What Types of Websites Fit Your Business Model?

Should You Create a Blog? ... or Maybe a Minisite? ... How About a Content Website?

When choosing between the different types of websites, much depends on what type of online business you want to build. You might create a blog focused on reviewing affiliate products... or a minisite to sell your own product... or a content website about your passion or hobby.

Making the right choice — in other words, matching the website to your business model — is essential. So this page will describe the different kinds of websites and give an overview of how you might build them.

In researching this topic, I found that there are many ways to classify types of websites. I don't claim to have the best way. But the classifications I use on this page and throughout the site are uniquely suited to the discussion of an online home business, and all models I am familiar with.

In the sections below, I'll give you an overview of the different types of websites you might build for your online home business. Over time, I'll be adding separate pages for each type of website, that go into a bit more detail.

How to Create a Website

Be sure to follow any links you find below to learn more about your options for building each type of website, plus tips and recommended resources for each type.

Blog Type Site. Blogs started out on the Web primarily as personal diary type websites, where owners would journal about their lives, their interests or their opinions. Over time, blogging software functionality has been re-purposed for other types of sites, including content sites, Google Adsense sites and more. Blog websites are fairly easy to create and search engines tend to like them, so traffic can come easier and more quickly. Building a blog isn't a guarantee of success, however... it still takes time and lots of hard work. Learn more about how to create a blog website

Minisite. Another type of website is what is known as a minisite. Most minisites are kind of like a content site "light." They have usually 5 to 10 articles or content pages on them besides a home page. Purpose varies, but often they are there mainly to make money from affiliate links and Google Adsense ads. Wildly successful at one point in time, they're not favored that much by search engines any more, so making money from free search engine traffic is pretty difficult. But if you use other methods to publicize your website, a minisite can still work well. You can create them with blogging software or build them with HTML software. Learn more about how to create a minisite

Sales Site for One Product/Service. If you're selling a product or service, you usually have one main web page, called a sales page. It's generally quite long (at least 2 or 3 screen scrolls worth). There may be some associated pages, such as a content page, terms of service, affiliate pages, etc., but for the most part the website is that one sales page. Creating this type of site requires excellent sales writing skills and professional-quality graphics. Learn more about how to create a salespage type website

Informational Content Website. Content websites are my specialty. Usually focused on one tight niche (such as online home business, like this one), they provide in-depth content about all the aspects of a particular topic. The emphasis is on lots of free content, usually at least 50 pages worth. There are lots of ways to create a content website; I think Site Build It is one of the best. Learn more about creating a content website

Social Community. In the last few years, the Web has become much more about being social than anything else. As a result, more and more social community type websites are springing up. Certainly, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are some of the best known and the largest. But there is also a place for niche-focused social communities. And thanks to software like Ning, creating your own niche social community is becoming pretty easy. Learn more about creating your own social community

Special Interest Forum. Forums are another form of a social community, a more traditional form. In fact, my first exposure to the Web (like many of my generation) was to bulletin boards, which were a sort of precursor to today's ubiquitous forums. Forums tend to be very niche-focused, and often build very devoted bases of fans and contributors. It can be another way to go with building your own website-based business. Learn more about building a forum

Membership Site. Another kind of content website is the membership site. With this type of website, you are still providing content, but it's protected behind a password, which you might unlock in exchange for your members' email adddresses (to build a mailing list) or you might charge them a fee. If you have enough high value content, a membership site can be quite lucrative to run. And they're not that much harder to build than a regular content website. Learn more about the ins and outs of membership sites

Landing Page for List Building. Some websites are even smaller than the salespage type site. They consist of a short page with a small amount of text and an optin box to get someone to sign up to a mailing list. They can be used both for your own products and for affiliate products. Super easy to throw up, but again, you'll need a way to promote them as search engines won't give them much weight. Learn more about putting up landing pages

Storefront. You can even sell multiple products on the Web, in the form of a storefront. Think Amazon.com, but less complex and more niche-focused. There are a number of ways to put up a storefront, including Yahoo Stores, software, remotely-hosted sites like Cafe Press, Zazzle and Etsy and more. Succeeding with these types of websites takes more than just slapping up a store, though. Learn more about how to set up a storefront online

Combination Types of Websites. Perhaps some of the most successful websites combine two or more of the types of websites described above. For instance, most of my content websites also have a companion blog. One of them also has a forum. It can be a way to leverage your success in one area. Learn more about combination websites

In Summary...

As you can see, there are many types of websites you can consider as you plan your online home business. Thoroughly explore each type and weigh the pros and cons against your business goals, your skills, and your budget. And remember, you can always try different types of website for your future projects!