WordPress is the most popular content management system in the world, powering over 43% of all websites on the internet. With its flexibility and ease of use, WordPress can be used to create all kinds of websites.
In this comprehensive guide, we will look at 23 of the most popular types of websites that can be made with WordPress.
Contents
- 1. Blogs / Personal Websites
- 2. Business Websites
- 3. Online Stores / eCommerce Sites
- 4. Membership Sites
- 5. Online Courses Marketplaces
- 6. Multivendor Marketplaces
- 7. Pay Per View Sites
- 8. Podcast Sites
- 9. Job Board Sites
- 10. Crowdfunding Sites
- 11. Directory Sites
- 12. Review Sites
- 13. Social Networking Sites
- 14. Magazine Sites
- 15. Portfolio Sites
- 16. Non-Profit / Causes Sites
- 17. Knowledge Base / Documentation Sites
- 18. Coupon Sites
- 19. Forms and Surveys Sites
- 20. Educational Sites
- 21. Real Estate Sites
- 22. Classifieds Sites
- 23. Coming Soon and Landing Pages
- Final Thoughts
1. Blogs / Personal Websites
WordPress started out as a blogging platform. Over the years, it has evolved into a sophisticated CMS while retaining that superior blogging functionality.
WordPress is great for personal blogs as well as multi-author blogs. Its simple interfaces allows bloggers to easily create content-rich websites that can be scaled into businesses.
Some of the key features that make WordPress an excellent platform for blogging include:
- Intuitive post editor with media integration and formatting options
- Ability to categorize and tag posts
- Author profiles and bios
- Commenting system
- RSS feeds for content syndication
- Social media integration
For step-by-step instructions on starting a blog with WordPress, see our beginner‘s guide to creating a WordPress blog.
2. Business Websites
WordPress is a popular choice for business websites because of its professional themes, SEO features, lead generation capabilities, and ecommerce integrations.
Major brands like Microsoft, Sony, Facebook, BBC, and more use WordPress for their business sites.
With WordPress, business owners can create great looking websites without needing web design skills. You can customize site design with themes and enhance functionality with plugins.
Key business website features in WordPress include:
- Professional design themes
- Custom menus and widgets
- SEO optimization
- Analytics integration
- Lead capture and email list building
- Appointment and booking systems
- Product catalogs and ecommerce
Check out our guide on creating a small business website with WordPress for more details.
3. Online Stores / eCommerce Sites
WordPress combined with WooCommerce is the world‘s most popular eCommerce platform. It powers over 28% of online stores.
WooCommerce seamlessly integrates into WordPress and provides all the features you need to build a fully-functional online store including:
- Secure payments via top payment gateways
- Product listings, categories, tags, and variations
- Inventory and order management
- Coupons, taxes, and shipping calculation
- Detailed sales reporting
You can use WooCommerce to sell physical, digital, and variable products.
See our step-by-step WooCommerce tutorial to learn how to create an online store with WordPress.
4. Membership Sites
A WordPress membership site allows you to offer premium content, products or services to users who sign up on your site.
Some examples of membership sites include premium news sites, online learning portals, fan clubs, etc.
The MemberPress plugin is the best WordPress membership plugin that helps you easily create subscription-based sites. Some of its key features include:
- Flexible membership plans and pricing
- Smart payment gateways integration
- Member profiles and community building
- Member directories and groups
- Content restrictions and dripped content
See our guide on building a membership site for more details.
5. Online Courses Marketplaces
WordPress is also a great platform to build online course marketplaces.
With plugins like MemberPress and LearnDash, you can easily create and sell online courses.
Your WordPress courses site can include features like:
- Course authoring tools
- Lesson planning
- Student time tracking and quizzes
- Secure video hosting
- Student community and messaging
- Learning analytics
Check out our tutorial on starting an online course marketplace to learn more.
6. Multivendor Marketplaces
A multivendor marketplace is a platform where third-party vendors can sign up and sell their products. Some examples are Etsy, Amazon, eBay, etc.
WordPress has multivendor marketplace plugins that can help you build sites like these. You get to own the platform while vendors manage their stores and products.
Your marketplace site can include powerful features like:
- Vendor signup and account management
- Vendor sales and earning reports
- Multiple payment methods
- Reviews and ratings systems
- Marketplace commissions and fee management
- Dispute management
Learn how to create a multivendor online marketplace with WordPress.
7. Pay Per View Sites
A pay per view website allows you to charge users to access premium content. Visitors can purchase access on a pay as you go basis.
For example, you can share part of an ebook for free and charge for the full version. You could also make forums free but charge a fee view certain posts and threads.
With plugins like MemberPress and WooCommerce, you can easily create pay per view sites where you control access and pricing.
See our guide on building pay per view sites for more details.
8. Podcast Sites
WordPress is a commonly used platform for podcasting websites. Podcasters can use it to publish episodes, build an audience, and monetize their shows.
With podcasting plugins, you can add features like:
- Audio player and podcast episode management
- iTunes / Spotify integration
- Guest interviews and co-hosts
- Podcast statistics and analytics
- Podcast reviews and comments
- Premium episode support
See our podcasting for beginners guide to learn more.
9. Job Board Sites
More niche job boards are emerging that cater to specific industries and regions. WordPress provides an easy way to create a job board website.
You can quickly build a site where employers can post jobs and candidates can apply. Some useful features include:
- Job listings management
- Search and filters
- Job alerts and email notifications
- Company profiles and pages
- Payments collection
- Resume management
Check out our guide on starting a job board with WordPress.
10. Crowdfunding Sites
Crowdfunding websites help entrepreneurs and causes raise funds from backers. WordPress makes it easy to launch a Kickstarter-like crowdfunding platform.
These sites let users create fundraising campaigns that accept payments. Useful features include:
- Campaign creation, submission, and moderation
- Payment collections via Stripe and PayPal
- Social sharing and promotion
- Backer reward management
- Email updates and notifications
See our crowdfunding site tutorial for detailed instructions.
11. Directory Sites
Niche directories continue to thrive on the web. From business directories to event listings to staff directories, WordPress can handle them all.
Directory plugins provide easy listing management and profiles creation. Other features can include:
- Searchable listings
- Google Maps integration
- Categories and tags
- Customizable listing fields
- Paid listings and promotions
- Ratings and reviews
Learn how to make a directory website with WordPress.
12. Review Sites
Reviews websites like Yelp and TripAdvisor are immensely popular. WordPress is commonly used to create local review sites.
Review plugins allow you to easily collect and publish crowd-sourced reviews. Useful review site features include:
- Review submission, filtering, and moderation
- Reviewer profiles and accounts
- Overall ratings
- Sorting and filtering
- Location-based reviews
- Photos and multimedia
See our guide on building a reviews website.
13. Social Networking Sites
While WordPress alone cannot compete with the likes of Facebook, it does provide a solid starting point for niche social networks.
The BuddyPress plugin transforms WordPress into a powerful social community platform easily. You can add features like:
- Member profiles, accounts, friends, and groups
- Activity streams and notifications
- Messaging and internal communication
- Media sharing and status updates
- Community events and meetups
Check out our BuddyPress guide on building a social network.
14. Magazine Sites
WordPress is an excellent CMS for online magazines and publications. Top news sites like Time, Forbes, Newsweek, and more are built with WordPress.
WordPress provides authoring tools tailored for magazines including:
- Post scheduling and editorial workflow
- Column and newspaper-like layouts
- Featured posts and sliders
- Categories, sections, and menus
- Advertising and sponsorships
- Subscription support
See our guide on creating an online magazine.
15. Portfolio Sites
Freelancers, photographers, artists, and creatives use WordPress portfolio sites to showcase their work and talents.
WordPress makes it easy to create beautiful, professional portfolio sites with features like:
- Responsive image galleries and sliders
- Audio, video, and multimedia support
- Project organization and tagging
- Client testimonials and reviews
- Contact and lead capture forms
Learn how to make an awesome portfolio site in WordPress.
16. Non-Profit / Causes Sites
WordPress is open source software that‘s free to use. This makes it an ideal platform for non-profits and fundraisers.
These sites can leverage powerful WordPress features like:
- Donation forms and fundraising campaigns
- Volunteer recruitment and listings
- Events management
- Peer-to-peer fundraising support
- Email newsletters and contact forms
- Social media integration
See our guide on WordPress for non-profits to learn more.
17. Knowledge Base / Documentation Sites
WordPress can be used to create knowledge base sites and complex documentations very easily.
You can build wikis, user manuals, how to guides, and more by leveraging features like:
- Powerful content authoring
- Table of contents generation
- Full-text search
- Glossaries and definition support
- Documentation versioning
- Feedback collection and requests
Learn how to create a knowledge base in WordPress.
18. Coupon Sites
Coupon websites have huge earning potential from affiliate sales. WordPress makes it easy to start your own coupon site.
Useful features you can add include:
- Curated coupons, deals, and offers
- Affiliate integration to earn commissions
- Upvote and downvotes for crowdsourced moderation
- Coupon categories and types
- Expiry date management
- Email newsletter integration
See our step-by-step tutorial on building a coupon site.
19. Forms and Surveys Sites
Online forms are powerful lead generation and market research tools. Using WordPress form builder plugins, you can easily collect data via forms.
Your WordPress forms can include features like:
- Form creation wizards
- Multi-page forms and conditional logic
- Payment form integration
- Form analytics
- Email notifications
- File uploads and attachments
Learn how to add forms to your WordPress site.
20. Educational Sites
Schools, universities, tutors, and educators can leverage WordPress to build their websites.
These sites need to share schedules, assignments, lessons, grades, and more. WordPress provides required tools including:
- Secure user roles and permissions
- Class schedules and assignment publishing
- File distribution and sharing
- Quizzes, tests, and assessments
- Grading and feedback
- Parent-teacher communication
Check out our guide on using WordPress in education.
21. Real Estate Sites
WordPress is commonly used by real estate agents, brokers, and agencies to build their sites.
Real estate themes make it easy to add property listings, agents, searches, and more. Other features include:
- IDX integration to syndicate listings
- Custom post types for properties
- Advanced search filters
- Agent profiles and listings
- Property types, locations, and categories
- Mortgage calculators
See our tutorial on real estate sites.
22. Classifieds Sites
Building classifieds sites like Craigslist with WordPress is easy with the right plugins. Useful classifieds site features include:
- Classifieds listings management
- Search and filtering
- Paid listing options
- Location-based listings
- Contact forms and messaging
- Reviews and reputation management
Learn how to create a WordPress classifieds site.
23. Coming Soon and Landing Pages
WordPress can be used to quickly launch temporary coming soon and landing pages.
These simple sites come packed with lead capture features including:
- Email optin forms
- Countdown timer
- Social media integration
- Beautiful templates and designs
- Analytics integration
- SEO optimization
See our guide on coming soon pages to learn more.
Final Thoughts
We hope this detailed guide gave you a good idea of the different types of sites you can build with WordPress.
The possibilities are truly endless. As your needs evolve, WordPress will scale to grow with your site without any limitations.
