What type of website do you need to build?

You’ve got your domain and your hosting set up. Now it’s time to plan the website you’re about to build. The question is: what kind of site are you planning to build? There are, roughly, four types of site from which you can choose. Deciding on what the aims of your website are will help you to choose which type of website you need build.

A business site

You may need just a few pages to present your business and the services it provides, and perhaps additionally give some information about projects you’ve worked on or samples of previous work you’ve done.
Modernize by GoodLayers from ThemeForest
This kind of site is often referred to as a ‘brochure’ site. If this is the case, a simple website may be all you require. However, if you’re planning to create something that looks slicker or has a more corporate feel, you’ll want to look further afield for your theme.
Looking ahead and visiting other sites for comparison will help you clarify your ideas while you’re at the initial planning stage.

A portfolio site

Creatives, such as artists, designers, and photographers, will need to showcase their work online. There are dozens of beautiful themes designed to display portfolios. Take a look around at the portfolios of other creatives to give yourself some ideas for how you would like to present your work.
Portfolium by WP Shower

A magazine (or blog) site

This covers both personal blogs and news or magazine sites focused around a particular field of interest. Again, there are huge numbers of themes available for you to choose; it’s a case of thinking how you want to communicate with your audience and how you want your site to appear to them.
Structure Theme by Organic Themes.

A e-commerce site

Are you going to be selling from your site? There are quite a few options for doing this available to WordPress sites. It makes sense to decide now on which one you’re going to implement—it may be that you want to choose a regular theme and just add payment buttons, or it may be that you want to kick off with a theme designed specifically as an online store.
Shelflife by WooThemes
Many websites will, of course, be hybrids—for example, a blog can be added to any kind of site, and business sites often contain a portfolio to showcase samples of work.


Create Your Own Website Using WordPress in a Weekend
Alannah Moore
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