What Is a Website?
A website is a collection of pages on the Internet that are related to one another and managed by a single domain. The central page that first appears when you type the website’s address or URL is called the home page and is where you can explore the site’s various information. Websites are accessible round the clock from anywhere in the world as long as you can connect to the Internet.
There are billions of websites on the Internet and they all can be broken down into some main categories. These include archive websites, forums, webmail, blogs and search engines. Some websites are also classified as e-commerce websites, which offer products or services for sale.
Static websites contain web pages that are essentially unchanged for an extended period of time, whereas dynamic websites have web pages that change frequently. Websites are typically created using programming languages like HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). However, a lot of websites nowadays are built on content management systems like WordPress, Drupal and Joomla or fully hosted website builders such as Jimdo and Wix. These systems are not as complex as coding and can enable even non-coders to create websites with relative ease.
The first thing you need to start a website is a domain name and a web hosting service. A domain is the website’s address or URL and the web hosting service is where your website files are stored. The website files are then served to users via the Internet with a web browser, such as Google Chrome, Firefox or Safari.
Some websites are free to access, but others require subscription to view their content. Subscription-based websites include news websites, academic journal websites, online gaming websites, file-sharing websites, message boards and social networking websites. Some sites also provide real-time stock market data and other services for a fee.
Most websites are managed by individuals, businesses and organizations. The content on these sites can be informational, commercial or educational and is often updated regularly. Most websites are hosted on special computers that are connected to the Internet and known as Web servers. These computers are able to process the requests from web browsers around the world all day and night.
Most websites have a home page that contains the basic overall information on the website and links to other web pages that are a part of the site. For example, Reedsy’s homepage is filled with text and pictures that tell the readers about the company’s writing and editing services but their blog section features new posts every few days that educate visitors on book writing and publishing. These blog posts are updated regularly and are usually categorized in reverse chronological order, so that the latest article appears at the top and older ones move downwards. These articles can be written by anyone with an interest in the topic and are then published on the website for public viewing. These articles are considered to be the heart of any website.
