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24 Essential Pages to include on Your Website
By Ivana Katz (c) 2009

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.
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.

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 and include your details in the
"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 customers 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.

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.

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:

(a) Email subscribers on a regular basis, or
(b) 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 on the
phone. Many companies also include their mission, details
of their staff (photos, biographies, qualifications),
recently completed projects, ACN or ABN, logo, directions
to your store/office. It is also useful to include details
of trade associations you belong to, trade and insurance
certificates and any awards you may have won.

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 site 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 engine, 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 them with
your return/refund policy. Ensure it is easy to understand
and spelled 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 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 (c) 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.

23. Blog

A blog is a journal that is available on the web. The
activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who
keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated
daily or weekly using software that allows people with
little or no technical background to update and maintain
the blog. Blogs are a great tool because they help with:

  (a) Communicating with your customers. Blogs provide a
      way for you to communicate with your customers
      directly. And it is a two-way communication. You can
      post a message on your blog and your visitors can
      easily respond.

  (b) Search Engine Marketing Blogs give you an increased
      presence on search engines, like Yahoo! and Google.
      If you use Blogger (Google's Blogging Tool), every
      message you post creates a new page on Google so in
      a very short time you could have lots of pages
      pointing to your website

  (c) Stay Ahead of Your Competition Blogs are relatively
      new and chances are your competition does not yet use
      them. So you will be seen as an expert in your
      industry when you post your knowledge and expertise.

  (d) Media & Public Relations Blogs are excellent PR tools.
      You can post your Media Releases and articles and have
      them picked up by the media.

  (e) Free or Low Cost

24. Photo Gallery

Even if you do not wish to sell your products on-line, you
may wish to showcase your goods or services in a special
photo gallery - show how your products or services are
being used by your customers. They say "pictures speak a
thousand words" and on your website it is particularly
important.

Don't give your customers a reason to visit your
competitor's website and provide them with all the
information they may possibly need or want.
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Ivana Katz of Websites 4 Small Business makes it easy for
you to get your business on the internet. If you're looking
for a professional and affordable website designer, visit
http://www.web4business.com.au and download a free website
plan.
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