The types of spider webs are rich and varied; spiders from different families and genera have evolved web designs that are highly matched to their hunting strategies.

The orb web is the most classic and "photogenic" spider web — composed of radial threads (the spokes) and a spiral thread (the capture spiral), commonly seen in gardens, forest edges, and balconies.

Spiders in the families Araneidae and Nephilidae are typical orb-web weavers.

The sheet web is an irregular, horizontal or sloping, thin-gauze-like silk sheet — funnel-web spiders and sheet-web weavers (Linyphiidae) are experts at sheet webs.

These types of webs are commonly found on shrubs and low vegetation, and are very noticeable when covered with morning dew.

The funnel web consists of a flat silk sheet that narrows at the back into a tubular funnel — the spider hides at the bottom of the funnel tube and rushes out to capture prey that lands on the sheet.

Indoor spiders (such as the house funnel-web spider, Tegenaria domestica) typically build tangle webs — irregular tangles of silk threads stacked in corners, window frames, and behind bookshelves.

This type of web looks "messy" but is highly efficient — needing only a small amount of silk to cover a large hunting area.

The trapdoor web is the most concealed design — the spider digs a burrow in the soil and constructs a hinged lid using silk and soil, hiding under the lid to wait for passing small arthropods.