Everyone builds their first or hundred and first website for different reasons, whether it be personal, business, or otherwise. The best part about owning a website of your own is that it’s able to be transformed into something amazing – even life changing – and you’re able to watch it grow day after day like a plant in a garden. Nurture it, give it time, and the “blossom” can end up being absolutely beautiful (in other words, a popular, viral and/or profitable online venture). If you’re not sure what to make a website about, consider these four types of websites people create on a regular basis.

1. Blog. Blogging is a new phenomenon. It seems as if everyone and their mother has a blog nowadays. Why? Who doesn’t love to vent! Who doesn’t love to write about whatever they so choose? While writing daily or weekly, feel free to build an email list, grow your RSS feed subscribers, and create a social presence through Facebook and/or Twitter. Become a guru in a niche or simply write in a fashion that makes people crave reading your blog posts. Stand out from the crowd as the competition out there is vast and really create a name for yourself.
2. Business. Own a business? Want to own a business? Chances are you’re going to have a website – perhaps only a website (as in an online business, one without a brick and mortar location). A website can drive tons of visitors through search engines and PPC (pay-per-click traffic) which can result in leads and more importantly, sales. You also want to keep on top of reviews of your company online. When people search for your company, you want your website first on Google – not a negative review. Bad reviews mean lost customers. If any negative reviews are publicized online, be sure to chime in and make things right. With today’s business world being flat because of the internet, this is a must in order to become successful.
3. Personal. Chances are you have personal interests… perhaps you’re an artist, want an online “business card”, or something. Something that can act as an online showcase of you. With literally everything and everyone being online, it’s a no-brainer that you have to be as well. Chances are you want to provide some incentive or reason to be on your website; being that someone decides within seven seconds whether they want to stay on your website or not, you don’t have much time to intrigue them. Plan now on how you’re going to make that happen.
4. eCommerce. Start an online store, why not? Create one selling other vendor’s items or your own. Make it a big store selling virtually everything or focus on a particular type of product. Build up your list of buyers. Offer discount codes. Create an affiliate program. How cool would it be waking up to an inbox full of commission or sale notifications? It’d be pretty sweet, and it can happen with some hard work and dedication to getting your eCommerce store off the ground.

So, what’s your choice… what type of website are you going to build? You do have the opportunity to build a website that involves a little bit of this… a little bit of that… but the reality is: without focus comes failure. Spreading yourself too thin is almost always a bad idea considering how many aspiring website owners are out there and how massive the competition is. Just my little piece of advice. With that being said, what type of website are you going to build next?