Wondering what pages to include
on your website and why? Here is a list of
important information that should be included on
your site.
Before you start thinking about
what to write, it is important that you create a
plan, which outlines what each page will contain.
That way you won’t repeat yourself or forget vital
information. The most common pages on successful
websites include:
1. Home Page (First Page)
This is your “sales” page and
should provide information about what you can do for
your customers. It should also give your visitors a
brief overview of what they can find on your site.
2. Products / Services
It is useful to have a separate
page for each product/service and write as much
detail about each as possible. Start each page with
a brief summary of the product/service, then provide
whatever information you can. If the page appears
too long, you can always break it into more pages.
When people are searching for information on the
internet, they want to know it NOW. They don’t want
to wait until tomorrow when they can speak to you on
the phone. The more information you can provide
about your products/services, the better.
3. Contact Us
Place contact details in as
many places as possible. Make it easy for your
customers to contact you. Create a special “Contact
Us” page, include your details in “About Us” page
and also at the bottom of each page. Information to
include: business name, physical address, mailing
address, telephone, fax, email, emergency number,
website address.
4. Pricing
Whenever possible include the
price of your products/services. Even if you can’t
be specific. It is helpful to put at least a range
of prices, eg. Carpet cleaning ranges between $40 -
$60 per room.
5. Testimonials / Product
Reviews / Before & After
Include testimonials from your
current customer to show your potential clients that
you are trustworthy, reliable and that you offer
great service and/or products. Make sure the
testimonials are real and if possible provide
contact details of the person who supplied you with
the testimonial. If you don’t have any right now,
get them! Simply email your customers and ask for
their feedback on your business and service. Most
happy customers will gladly provide this.
You could also include before
and after photos. Show the problem picture and
beside it show the picture of resolution, with an
explanation of your product’s benefits.
6. Frequently Asked
Questions
This has proven to be a great
time saver for many companies. Instead of having to
answer the same questions over and over again, place
them on your website and keep adding to them. The
more information you have on your website, the less
time you will need to spend answering questions by
email or phone.
Frequently Asked Questions
should address your customer’s concerns that may
otherwise be an obstacle to making a sale.
7. Response form such as
“Subscribe” or “Enquiry” form
An absolute must if you want to
build a mailing list. Most people don’t like giving
out too much information, so ask only the basics,
such as Name and Email Address. Then keep in touch
with your customers on a regular basis by sending
out information that may be of interest to them.
You may even wish to develop your own on-line
magazine (ezine). There are many fantastic free or
inexpensive programs that can handle this for you.
We will discuss these in more detail in future
articles.
8. On-line Magazine or
Newsletter
This is a great marketing
tool. Not only does it help you keep in touch with
your customers, but provides your website with fresh
content. You can set up your Ezine in 2 different
ways:
1. Email subscribers on a
regular basis or 2. Publish it on your website. Or
both. Include information about your business,
industry or anything that may be of interest to your
customers.
9. Resources/Articles
Add value to your business.
Provide information that is complementary to what
you do. For example, if you sell wedding dresses
include information about reception venues, wedding
planners, wedding cakes, flowers. By adding extra
information you encourage more hits.
10. About Us
This is a very important page as it tells your
customer about who you are and why they should buy
your products, services and/or trust your
organization. It can also feature your business
hours (if you have a bricks and mortar store) or
when they can speak to someone live. Many companies
also include their mission or purpose on this page,
details of their staff (photos, biographies,
qualifications), recently completed projects. Other
information to include: ACN or ABN, logo, directions
to your store/office.
11. Guarantee
Offer a money back guarantee. The longer the
guarantee, the more effective it will be. It could
be 30 days, 60 days, 1 year or lifetime.
12. Survey
Find out what customers think about your website,
business or product.
13. Events Calendar
This can relate to your business or industry. If
you are an artist, you can feature dates where and
when your art will be displayed or if you are a
singer, where you will be performing.
14. Search My Website Feature
Some visitors to your side may not know exactly what
they want but if you include a search function on
your site, they can look for it very easily. Like
search engines, this feature will allow your
visitors to type in a word or phrase and then search
for it on your site. It’s like having your own mini
search engines, only instead of it searching the
world wide web, it just searches your website.
15. Return/Refund Policy
To make your customers feel more comfortable when
making a transaction at your website, you should
provide then with your return/refund policy. Ensure
it is easy to understand and spelt out step by
step.
16. Privacy Policy
Privacy continues to be a major issue for customers
shopping online. Concerns about how their
information is going to be used is a major barrier
when making a sale. Internet shopping experience is
built on trust and privacy is the number one
ingredient in trust.
17. Site Map
A site map is similar to a contents. It shows
visitors how the site is laid out and which sections
are where.
18. Copyright Information
Your website should carry a copyright notice to
protect its intellectual property. It is generally
in the form of “Copyright © 2004, Your Company
Name”.
19. Links
Here you can place links to the manufacturers of
your products, trade associations or complementary
services. When you place links to other businesses,
you can request they do the same for you. This will
not only bring you more visitors, but may improve
your search engine ranking
20. Media Information
Include any information, articles, photos of your
products, staff etc that have appeared in the media
– print, TV, radio or internet.
21. News
This can include news about your products/services
or about your industry.
22. On-line store
An on-line store allows you sell products directly
on the internet 24 hours a day/7 days a week. When
building an online store it is important to take in
a number of key concepts.
- Make sure that when visitors arrive at your store
the navigational mechanisms are simple and effective
- The actual process of placing the order must be
simple
- Make sure you accept common and convenient methods
of payment
- Continually test your store so you understand your
customer’s shopping experience
About
the Author: Ivana Katz, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Ivana Katz is the owner of
Websites 4 Small & Growing Business, a company
specialising in the design and promotion of small
and growing business websites. She believes that
every business deserves to have a successful
website, no matter what its budget is.
info@web4business.com.au -
http://www.web4business.com.au
This article can be republished for free as long as
the author information and website links are
included.
