Estimated read time: ~4 minutes
'Can you build me a website?' is a bit like 'Can you build me a building?' The follow-up question is always: what for?
Before you talk tech or platforms, it helps to know what category you're in. That one decision keeps your scope, budget and expectations under control.
1. The simple “brochure” website
This is the digital equivalent of a business card and a flyer.
- A few pages: home, about, services, contact.
- Maybe a blog or news section.
- Main goal: credibility and enquiries.
If you’re a local service provider (tradie, consultant, therapist, café) and you don’t need online sales or logins, this is often all you need. The important part isn’t complexity – it’s clarity, speed and trust.
2. The editable marketing site (CMS-driven)
Same idea as a brochure site, but you want control:
- You can log in and change content yourself.
- You can add pages for campaigns, landing pages, FAQs, blog posts.
WordPress, Statamic, Craft, etc. all live here. If you plan to do ongoing marketing, SEO or content, an editable site is almost always the right choice.
3. The e-commerce site
If you want people to pay you online, you’ve now added:
- Product catalogue
- Cart and checkout
- Payments, shipping, taxes
- Order management
This can live on Shopify, WooCommerce, or be custom-built if your needs are more unusual.
An e-commerce site is not 'a brochure site with a button'. It's a small piece of software that needs security, performance and a lot of testing. If sales depend on it, treat it that way.
4. The “web app” or portal
This is where your website stops being a marketing tool and becomes a product or system:
- Client portals that show statements, reports or files
- Internal tools for staff
- SaaS products (software as a service)
- Complex booking or workflow systems
These usually need custom development (often with frameworks like Laravel) and behave more like an application than a page. They also need ongoing iteration, not a one-off 'build and forget'.
How to work out your type
A few quick questions to ask yourself:
What’s the main job of this site?
- Be found and contacted → brochure/marketing
- Sell products → e-commerce
- Let users log in and do something → web app/portal
What is the one action I want visitors to take?
- Call, email, book a consult?
- Add to cart and pay?
- Log in and view data, upload files, manage something?
Who will update it, and how often?
- Once a year → simple build, developer-managed updates.
- Weekly → you need an easy CMS.
Once you know the type, every other decision gets easier: platform, budget, timelines, who you need on the project.
You don’t have to get the labels perfect. You just need a shared language with your developer so you’re not expecting a web app on a brochure budget – or paying for complexity you don’t need.
