These days there are so many different types of websites, that no matter what your business, industry or your tech levels, there is bound to be the right type of site for you.
However, choosing the right type of website for your business can be difficult and making the wrong choice could be costly down the track.
Some marketing services only offer one type of website and this can be dangerous as you may get shoehorned into a website that does not suit your purposes.
Here at Crisp Communications, we work across a range of different website platforms and can help guide you to making the right choice for you and your business.
Here is what you should consider when selecting a website for your business:
What do you want to use your website for?
First things first when deciding what type of website you need for your business, is to consider what are you going to use it for?
Is it simply a repository of information, or a quoting tool, a place to buy products or maybe it’s a resource hub? Or a bit of all of the above! Let’s find out more about each type:
Standard sites
We call standard sites, a brochure site, because it is basically a static-style site that acts as a resource for your potential clients to find out who you are, what you do and how to contact you.
On these sites, there are little to no opportunities for clients to interact with you or participate on the site (aside from a contact us form).
This type of website is good for businesses who:
- want an online presence, but don’t have the time or resources to create new content regularly,
- largely operate offline (eg. quoting and service delivery is not digital).
Want to see a standard site in action?
Check out this one we created for SOAs2U:
Blog, opinion or news sites
This type of site can be the same as a standard site, but with additional features such as a blog, news or video updates section. The benefit of a site with one of these features is that by updating it regularly, you are increasing your searchability online.
This type of website is good for businesses who want to:
- build awareness of a service or product – they are a great way to explain information and provide more detailed information,
- position themselves as industry or thought leaders,
- share regular updates about the industry, legislation, new products or services.
Shopping sites
This one is pretty straightforward! If you have a product or service that you can sell online, you will need a commerce function on your website. Different website providers are better for services and for products, and the ongoing costs differ too. Ask us about which one is the right one for your business.
A shopping website is good for businesses who:
- want to replace or supplement a bricks and mortar store,
- sell physical or digital products, or digital services,
- have set, standard pricing (ie. don’t need individual quotes).
Educational sites
An educational or learning site is a great way to sell an online course or training programs.
An educational website is good for businesses who:
- want to replace or supplement a face-to-face course or training program,
- can deliver their course fully online,
- want to scale and deliver their course world-wide.
How often do you want to update your website?
Once you have decided on what type of site you need for your business, the next consideration in choosing a website platform is how often will you be updating your website?
Will your site be static, or will you regularly update it with new content, information or blogs?
This will inform how technical your site will be, and what functionality you need included in your site. Which leads us on to our last consideration…
Do you have tech skills in your team? (Or someone willing to learn?)
Once a website is set up, it is much easier to maintain the site in-house.
However, that being said, some types of websites cater more for people who are less tech-savvy.
So, if you want to have your website updated regularly with news articles, blogs, videos, or perhaps the information needs regular review, then it is important to choose a website platform that you will be able to update yourself, in-house.
Of course Crisp can take care of your website management, but we also love to provide support, training and education for your team to be able to do this themselves if that better suits the business.
What website platform is right for my business?
As part of our website project scoping process, we will take you through all of the above questions and help you decide on the right website for your business.
However, if you want to DIY, here are our recommendations for choosing the right website platform for you and your biz:
If you would like to kickstart your website build, or find out which platform would best suit you, please book a call. I’d love to chat with you about getting you online!