decide what type of website you need, you can determine which website builder to use. Keep reading to figure out 1) what type of website you need 2) which pages you need 3) the website builder that best fits your needs.
Your next steps:
If you already have a website, you can skip this article!
If you don’t yet have a website, keep reading to figure out which type of website best fits your goals.
The 7 Types of Websites (Which one do you need?)
Each section below is broken down by website type, website goal, page types, and possible website builder. Enjoy!
01. The Blog
Is this you? The blog’s goal is to share life updates. Interestingly, the word “blog” started from the phrase “web log”, which was just that – a web log. If you are looking to start a blog, you are more interested in life updates, less interested in SEO. You are not interested in selling products or sharing a podcast. (Don’t be confused – a lot of websites have “blog” pages, which offer a space to write articles. This is different than then the entire site’s goal just being a blog.)
If this is you, then you need…
The Blog – Best Page Types
- Homepage
- Blog Pages
- About Page
- Contact Page
The Blog – Best and Easiest Website Builder
Because your goal is to generate a lot of content, WordPress is the best option for the blog. This allows you to customize your blog pages and have dozends to hundreds of posts. Another free option is Google Blogger, but this will limit you in SEO reach, user experience, and customizations. Squarespace’s blogging interface is not as robust as WordPress, so might also frustrate the long-term blogger.
02. Niche Websites
Niche websites are blog-like sites that revolve around one topic, and rely on SEO to make them the go-to site for that one topu. Topics here include: recipe blogs, tutorial sites, home repair and DIY, crafts, etc. These websites are focused on SEO, and needs excellent search mechanisms, and indexes for their topics.. The goal of this website is most likely to earn money from advertisements and product sales.
If this is you, then you need…
The Niche Site – Best Page Types
- Homepage
- Blog Pages
- Templated Page Types
- About Page
- Contact Page
- Topic Indexes
- Possible Shop Page to sell products and merchandise
The Niche Site – Best and Easiest Website Builder
The niche website will not be satisfied with anything other than WordPress. You need advanced segmentation to categorize topics, an advanced Recipe plugin for your recipe cards, and a searchable index for your hundredds of articles. These are only found with WordPress.
03. The Magazine and News Site
The news site is going to generate multiple articles a day, focused on breaking news. They will probably have the largest number of articles of all of these types. Their articles will most likely be shorter, but will generate a ton of traffic from devoted readers. This website type will be dependent on SEO, social media, and newsletter traffic. The goal of this website is most likely to earn money from advertisements and news subscriptions.
If this is you, then you need…
Magazine and News – Best Page Types
- Homepage
- Article Pages (and unique article templates)
- About Page
- Contact Page
- Archive pages dedicated to article categories
Magazine and News – Best and Easiest Website Builder
The news and magazine website will not be satisfied with anything other than WordPress. You need advanced categorization, an RSS builder to share content, Ajax Load Posts for continual content, and article templates for different types of artices. WordPress has the most robust options for these.
04. The One-Page Website
A lot of websites only need one page, that can share different sections of information: the company’s goal, a contact box, and services and pricing. This type of website is great for simple service-based websites, and can be built on multiple platforms.
If this is you, then you need…
The One-Page – Best Page Types
- One Single Page – including about, contact, services
The One-Page – Best and Easiest Website Builder
The one-page website can be built on multiple platforms. My favorite suggestion for this website type is Squarespace, because the site won’t need extensive article customizations. Instead, Squarespace offers an affordable simple set-up for this site.
05. ECommerce
The shop that sells products and services needs an interface that can sustain ECommerce. The shop might produce some articles, but mostly is dependent and product SEO for sales.
If this is you, then you need…
ECommerce – Best Page Types
- Homepage
- Possible Blog Pages
- About Page
- Contact Page
- Shop/Product Pages
The ECommerce – Best and Easiest Website Builder
Both Squarespace and WordPress have Ecommerce options. Squarespace’s are more limited and can only use their own commerce integration. And the lowest tier of Squarespace doesn’t include commerce options. WordPress on the other hand has unlimited options with Woocommerce, Shopify, Easy Digital Downloads, BigCommerce, and MemberPress. Because of the unlimited custom options, I recommend WordPress for commerce sites.
06. The Membership & Forum Site
Some website’s goal is to create a subscription or community that welcomes members. This site will earn money from a membership fee, and offer courses or resources to its members, depending on it’s contents.
If this is you, then you need…
The Membership & Forum – Best Page Types
- Homepage
- Possible Blog Pages
- About Page
- Contact Page
- Course/Resources Pages
- Integrated Forum
- Membership builder
The Membership & Forum – Best and Easiest Website Builder
There are a lot of website builders that claim to be the best for membership and forum sites. WIX is one of them. But with it’s steep cost and limited customization, I never recommend WIX. Squarespace has a member-area with custom content, but is far more limited than WordPress. WordPress is the most customizable and scalable option. I have seen some fabulous WordPress custom member and forum sites, so because of these reasons I recommend WordPress.
07. The Portfolio
The portfolio is built to showcase design – either art, creative mediums, or home design and decor. All of these need a beautiful showcase with minimal written content. Most likely, these websites are built to attract fans and make connections, not earn money through advertisements.
If this is you, then you need…
The Portfolio – Best Page Types
- Homepage
- Blog Pages
- About Page
- Portfolio
The Portfolio – Best and Easiest Website Builder
I believe that a portfolio website can be very easily built with WIX or Squarespace, and might not need more than those two website builders offer. Because I prefer Squarespace’s pricing, I would recommend Squarespace to the portfolio site.
Please share below any other website types and your recommendations for the best website builder!
