You don’t need a hundred pages or blog posts to have a successful and effective business website. In fact a few well constructed pages with effective content will roll over a larger website containing filler content
In the last podcast I was talking about the difference between blog posts and static webpages at the very end I promised that I would in this podcast talk a little bit about what I consider the five key pages that every website and blog needs.
Home or blog page.
Everything needs to start somewhere and in the case of the website everybody needs a home page. Now importantly the homepage can either be a static homepage or if you’ve decided to blog about something then the homepage will be your blog page.
If you’ve decided to go with a static homepage then this homepage is where you need to engage with your potential or existing clients, customers or audience. Just like in real life you have a relatively short period of time to engage. Yes you can recover later but it is more difficult.
Engaging with and retaining visitors to your website is partly about the content. If the content is sufficiently important and/or difficult to obtain and/or sufficiently unique you may be able to get away with an absolutely crap design.
The fact is that relatively few websites fall into this category. Plus websites that do fall within that category are likely to be of interest to a relatively small number of people and are unlikely to offer a good business opportunity.
So although content is very important so is the look and feel or design of the website. The good news here is that because word press uses themes to create the overall website design and layout you don’t need to be an expert in design, instead you need to to be able to recognize what is a comfortable design for your customer base. I will talk more about things in a later podcast but for now just understand that there is plenty of choice and choosing the right theme does impact visitors initial impression of you and your business.
The other key ingredient of a great website home page is the content of that page. Use this page to let people know what you do and what sort of services or products you offer. Obvious? Yes but you’d be surprised how hard some websites make you work to discover their purpose. I have even seen websites that contain images, but eventually you realize you click on the visit new pages, but they actually give absolutely no clue what they do or what they sell. Do not make it difficult for your visitors.
Do consider using appropriate photographs, images or other visual items. Visual imagery helps to break up the page into manageable chunks and it also, if you have the right ones, help to convey who you are and what you do. A picture can really be worth 1000 words.
Especially for small businesses we often buy from the person as much as their qualifications or product. This is a good place to start to get people to know who you are. You don’t have to have a full resume of your life and skills but do let people start to get to know you. Start with a good quality photograph. Later on I’ll talk about it and about me page but don’t waste the opportunity of personally engaging with new customers.
Finally, and incredibly important something that is often missed. I’ll say it now and I’ll say with every other page you need to provide the means for people to get in touch with you. It doesn’t matter how good your front pages it doesn’t matter how good your website is and it really doesn’t matter how good your service or product is if they have no way of contacting you.
Word press makes it easy for you to include a contact form on every page, would you also might want to consider a phone number, and email address and even a physical mailing address. What ever you do just make sure that it is easy for your perspective new customers and existing customers to get in touch with you and stay in touch with you.
About me/us page.
I’ve already mentioned the people typically buy from people especially where it is a small business and very definitely where it is a very personal product or service. The more personal the service the more important the about me page is.
Interestingly, it is not just the homepage that people visit first. Studies have shown that the first point of contact with a website is very often the about me page and that even if they do visit another page 1st people do then go to look at the about me page. This makes the about me page one of the most important pages on your website and may be the difference between you making a sale or gaining a new client or them deciding to go elsewhere. We are talking about trust.
A great photo is a must. Whether it is a head and shoulders shot or something a little bit more active is something that you’re going to have to decide on. If you’re a bookkeeper or an accountant than a professional head and shoulders shot is probably what you’d be looking for. If you provide training for martial arts or lawn care then may be a photograph with a little bit more action and it might be appropriate. Just don’t make it a photo album.
When it comes to the actual written content then you need to be looking at
1. qualifications
2. experience
3. who you are, but don’t get too personal
The whole aim is to build a picture of who you are, why you can do what you claim and why people should trust you.
Just a warning here do not make it a full-blown curriculum vitae or resume. Do not try to get a job you are trying to persuade visitors that they should trust you. It’s a careful bit play between enough information with a get out going over the top. Oh and don’t forget to include all your contact information.
Contact page
Yes, I know I have told you to put all your contact information on every page but it is still important to include a contact page with all of the ways in which people can take contact with you. On other pages the chances are that your contact information is likely to be at the bottom of the page. Fine if somebody goes all the way to the bottom but if you have a specific contact page then they should be able to see it listed in the menu of your website. People are used to looking for this so it’s good if they can easily find it.
I particularly like the option of a contact form because it makes it easy for people to provide their name how to contact them and a little bit about what they are looking for. But don’t ask for to much information and do warn about providing personal information. Not everybody wants to pick up the phone and a contact form is easier than them having to open up their email client to send you a message. Just think make it easy for people to get in touch with you.
The other advantage of a contact form it over email address is that it’s possible to skim your email address from your website and there is a very good possibility that you will end up getting even more spam emails that you did before. You can always give customers a contact email later.
But email or contact form is not enough you must also include a telephone number, a fax number if you have it, and a real world address. People love to see a real world address. I.e. almost always look to see where someone is located. It’s helps ensure an increased level of trust.
If you have them, you should also include all of your social media contacts. Just think if you have a Facebook page somebody might like the page but not buy from you now. But there is always the possibility in the future that something you post might engage with that person.
Legal mumbo-jumbo.
It is good to have both a privacy policy and a terms of service page. In some jurisdictions something like a privacy policy is not just good practice but may even be a legal necessity. Just think of how often you now see a pop-up about cookies and the use of cookies on a website.
Having these legal pages shows a commitment to both integrity and professionalism. The chances are that few people are ever going to read it but it will help to make them more comfortable with you. It’s even been suggested that search engines, like Google and Bing, actually do take into account whether pages like this exist when it comes to deciding how to rank websites in searches.
When it comes to creating these pages it might seem quite daunting. I’m sure like me you’re probably not a lawyer and you don’t feel like writing one of these pages. The good news is that there are plenty of resources on the Internet’s which will create these pages for you. Some are paid and some are free. As I’m not a lawyer I will not recommend any specific site as being better than any other but I have included links to a number of resources that should be sufficient for most small businesses. If you have very special needs or your situation is complex then I’m sorry but you’re going to have to get the checkbook out and visit a lawyer that specializes in this type of work.
Goods and services
Even though you will have told people a little bit about what you do or what you sell on your home page there really is no substitute to having a page that provides sufficient information for potential customers, clients or audience to decide whether they are interested.
As always appropriate use of images is better than very long descriptions. But do have a succinct and focused description of what’s on offer and consider also including pricing.
Conclusion
That’s it, those of the five pages that every website needs. I have clients who I’ve helped create websites for who have, and still have just those five pages and it works extremely well for them. Just two examples.
A retired special needs teacher who specialized in teaching autistic children has just those five pages and is inundated with work. The most important pages on her site are the about me page that helps build trust and rapport with the parents of these autistic children and a contact page because without it nothing happens.
The other example is a psychotherapist that actually has one extra page because they have chosen a static format but have also added a blog page within the website. They chose to do this because occasionally there are legislative changes, they have new training or new ideas and they find that putting these into a blog sometimes get picked up by the search engines which increases the amount of traffic they get to their site. But just like the retired teacher the important aspects of the site are the ability to explain what they do, who they are and why they should be a trusted, and finally the ability to contact them to arrange meetings.
As a final thought I would point out that both the teacher and the psychotherapist have higher incomes now than they did when they were working for other people. In the case of the psychotherapist their income puts them in the top 20% of earners in North America. Even if you keep it simple, provided you do it properly, you can be very successful.
- Home or blog page – Use this page to let people know what you do. Obvious? Yes, but you’d be surprised how hard some websites make you work to discover their purpose.
- About Me/Us – The more personal the service the more important the About page. Studies suggest this is one of the first pages people view and one the most viewed pages on a website. Perhaps not so surprising because people want to know who you are and why they should trust you.
- Contact Me/Us – You do want people to contact you? All joking apart offering detailed contact information, including phone numbers and a real address, shows people that you really do exist. A map and directions, if relevant, is a nice touch and easy to achieve.
- Privacy Policy – In some jurisdictions this is a legal necessity but it also makes good sense. Search engines like to see a Privacy Policy page and, for your people visitors, it shows a level of integrity.
- Terms of Service – Just like the Privacy Policy page the Terms of Service helps show a commitment to integrity and professionalism.
And that is all you need to start.