Webcology: Types of Websites

Websites are different, derived from their purpose. There are informative, Transactional, Referral, Behavioural, and Mixed.

Informative Websites
These are websites whose sole purpose is to provide information, whether commercial or academic. Websites that offer information for Commercial purposes usually sell their information. These websites require you to join a community, having paid a subscription. Most of these use the credit processing systems available, such as VISA and MasterCard. Websites that offer information for Academic use usually give out information for free. These include Public Databases, Archives, Community Institutions (e.g. Churches), and Government Departments, just to name a few.

I came across an information website the other day, when I was looking for a template for a Shareholders Agreement. I visited the LawDepot.com website, which contains templates of legal documents. This website helps you build your desired Agreement. After filling in the template, the results will come out in another page, summarised. A bill will be displayed on that page, requiring you to pay for the template before it is emailed to you. Such websites are available topics like Shopping (Discounted), Auctioning, Education (Certification/Examination), and Consultancy, just to name a few.

Transactional Websites
These are websites whose sole purpose is to facilitate a transaction, between Businesses and Consumers, or Businesses and Businesses, or Consumers and Consumers, or with Public Bodies. The transactional aspect of the Internet is usually plugged into many websites, whose purpose may not be solely transactions. The transaction aspect is usually a background or conclusion of what the web consumer would have been offered. For example the Law Depot website first offers you information, and then bills you for it.

There are however, websites such as Supermarkets, and other Shop stores, who have shopping baskets on every page, enabling the web consumer to add items to their basket and check the balance, as they go.

Referral Websites
They are also called Advisory Websites. Their sole purpose is to link a consumer to the closest possible desired haven – whether product or service. The difference between an Informative website and a referral website is the commercial aspects. Most referral websites charge a commission for each reference, as opposed to informative websites which are usually free of charge.

The best example of such a website is an auction website. The most popular is eBay.com, which, in simple terms, refers the Seller to the Buyer, for a fee. The eBay.com phenomenon has revolutionised commodity broking in Europe. Whoever has an item to sell, posts it on eBay.com. eBay.com then finds a buy, who pays for the item. eBay.com then pays the seller, retaining a commission.

Other referral websites include Vehicles, Paintings, Crafts, Holiday Packages, and Insurance just to name a few.

Behavioural Websites
These are websites that change their behaviour (appearance, theme, subject, purpose), in accordance with a specified purpose, for example, just as a television channel. I believe this is a type of website that has not been explored. Imagine your website having the ability to completely change automatically just as a television channel. Glimpses of this type of website are seen in places like Microsoft’s ABC television, and AOL’s quest for MTV. These websites are used only to watch, not interact. Scale this thought to organisational level, and visualise how you can apply this. For example, a Restaurant can have their website change each day of the week, according to the Day’s Special. Lift this up to Hotel level, just to name a few.

Technically it is possible. Developers know what I mean here. It is merely a Time Manipulation issue. This does not change the Designer’s core business except adding more pages to the website. The enterprise, on the other hand has to come up with different ideas for this. Glimpses of behavioural websites at present also include interactive websites, which ask consumers to choose language and other things, and respond accordingly.

I am speaking of the future here. Coming is a time when websites can pick your computer logon identity restrictions, and customise its website to suite your profile, furthermore, use your profile for transactions, regardless of operating system – Windows, Linux, UNIX, or MAC OS.


Mixed Websites
There are many websites having more than one behaviour, being all or a combination of these – Informative, Transactional, Referral, and Behavioural. The transactional aspect often dominates in the mixtures, being the ultimate goal of enterprises who build websites – eCommerce as it is called.