Are you planning to redesign a website or get a new one developed? Here’s one question you need to ask yourself before trying to shortlist a website development vendor – What business goals do I want to achieve from building a website? This will lead you to think about the kind of website you need. This is where the three major website content models we’ve defined below will help you plan your website strategy accordingly.

• Informational Websites
• Conversational Websites
• Transactional Website

Key Features of the three different Website Content Models:

Informational Websites:

Informational Websites are analogous to a notice board/ billboard that displays information. The intent of the website is to provide the viewers with information.

Online directory websites are informational, allowing users to search specific contact details from their vast database. Such websites are information driven and leave no scope for two way communication. Just like an entry on yellow pages, the principal focus here is advertising and selling rather than engaging in a conversation.

Assume that you own a landscaping business. You could create a website that enlists plants with their definitions, distinguishing characteristics and instructions for planting and caring. This information would be useful to potential customers and you can draw people to purchase your products.

Conversational Websites:

A Conversational website relies on two way communication. It engages in a conversation with its reader, in the form of comments, article submissions, call to actions etc. Online communities and forums like Reddit, Quora and Yahoo! Groups are conversational by default.  however, even business websites can adopt this format to engage their users and not come across as someone who is just explicitly trying to sell their product/service.

TheRules.org is an is an online community website for activists, artists, writers, farmers, peasants, students, to link up and discuss global issues.

Plugins such as  BuddyPress help to create online forums and communities with incredible ease.

Transactional Websites:

A Transactional website, as the name suggests provides a product or service that requires transactions via the website. E-commerce websites such as Amazon and Flipkart are good examples of Transactional websites. Such sites have an integrated payment gateway to facilitate payments/transactions.

If you want to set up a business where you wish to sell a product or service online, a transactional website is what you need.

The Most Useful WooCommerce Extensions & Plugins

Conclusion:

If you want to start a website for your business, refer to the three main website content models mentioned in this post and accordingly choose the one which is the best fit for your website and accordingly plan for it.  Of course, you could always create a hybrid by combining any two or all three types of models.

Complete Guide to Website Planning