What is a website?

What is a website? This is not a silly question – although everyone knows what a website is, do you know what the different types of websites are for businesses?

A website is “a connected group of pages on the World Wide Web, regarded as a single entity and usually maintained by one person or organisation and devoted to a single topic or several closely related topics”.

But there is more to it – there are several types of websites that ecommerce professionals should consider when setting up their business. Choosing which type will best suit your business’s needs – both now and in the future – can be tricky.

Website developers may try to trick clients into choosing a website that is more complicated than they require, either because it’s more simple to build or because they can charge more.

For any business, the trick is to choose the simplest form of website that suits the company’s needs. Less complex sites are easier to optimise and generally perform better.

What are the different types of websites that a business can choose from?

1. Static websites

This is the simplest form of website, where the content is delivered straight, without any processing by a server. In other words, the site acts like a brochure and there is no interaction between the user and the website.

Static websites can include complex graphics, images and animations, but they do not gather any information from the user or serve any content that depends on a user’s actions.

This type of website is increasingly rare – not many businesses (and certainly not any ecommerce businesses) want to have a static website where there is zero interaction.

2. Dynamic websites

Dynamic websites rely on server-side scripting to provide advanced interactivity. This means that the website user is active on the website and his or her actions will affect their experience of the website.

This approach is most appropriate for websites which have formulaic content, for example catalogues, photograph albums and complex data which users will be able to sort and search through.

3. Content-managed websites

The content-managed website is a take on the dymanic website – it is more refined. Using a content management system, users can add, edit and remove content from the site. This is particularly useful for sites that have numerous contributors, where some work from remote locations.

4. Ecommerce websites

This is a dyamic website which can also process financial transactions. Most ecommerce websites are built to replicate a bricks-and-mortar store, using the model of stock pages, a shopping basket system and checkout, using a secure online payment system.

Many ecommerce sites also include a content management system, so that product details can easily be added or updated.

5. Flash websites

A so-called “Flash” website enables the website to generate complex animations. Flash is software developed by Macromedia and it allows entire websites to be constructed in a visually stunning and interactive way. However, Flash websites are very bad for search engine optimisation, as the content cannot be searched by a search engine. This one is not for ecommerce professionals.