Website Development Unit 13 The uses of Websites

Typical uses of websites There are millions of websites on the internet. They are used for almost every conceivable purpose including business, personal and entertainment purposes. Some of the more common purposes of websites are described in the following sections. Presenting information Storing information Browsing and searching for information Improving productivity Making decisions Communication with people Media sharing E-commerce Education Downloading Information

Presenting Information Websites are commonly used both for presenting information, such as news, and for product advertising. Most companies have their own website. Some of the best known news websites are those of BBC News and Sky News.

Storing Information Websites can be used to archive information. The ‘cloud’ concept is a relatively recent development in information storage. It involves using the internet to store information rather than using local storage (such as your computers hard disk drive or a USB memory stick).

Browsing and searching for information The internet search engine Google has become such a part of our lives that the verb ‘to Google’ has been included in the Oxford English Dictionary. If you ask someone a question, you may get a response, ‘Just Google it’. The internet has also become a useful source of real-time information. For example, if you are meeting someone at the railway station or airport, the quickest way to check real-time updated information is via the internet.

Improving productivity Email has revolutionised personal and business communication, enabling people to share information and send document to each other quickly and so improving productivity. Facilities such as video conferencing allow people to have ‘virtual’ meetings, enabling them to work collaboratively without having to spend time travelling.

Making decisions Many websites provide information which helps individuals and businesses to make decisions. Price comparison websites like Compare the Market and Money Supermarket help people to decide on the most suitable insurance policy, loan or other financial service.

Communication with people Social networking sites, such as Facebook, have become very popular as they allow people to communicate with their friends. They can let all their friends know what they are doing with status updates and they are able to chat with friends through and instant messenger (IM) type interface. Many other IM services, such as Yahoo Chat, are popular and some include video chatting as well as text chat.

Media sharing Another area that the internet has revolutionised is how we listen to music or live radio, and how we watch films. Sits such as Apple iTunes allow consumers to purchase and download music, while sites such as YouTube let people view and share videos on a wide range of subjects. Radio stations now broadcast digitally and so now you can listen to them over the internet. Some radio stations are only broadcast digitally such as BBC Radio 6 Music.

E-commerce There has also been a huge increase in the number of goods being brought online, both from online-only retailers like Amazon and high street chains, such as Tesco and John Lewis. A large proportion of trade business is now conducted online.

Education The internet contains a vast resource of information on just about every subject imaginable. You can find information on encyclopaedia websites or specialist websites. Some of these, such as www.tomshardware.co.uk , which provides lots of information about PC hardware, give details on training courses and contains video instructions on how to do all sorts of PC related things.

Downloading Information Many websites provide digital content for you to download. iTunes is one of the best known websites from which you can buy and download music. Many software vendors allow you to download their software products directly from their website.

Activity Make a list of all the websites you visit in a week and classify each of them using the list: Presenting information, Storing information, Browsing and searching for information, Improving productivity, Making decisions, Communication with people, Media sharing, E-commerce, Education, Downloading Information What type has the most number from your list? Which individual sites do you visit most often? What are the features of your favourite sites that attract you to them?