Websites can be vast, or small, but all business websites should provide browsers with what they are looking for in a clear and concise way. If you’re not sure what pages to include on your website and what might be best left out, here are some tips for the essential pages you should include and why.
- Homepage
Not all, but most of your visitors will see your homepage first. It should be well-designed, load fast and sell your offer.
You have around a second to make an impression so make sure your homepage tells the visitor what you do to make their life easier with your products and services, a bit about you, and a call to action (CTA). A CTA is a clear instruction for your visitor to do something on reading your page that brings them further along their purchase journey. A CTA could be, for example, ‘call us today for a quote’, ‘click here for further details’ or ‘fill out our contact form and we’ll be in touch to discuss your requirements’. - About us
The about page of your website is one of the most important pages after the homepage. If the homepage has done its job, the visitor will want to know more about you. Why do you do what you do? What makes you special? Why should they deal with you over someone else offering the same services?
Your about page must be in the voice of your brand. Try to ensure it isn’t just a list of your talents, but about the benefits your talents will deliver. You could include your qualifications, images of you and your team, and a customer testimonial that illustrates the fantastic service/products you provide. - Services/products
You need to tell your visitors about the services and/or products you provide. If you have a large number of products or services, or a complex range, consider dividing them into sections.
Product and service information should sell the benefits to the potential customer of each, and also the factual information of each, such as, product measurements, materials and colours available. Service information could include, how many callouts are included, the detail of the support you provide and add-ons available. - FAQ
If your visitor has further questions after browsing your home and about page, they are likely to look around for an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page. An FAQ is good for showing how conscientious you are about providing your visitors with extra information, and it’s excellent for your SEO. Some simple research around the keywords and phrases browsers use to search for your products and services should inform how you write your FAQ.
You should also include a strong call to action on your FAQ page so that your customer can easily take one step forward in their journey to finding out more, or purchasing. - Blog
While a blog isn’t an absolute essential in your website, it is highly recommended for SEO, and as, probably, your cheapest available marketing tool. Your blog is a place you can show off your expertise, exhibit your understanding of your customers and their needs, and demonstrate how cutting edge in the industry you are.
Your social media can direct to your blog; it’s a means of interacting with your customer community, and you’ll get the SEO rewards for well-written, informative, fresh content. - Contact
While it may be obvious to have a contact page, it’s amazing how many businesses get it wrong, or don’t include all the right information.
Don’t forget to include your name and address, a map of how to find you (if appropriate), your social media icons and all the email addresses and phone numbers that apply. - Official/functional pages
As well as the essential pages, there are certain other, official, function pages that it is recommended make up your website:- Terms and conditions – where you set out the rules that a site visitor must agree to abide by when using your website
- Privacy policy – where you let your site visitor know what your privacy policy is and how you will use any data you collect about them
- Sitemap – a straightforward index of the pages on your website
- Page not found / 404 error – a page to politely tell visitors that you cannot find the page they’re looking for
Whilst these essential pages are the basic pages site visitors expect to see, there is nothing to stop you having additional pages that are appropriate and required for your specific audience.
But as a basic guide, you can’t go wrong with the essential list. What is also essential is that the whole experience of viewing and moving between your website’s pages makes sense, and is pleasant and intuitive for your site visitors.
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