Mequoda uses the term "archetype" to help understand and categorize kinds of sites. An archetype is a pattern or design upon which all other similar things are patterned. The Mequoda Research Team has analyzed more than 2,000 media websites and concluded there are seven primary archetypes. Each of these seven archetypes has many sub archetypes that represent significant variations in information architecture on the primary theme.

Another common media platform to better understand the concept of a media archetype is television. Television is a media platform that was born in the 1940s. Early television shows were based on media archetypes borrowed from stage, film and radio.

Today, TV producers draw on a rich array of television archetypes that include situation comedies, reality shows, dramas and news magazines. Each archetype can be represented best by an actual show or a collection of shows that are best practice examples for the format, and the same can be done for websites.

This chapter is part of a handbook titled Generating Website Revenue 2007.

• Handbook: Generating Website Revenue 2007.
• Chapter 1 : Using Website Archetypes to Optimize the User Experience