World Wide Web Definition

The World Wide Web, commonly referred to as just the Web1, is a vast
collection of documents, images, sounds and computer programs that are
stored on web servers and can be accessed on web browsers via the Internet.
It is also one of the most influential technological advances of recent
decades, one that is beginning to have a profound effect on nearly every
aspect of human activity.

A web browser is a type of program that is used to locate, display and

interact with web pages and other resources on the Internet. It features the
ability to do this regardless of the type of computer (or other device)
and operating system on which it is running and regardless of the type or
location of the servers on which the resources are located.

Web pages, which are written primarily using HTML (hypertext markup
language), can contain text, audio still images and video content as well
as hyperlinks embedded in the text and images. A hyperlink is an automated
cross-references to another document, image, sound clip, etc., or to another
location in the same document, which, when selected, causes the browser to
display the linked item within a brief period of time (typically just a few
seconds).

Although the terms Internet and Web are used interchangeably by many
people, they are, in fact, very different, but closely related. The former,
which was developed beginning in 1969, is the world-wide network of
interconnected computer networks (e.g., commercial, academic and
government) that operates using a standardized set of
communications protocols called TCP/IP(transmission control
protocol/Internet protocol).

The Web is just one of a number of services that operate over the Internet.
However, it has become by far the most popular of such services. E-mail
and ftp (file transfer protocol) are examples of much older services.
Although separate Internet protocols, they can both be accessed via web
pages.
The web is based on three main sets of standards. Uniform resource
locators (URLs) specify how each file is given a unique address on the
Internet. Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) specifies how browsers and
web servers communicate with each other. HTML is a method of encoding
information in the text of documents describing how they should be
displayed in browsers.

The Web was originally developed in 1989 and 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee,
who was seeking a more efficient way to access information on servers at
dispersed locations while he was working at CERN (Conseil Européen pour
la Recherche Nucléaire), an international nuclear physics research center in
Switzerland. Berners-Lee's basic concept was to integrate the already
existing concept of hypertext with the Internet. He wrote the first web page
in November 1990 on a NeXT workstation, and the following month he
wrote the first web browser and the first web server software.

Berners-Lee made the very wise decision to base the Web entirely on free
software, just as had been done with the Internet about two decades earlier.
That is, it does not rely on software that is encumbered by copyrights or
patents, which could require the payment of royalties and limit its
flexibility. This has greatly simplified the development of the Web and has
undoubtedly been a major factor in its rapid expansion and astonishing
success.

The Web has continued to grow rapidly throughout its history in terms of
both the number of users and the amount of information available. For
example, the total number of web sites (i.e., collections of related web
pages) soared from one million in April 1997 to roughly 50 million by May
2004 and then surpassed 100 million in late 2006.

It is also continuing to advance rapidly with regard to technology. This

includes the development of improved browsers (e.g., with faster page
rendering, tabs and greater security), of more efficient search algorithms,
and of programs that further enhance the already substantial collaborative
capabilities of the Web.

The most commonly used human language for web sites at present is
English, at roughly 50 percent; German is a distant second, followed by
French and Japanese. This is in large part a result of the locations of the
Internet's origins and of the early development of the Web. However, the
share of sites in other languages is continuing to increase and the Web is
 becoming more international as a result of the rapid growth of the use of
computers and the Internet in countries which primarily use other
languages, particularly China.

The nature of the content on the Web has also changed considerably.
Whereas the Web was originally designed to provide static pages about
academic and educational topics, the content has become increasingly
commercial and interactive.

Standards for the Web are largely developed by the World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C)2, which was founded at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) by Berners-Lee in 1994. The W3C also plays an
important role in defending egalitarian nature of the Web and protecting it
from domination by monopolistic commercial interests and individual
governments.

A number of different types of information sources are available on

the World Wide Web. They include:

 Directories of selected collections of Internet and Web

resources, arranged by subject

 Search engines, which are tools that provide keyword

searching capability

 Meta-search tools, which allow you to access databases from

one place

 Specialized databases, which contain comprehensive

collections of hyperlinks in a particular subject area, or which
are self-contained, searchable indexes made available on the
Web

 Discussion groups, of which several thousand groups exist to

share opinions and experiences, ask and answer questions, or
post information about a specific topic
  Blogs, wikis, and tagged collections, enabling individuals to
easily classify and put information on the Web.

12 Popular Types of Websites You Can Create

The web is vast. As of now, there are billions of websites online, all
competing for some share of the attention people give to their online
browsing each day. When you’re starting a new website, it can be
overwhelming to think about all the other websites out there.

But it’s helpful to remember that within that huge number of websites,
you have a lot of different categories of types of websites trying to
accomplish different things. As you consider how best to build your
own website, carefully consider what type of website you want it to be.
When you can narrow down the goals and setup you have in mind, you
can more easily identify the other websites in your category to look to
for inspiration.

Here are twelve of the most popular types of websites you’ll see
around the web. While there’s some overlap between the different
categories, in general each type of website has certain goals to
achieve and its own set of best practices. Which one will your website
be?

1. E-commerce Website

An e-commerce website is a website people can directly buy products

from. You’ve probably used a number of e-commerce websites before,
most big brands and plenty of smaller ones have one. Any website that
includes a shopping cart and a way for you to provide credit card
information to make a purchase falls into this category.

If you’re setting up a website for your business and plan to sell your
products through the site, then this is the type of website you need to
build. There are some specific steps you have to be sure to include
when building an ecommerce website, like investing in ecommerce
software and getting your SSL certificate to ensure your customers
can pay securely. And you’ll want to make sure your web design and
copy are all crafted with the site’s main goal in mind: making sales.

Ecommerce websites can be an extension of a business you already

have, or become something you build a new business around.

2. Business Website

A business website is any website that’s devoted to representing a

specific business. It should be branded like the business (the same
logo and positioning) and communicate the types of products and/or
services the business offers.

By now, every business out there should have a website. It’s a

widespread expectation. Every potential customer you encounter will
just assume that if they Google your business looking for more
information, they’ll find a website. And if they don’t, it makes the
business look less professional or legitimate.

E-commerce websites are business websites, but it’s also possible to

have business websites that don’t sell anything directly, but rather
encourage visitors to get in contact for more information (a lead
generation website) or come to a storefront if they’re interested in
becoming customers.

3. Entertainment Website

If you think about your internet browsing habits, you can probably
think of a few websites that you visit purely for entertainment
purposes. They could be humor websites like The Onion, webcomics
like xkcd, or just websites with fun or interesting content like
Buzzfeed.
Most of these websites do aim to make money like business and e-
commerce websites do, but usually through the advertisements that
show up on the page rather than through selling specific products or
services.

If you want to start an entertainment website, you’ve got a lot of

options for formats that can take. You could make funny or informative
videos, write entertaining blog posts, draw comics, or create fun
quizzes.

Since there are so many entertainment websites out there, you should
anticipate it taking some time and work to find an audience that
connects with you (and even more time and work to start making
money, if that’s your ultimate goal), but if you’ve got ideas for content
to create that you think people will find entertaining, an entertainment
website is one of the best ways to get that content out into the world.

4. Portfolio Website

Portfolio websites are sites devoted to showing examples of past work.

Service providers who want to show potential clients the quality of the
work they provide can use a portfolio website to collect some of the
best samples of past work they’ve done. This type of website is simpler
to build than a business website and more focused on a particular
task: collecting work samples.

This type of website is most common for creative professionals and

freelancers that are hired based on demonstrated skill and can be a
more efficient alternative to a business website that serves a similar
focus.
5. Media Website

Media websites collect news stories or other reporting. There’s some

overlap here with entertainment websites, but media websites are
more likely to include reported pieces in addition to or instead of
content meant purely for entertainment. This category includes sites
like the Washington Post website, Slate, and Inc.

Media websites generally make money through either advertisements

that show up on the site, subscription models, or some combination of
the two.

Many media websites are the online branch of media properties that
often exist in other forms, like TV channels or print magazines and
newspapers, but some are online only.

6. Brochure Website

Brochure websites are a simplified form of business websites. For

businesses that know they need an online presence, but don’t want to
invest a lot into it (maybe you’re confident you’ll continue to get most
of your business from other sources), a simple brochure site that
includes just a few pages that lay out the basics of what you do and
provide contact information may be enough for you.

Brochure sites were more common in the earlier days of the internet
when businesses knew they needed a website, but also expected not
to be dependent on it for success. Now that the internet is such a big
part of how people research and find just about every product and
service they need, most businesses recognize that they need
something more competitive.

If you have a business and know you don’t need your website to be a
marketing tool that brings in new business, you just need something
more like an online business card, then a brochure website may do the
trick.
7. Nonprofit Website

In the same way that businesses need websites to be their online

presence, nonprofits do as well. A nonprofit website is the easiest way
for many potential donors to make donations and will be the first place
many people look to learn more about a nonprofit and determine if they
want to support it.

If you have or are considering starting a nonprofit, then building a

website for your organization is a crucial step in proving your
legitimacy and reaching more people. You can use it to promote the
projects your organization tackles, encourage followers to take action,
and for accepting donations.

Note: To take donations through the website, you’ll have to take some
of the same steps that the owners of ecommerce sites do. In
particular, make sure you get an SSL certificate to make sure all
payments are secure, and set up a merchant account so that you can
accept credit card payments.
8. Educational Website

The websites of educational institutions and those offering online

courses fall into the category of educational websites. These websites
have the primary goal of either providing educational materials to
visitors, or providing information on an educational institution to them.

Some educational websites will have advertisements like

entertainment and media websites do. Some offer subscription models
or educational products for purchase. And some serve as the online
presence for an existing institution.

9. Infopreneur Website

Infopreneur websites overlap a bit with business and ecommerce

websites, but they represent a unique type of online business.
Infopreneurs create and sell information products. That could be in the
form of courses, tutorials, videos or ebooks.

Whatever form it takes, infopreneurs need their website to do the hard

work of building up a knowledge brand – convincing visitors that they
know enough to make their educational products worth buying – and
the work of selling those products.

To sell information products securely, they’ll need some of the same

tools of an ecommerce website, including an SSL certificate and a
merchant account. Those with a lot of knowledge products should also
invest in ecommerce software to make it easier for visitors to select
and purchase the ones they’re interested in.
Infopreneurs normally create a mix of valuable free content and
premium content they charge for. The infopreneur’s website serves as
the central location for both things – the free content which serves as
a marketing tool to get people onto the site, and the paid products that
account for their profits. Building a good website is therefore crucial
for this type of business model.

10. Personal
Website

Not all websites exist to make money in some way or another. Many
people find value in creating personal websites to put their own
thoughts out into the world. This category includes personal blogs,
vlogs, and photo diaries people share with the world.

Sometimes these websites can evolve into something that makes

money if they become popular enough and the person who started
them wants to make that shift, but they primarily exist as a way to
share your feelings, insights, and art with any friends and strangers
that might be interested.
Building a personal website is easier than most of the other websites
on the list since the goal has lower stakes. You just want to make it
look like you want, rather than worrying about driving sales or making
ad money. Some simple templates or an easy-to-use website builder
should be all it takes to get something up that satisfies your desire to
share.

11. Web Portal

Web portals are often websites designed for internal purposes at a

business, organization, or institution. They collect information in
different formats from different sources into one place to make all
relevant information accessible to the people who need to see it. They
often involve a login and personalized views for different users that
ensure the information that’s accessible is most useful to their
particular needs.
Web portals will generally involve more complicated programming and
design than most of the other websites described on this list, so make
the most sense for skilled and experienced web programmers to
consider.

12. Wiki or Community Forum Website

Most people are familiar with wikis through the most famous example
of one out there: Wikipedia. But wikis can be created on pretty much
any subject you can imagine. A wiki is any website where various
users are able to collaborate on content and all make their own
tweaks and changes as they see fit. There are wikis for fan
communities, for business resources, and for collecting valuable
information sources.
Starting a wiki can be fairly simple, especially if you choose to use an
existing software or wiki site builder rather than trying to create the
website from scratch. This option makes the most sense if you need to
organize available information and resources into a central space that
you want others to have access to.