Difference between a Webpage and a Website

The terms ‘webpage’ and ‘website’ are easily confused with each other and often used interchangeably. Computer enthusiasts may find this surprising, but it actually is common. Learning the differences may not make you a computer guru, but it will surely help you understand the internet better.

Definitions

Webpage

A Webpage or web page is what makes a website work. It is a single document that is suitable for your web browsers (Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, etc.). It is usually written in HTML or HyperText Markup Language (a coding language) that will be presented as a web page through web browsers. Some of the most used web resource elements are style sheets (visual style), scripts (enable web pages to perform actions in accordance to user input), and images to present a web page.

In simpler terms, a webpage is an individual page in a website. As an example, this article you are reading now is in a webpage. Putting all the contents together on this page you are looking at now is what makes a webpage. In addition, a webpage also has a unique URL or Uniform Resource Locator (address) in reference to a resource on the internet. This means a webpage may be duplicated or copied visually, but if the URL is not the same, it’s still a different webpage.

Website

A Website or web site is a collection of web pages under a single domain name. These web pages will now be identified with the common domain name. For example, ‘maocular.org/wiki/Website’ is a single web page and is identified by its domain name ‘maocular.org’. With a different web page, ‘https://maocular.org/wiki/Web_page’, you’ll notice that it also is identified by the same domain name ‘maocular.org’. Putting these two webpages and many other webpages together is what makes a website.

ALSO READ: Information Technology Changed Workplace Communication

Websites are divided into two broad categories, static and interactive. Static websites are generally sites that provide information but do not allow interaction with viewers or readers. A good example of a static site is wikipedia.org. Interactive websites on the other hand are sites wherein the owner/author and visitors alike can interact via comment box, chat box, or postings. A good example of an interactive site would be facebook.com. While there are only two website categories, there are various types of websites and this includes weblog, celebrity website, affiliate website, crowdfunding website, dating website, social networking site, and many others.

A website normally has many other pages besides its homepage, such as products, contact support, forum, blogs, news etc., but in some cases, there is only a single webpage, and in this case, the site is called a single-page website.

Webpage vs Website

What’s the difference between a webpage and a website?

The major difference between the two is the content. While a webpage offers information on a topic, a website offers a great deal of information about the topic (Considering the website is focused on its topic which is normally the case). Aside from the information given by a webpage, a website can offer many more options such as signup page, subscribe, contact page, news page, more information, etc.

Technically, they are both coded programs to be displayed on a web browser. However, you should note that a webpage is just one page of a website. One way to easily understand it is by relating it to a book. A single page represents a web page, and put together, you’ll have yourself a story or in other words, a functioning website.

Comparison Chart