LENNARD DE RIDDER
Talent and Management Development
Websites - Task 3
Different types of websites
1. Informational Websites
Informational based websites were the first versions to hit the Internet. They are as they sound, sites which enable readers to find information on a particular business or topic.
2. Brochure/Catalogue Style Websites
This kind of website goes further in depth than an informational site and provides general information about a store as well as the stock they carry and the prices.
3. E-Commerce Websites (Seen in class)
E-Commerce websites take brochure websites a step further by allowing you to shop directly from your computer. The main difference between a brochure site and an e-commerce site is that the latter features a checkout system to enable you to order directly from the online store.
Let's walk the different combinations:
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C).
Auction websites such as eBay, Kapaza,, etc. where consumers can sell and buy products from each other. But also product recommendations from consumer to consumer. Blogs, social networks and communities can also be considered C2C.
Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
In many cases the classic web shop selling to consumer.
Government-to-Consumer (G2C).
Automated request processes enabling consumers to request a service from the local, the central government. Many communities have an “e-teller”, removing the need for a physical visit to your town hall.
Consumer-to-Business (C2B)
C2B is about an online exchange where consumers do themselves approach providers on the web.
Prospective buyers name their own price and leave it to the provider to accept or reject the offer.
Consumer feedback can provide serious added value for an e-commerce site. A review is a powerful means to convince potential buyers. Campaigns where consumers organize themselves to influence a business.
Business-to-Business (B2B)
Setting up e-commerce towards your business customers can be a great trick to stimulate a lasting business relationship. Think of application domains such as wholesale, cloud service providers addressing the professional market, e.g. with SaaS ERP, CRM, mass e-mailing, business e-mail & collaboration, Online printers, Online accounting service provider, etc.. And of course all those “webshops” addressing the professional customers. Businesses such as BP or Dell have products that address both consumer and businesses. Different partitions of their website will be equipped to address those different target groups. Product offering will also typically differ.
Government-to-Business (G2B)
Request automation from business to government (replacing a paper procedure or having to visit a government office) Tax entry. Fulfilling regulatory compliance processes.
Consumer-to-Government (C2G)
Pressure groups, political/social action to influence government.
Business-to-Government (B2G)
Feedback to government businesses and non-governmental organizations.
Government-to-Government (G2G)
Local government making requests to central government, exchanging information, inter government services
4. Blogs
Blog websites did not hit the mainstream until the early to mid 2000s. However since then blogging has become very popular for both business and personal use.
5. Personal Websites
Personal websites are similar to that of a personal blog where an individual in all likelihood will have their own personal domain. These are created by friends and families to share their information and pictures online with each other allowing for people to keep in contact.
6. Social Media and Networking Websites
More popular than ever, online forums and social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are used on a daily basis to spread the word about businesses and keep in touch with family and friends.
7. Photo Sharing Websites
Great for those in the photographic industry, these sites allow for individuals to upload and share photographs online.
8. Mobile Device Websites
As technology develops, so is the variety of new websites appearing online. The latest is the creation of websites for viewing on mobile devices and mobile phones.
Knowing the types of websites available will help identify your web development requirements and define the one most suitable for your business needs.
Source: http://ninogalle.wixsite.com/portfolio/websites
Assignments
E-skills website assignment 2
Dutch websites
Content
On this website, you can find all the information concerning the government. For example, your tax returns have to be filed through this website, but you can also find information on what you can exclude from your taxes etc. All the different ministries of the Netherlands publish their information here. If you need a travel advice for a specific country, you find it here, but also the national holidays and feasts. In fact, everything you need to know about government rules or information, you can find it here.
Functionality
The website is very easy to navigate. You can choose in the header for current issues, topics, ministries, government, documents and a call-to-action to improve their website, government and ministries. Under each of these topics, you will be guided towards the topic you are looking for. If you have time, you can also participate in a questionnaire to improve the functionality of the website.
Authority
The website is hosted by the Dutch government and always needs a secure internet connection. The lock in your url bar tells us that it is a secure connection, hosted by: Rijksoverheid [NL]. Concerning authority, we believe that there is no question as to whether this website is not hosted by the Dutch government. All the information is provided here and ministries communicate to their citizens that they should always search for information on this website.
Attractiveness
The website is not very attractive, which we believe is not so bad, as it is purely for finding information and being convenient. The website does try to be a little bit attractive by placing pictures and a ‘current issues’ tab but in the end the only purpose is to give citizens the information they are looking for.
Content
On the website of PostNL, you can find information about sending and receiving packages and letters. There is a separate environment for customers like you and me and for companies who would like to use their service. Apart from the information, you can also track and trace your packages or get a form to post your package, buy things in the web shop or find the nearest PostNL location.
Functionality
The website is easy navigable. In the header, you can choose for ‘send’, ‘receive’, ‘business solutions’, ‘webshop’, and ‘service&contact’. On the main page you can immediately go to the ‘track your parcel’ section, find a postal code, send something and find the nearest PostNL location. Apart from that, some promotional material is displayed and you can find shortcuts to information you might need at the bottom of the page. You can find what you need very quickly and easy.
Authority
The website is hosted by Koninklijke PostNL B.V. [NL] and establishes a secure internet connection as well. The website is controlled and updated by PostNL and no one has any benefit from putting fake information on this website, as it is a company website providing a service to the public.
Attractiveness
The website is basic, easy navigable and displays the orange and white colour scheme of PostNL. It is nice to look around on the website.
Content
This website contains information about flights, covered by KLM-AirFrance. You can find information about flights, prices, flight times but also about destinations. Destination information includes currency, weather, highlights, hotspots, travel information, transportation information, time difference, and what you can do in that specific place.
Functionality
The website is easy to navigate. KLM differentiates itself from other airlines by giving extra services and they have clearly thought out their website. You can find what you need within a few clicks and even a booking is done within a few clicks. They also have a different business environment for companies who need to book more flights for their employees.
Authority
The website is hosted by KLM itself and there is nothing to distrust about this website or question the authority.
Attractiveness
KLM does a great job providing an attractive website. They post pictures of their top destinations, which continue in a slide show over the home page. You are tempted to click on these pictures as they are, of course, very nice. KLM’s corporate colours are reflected very well, too. Everything is in blue and white, and gives you almost a holiday feeling, only looking at it.
Content
The website of Shell informs potential customers and clients about the business Shell does, as well as promotions for people who want to fuel their cars. Different promotions are displayed, and there is a different company environment for transportation companies for example who use lots of fuel every month. There is a different section for careers as well and a quick link to media.
Functionality
On the home page, there is a lot of promotion going on, but if you are interested in it, you can quickly click through. The website allows you to navigate to different tabs, namely consumers, business clients, energy and innovation (a promotional story and the whereabouts of Shell, new technology etc.), durability and about them. The subdivisions give you quick access to each of these topics and navigating is really easy.
Authority
There is no doubt that this website is hosted by Shell itself. They do not use a secure connection, but that is not necessary on this website as you cannot log in or buy something on this website. The website is purely informational
Attractiveness
Shell tries to show that they are changing towards a green company which thinks about the climate and they keep a very clean white and yellow website environment (colours of their company). Pictures of people doing their jobs, pictures of environments etc. let us know that they actually do anything they can to do good for the environment and not only for their own wallets.
Belgian websites
Content
Sporza’s website is meant to share the latest sport news in Belgium, combined with some interactive quizzes and competitions where you can win prizes with. The different information that is displayed on the site are mostly videos and articles. Next to that you can also watch certain sport events live on the website.
Functionality
My personal experience with the home page is that it isn’t that extremely functional, it could have been a lot better since the information isn’t structured very well. This is mainly because they want to report the latest news first, and you can filter this by clicking on a subdivision like ‘tennis’. But the general home page could have been better in my opinion. Next to that all the buttons function like they should, and it is no problem to find something thanks to the search bar.
Authority
Sporza is monitored by the VRT, which is the Flemish radio and television station from the government. So they are not fully independent and cannot post any article they want, they have certain guidelines from the government.
Attractiveness
The site isn’t very attractive in my opinion, I believe this could have been a lot better if they would have structured the articles and videos a little more combined with a nicer layout because now it really looks like they didn’t put a whole lot of effort into it.
Content
The content is almost always related to the university’s core business, namely education but there are also some sections concerning upcoming events and possible jobs at the university. The content can be displayed in multiple languages, which is needed for the Erasmus or international students coming in.
Functionality
I find this website to be very functional, opposed to the previous website of the university which was a monstrosity in my opinion. It’s very easy to find what you’re looking for bachelor’s and master’s degrees are separated, and you can find them easily with the search bar. At the bottom, you also have a structured overview of the four subdivisions of the website, and what you can find where.
Authority
The university of Ghent depends on governmental subsidies, which means that they aren’t completely autonomous on what they do with their communication and website.
Attractiveness
The new design is very attractive and inviting, an image of the university and the new logo are nicely integrated into the website which makes it nice to look at the home page. There isn’t any superfluous use of colours or extras, it’s simple and good.
Content
The site has a lot of informative tabs such as sustainability, the brands of the coca cola group, the wellbeing and their drinks, company information, frequently asked questions and news about the company. As you scroll down on the website you see that there are lots of pictures, movies and articles featured. There even is a list of most read articles on the website.
Functionality
The site is functional, may be a little bit of disorder on the home page but that’s all I have from critique on the website. You can find back all the information that you’re looking for, I’m a real fan of search bars because they are the extra feature that makes your site easy to navigate and I’m glad to see one.
Authority
The coca cola company is a publicly traded company, and therefore depending on its shareholders. However, this doesn’t influence their autonomy over their site since most of these shareholders don’t have a direct impact on the company’s management.
Attractiveness
For a company like coca cola I think the attractiveness could have been a little bit better, if you look at other multinational companies. The design and layout isn’t really inviting, and doesn’t give you the feeling like you would want to discover every tab of the site.
Content
You can find back all the products that you want, and you can also find all the unique selling propositions that the company has to offer for the customer. You can also find back the location of the shop, and there is a widget that continuously features positive reviews of the company which is a nice extra.
Functionality
You can easily navigate on the home page, and click on every tab you want to find back the information you need. There’s also a slideshow with all the banners that keeps you up to date with the latest promotions, which is useful for customers that are planning to buy on the short term.
Authority
Laminaatshop BVBA is a fully private company, held by local entrepreneurs in the city of Dendermonde and they are fully independent and can do as they please on their website, but still must obey the law.
Attractiveness
The site is attractive in my opinion, just one remark that I have personally is that the slideshow with all the different brands that they sell, would have looked nicer if they would have but the background of this line in green as well to show the separation with the previous information layer.
Philippine Websites
Cherrymobile.com.ph
Content: The website presents the company Cherry Mobile. It’s a Philippine company that produces smartphones, tablets and pc’s.
Functionality: Good functionality. Things like ‘products’ and ‘smartphones’ are easy to find. Also the layout is very user friendly.
Attractiveness: Despite the fact that Cherry Mobile is a small company, the website is made very nice. It looks appealing and it gives the perception of being a good and decent phonecompany.
Authority: The website is hosted by KLM itself and there is nothing to distrust about this website. It is a known phone company in Asia.
http://www.sanmiguelbrewery.com.ph
Content: Website of a brewery. You can find the company’s information, their investors and their brands.
Functionality: Very user friendly. Everything you need to know about a brewery is on the website. Brands, company’s history.
Attractiveness: It has a decent layout, though we expected more from a beer company. The colour theme is too dark in our opinion.
Authority: The website is hosted by the brewery itself.
https://www.cebupacificair.com/
Content: It’s an airway company. It has a ‘from – to’ form. And that’s a very useful feature.
Functionality: Apart from the homepage, the ‘About us’ is a pitfall. When we tried to click on it, we got redirected to another site, and when we wanted to click on the ‘about us’ button, we got a document. So that could have some improvements.
Attractiveness: It looks clear, but we believe that they could do more to make it more attractive. But it’s made simple, that’s certainly a plus.
Authority: Cebu Airlines is partly monitored by the government. It’s also the biggest Airline Company of the Philippines.
Chowking.com
Content: Chowking is a fastfood company in the Philippines. Every important thing you can find on the bar left. It includes their menu’s and products but also franchising and careers. Everything that’s needed for a fastfood company website is there.
Functionality: Because they work with icons it’s easy to find things. Also the menu (very important) is very easy to find.
Attractiveness: The color theme is well chosen. It fits certainly their company colors and it invites to eat in Chowking.
Authority: As the Chowking Company is very known in Asia and it’s a multinational, this is a very reliable website.
Assignment in PDF-format
Reflection
The topics of websites did not really interest me. I found it useful to gain an insight in different sorts of websites and the differences in B2B and C2G, etc., but for the rest I do not believe that it will help me much in my further professional life. However, it is very important to make sure that your information comes from a verified website. This comes back to the person doing research as well. Some people tend to copy everything from Wikipedia, but everyone can make adjustments here, so there is not really a clear way of verifying your information, although they are working on it to make Wikipedia as trustworthy as possible.