Starting a new business can be challenging, but not for the reasons you think.
Most people believe that running the business, managing a team, and doing the financials is the hardest part. But for a lot of entrepreneurs, the first hurdle is setting up the website.
A lot of business owners get overwhelmed by the idea of having to set up their site. Luckily, you don’t need to learn how to code to get your site going. But there are still a lot of steps and things to learn.
In this article, we’ll cover all the various types of websites you could build, site ideas to get your creative juices flowing, and helpful tips on how to make this process a breeze.
Let’s dive in.
Website Ideas
First, let’s talk about the type of website you need.
There are several main types of websites that you could create. Each type is going to have its own design and structural requirements and its own unique purpose. Here are the main ones.
1. E-commerce Websites
Any website that sells goods online is an e-commerce site. It could be a stand-alone store or a store that’s just a small part of the business (like the Google store that sells T-shirts and cups with the Google logo).
You don’t need to know coding to start your e-commerce development. You can hire and expert company in websites development to create yours. And if you are experienced coder, you can create your own custom application development with your own specifications and features from scratch.
An e-commerce site usually consists of a homepage, category pages, products pages, and a checkout page. It also has various promotional pages, a referral/loyalty program, and a customer service page where consumers go to get answers to their questions.
2. Blogs
Blogs are one of the most popular types of websites on the internet. There are over 600 million blogs online today and billions of blog posts. Blogs provide a very powerful mechanism for brands to increase brand awareness, tell their brand story, attract readers through content marketing creation, and make money through affiliate marketing. The two most popular blogging platforms are WordPress and Medium and many publications are built and run on them.
3. Online Courses
There are a ton of entrepreneurs that offer online courses. This is a great way to leverage your experience and expertise in a particular subject and grow an engaged audience around it.
There are stand-alone course sites that are either custom made applications or you can build and host them on platforms like Thinkific, Podia, or Teachable. There are also course platforms like Coursera or Udemy, where course creators upload and showcase their offerings.
4. Service Websites
This category includes any website that sells services. Think of your local tattoo artist or massage therapist. A service site usually has pages that describe its services, a homepage, and some way to checkout and book an appointment.
You can hire a custom application development company or a website development agency and some people call it, website design company, to help you and advise before starting your blog.
5. News and Trends
Online news publications are another great business model. They are sites like MSNBC or TechCrunch that offer their readers news articles about a variety of subjects. Some news sites have online shops where they not only sell subscriptions to the site but the various products that they write about.
6. Personal Portfolio or CV
A lot of freelancers or consultants create their own personal portfolios or resume sites. These are sites that showcase their work, their projects, and have a simple contact form. They are meant to showcase their personality, attract potential buyers, or promote a newsletter.
7. Review Sites
Online reviews are increasingly becoming a powerful tool for e-commerce websites. Studies show that 93% of consumers use online reviews to make shopping decisions.
There are review sites like Yelp or smaller review blogs. E-commerce platforms also use product reviews on every product and category page. Amazon reviews are the most famous example of that.
8. Event Sites
Events sites are a subset of services. They are websites that display various events, both online and offline, and sometimes sell tickets to these events.
By: Saabsoft
Saabsoft is a leading e-commerce development company based in Dubai, UAE
