If you’ve been surfing the web for any length of time you’ll probably agree with the statement that no two web sites are the same. However, beneath the surface, many web sites share some similarities. It only takes a handful of categories to classify 99% of the web sites that you and I are likely to visit.

Brochure Sites

Brochure sites are very common. Their purpose is to act as an extension to a company’s sales and marketing efforts. They usually “don’t do anything” other than provide information to prospective buyers or clients with the hope that the company will be contacted by e-mail or phone for more information. www.baybayscakes.com is a brochure site.

E-Commerce Sites

E-commerce sites are those whose primary purpose is to sell you goods. One of the most widely recognized sites in this category is Amazon.com. These sites are often the most expensive to build, but can also be the most lucrative for the owner. Those with small budgets can opt for a pre-packaged e-commerce solution such as those offered by Amazon.com and Yahoo.com, but these often fail to distinguish your company from the 100 other companies selling the same product. I’m clearly biased, but in my opinion you’re better off having some custom software development done to meet your business’ specific needs.

Visitors to e-commerce sites often know what it is they want and so it behooves the e-commerce site to help them find it. At the same time these sites want to show you information about other products (referred to as up-selling and cross-selling) so that you’ll spend more money. Because of this need to show you what you’re looking for while at the same time sell you related items, e-commerce site employ some of the most sophisticate search engine technology available. Don’t believe me? Next time you have a chance visit Amazon.com. Search for anything you want. The search engine will almost always find something that matches. If you’ve ever searched for or bought anything at Amazon.com you’ve probably also noticed that related products keep showing up on the screen. That’s the search engine at work.

Communities

Web communities come in all sizes, but in all cases they bring together people that share a common interest. Sometimes web communities are run by people who are also looking to sell products or services. However, if the community doesn’t contain useful and timely information, then any sales pitches will be likely fall on deaf ears. Tricking people in to buying something might work once or twice, but it’s more effective to build trust and provide value.

Search Engines

Search engines are probably the single most useful tool on the Internet. Without them it would be next to impossible to find anything. By many accounts, the best search engine is Google.com. With a few clicks you can usually find answers to questions or, at the very least, a good starting point for where to look. Chances are you won’t build a search engine, but it is important to know about them and understand how they work. Businesses should be particularly concerned with the details of how search engines work since they can be used as an inexpensive advertising tool.