The Anatomy of a Website: Which Pages Should Be on Your Website?
Written by: Eric Brantner on November 9, 2009 – 7:22 am
Whether you’re launching a website for your new business or you’re looking to improve your current website, you want to make sure you get it right the first time. A great website gives visitors all the information they need about your business and products, is easy to navigate, and is laid out properly for the search engines.
Which pages should you include on your website?
- Home—Well, duh, of course you’re going to have a home page, but let me give you a few words of advice for getting the most out of your home page. First, don’t ever have an intro page as you’ll instantly lose new visitors. Second, don’t waste your time with a headline that says “Welcome.” Third, keep the navigation simple and the design clean so that new visitors can find what they’re looking for as quickly as possible. And finally, don’t try to tackle every facet of your business on your home page; it will overwhelm and confuse visitors. Keep it simple!
- About Us—The about us section of your website helps give a face and personality to your business. Furthermore, it builds credibility as website visitors can see you’re a real person and a legitimate company they can trust.
- Products and Services—If you offer multiple products and services, break it down into one page for each product or service. Not only does this make it easier for visitors to find the information they’re looking for, but it also allows you to target more keywords for increasing your search engine presence.
- FAQ—I’ve noticed that a lot of website don’t have FAQ sections, and I think it’s a mistake. Here’s why: Your visitors will have questions. Some of them will email you their questions, but many won’t make the effort as they just leave your website. A FAQ section allows you to give them all the information they need, and it can keep you from having to respond to the same questions over and over again.
- Contact—I recommend placing your contact information on each page, but you should also have a main contact page too. You want to make it as easy as possible for visitors to contact you, and you also want to appear as professional and trustworthy as possible.
- Testimonials—This is another page you don’t always see on websites. Look, new visitors to your website aren’t going to trust you right away. Of course, you’re going to claim your products and services are great; ever company does. Testimonials give skeptical visitors an unbiased recommendation of your company from people just like them. Read my post on giving your testimonials more credibility.
- Guarantee—If you offer a guarantee on your products or services, there are probably some restrictions to it. Lay out the fine print of your guarantee on a separate page, and do so in plain language that the average consumer can understand.
- Site Map—The site neatly outlines your website for both visitors and the search engines.
Are there any other essential pages I left of this list? Leave a comment with your tips.
April 15th, 2010 at 2:28 am
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June 23rd, 2010 at 12:02 am
Earning revenue on the web is usually dissicult at the begining however Its those that stick to it that will succeed.
June 24th, 2010 at 10:05 am
that was quite a comprehensive writeup there. you should get more people to read your writeups
June 29th, 2010 at 10:30 pm
Impressive site, discovered a few new things! Bookmarked for later, hope to see more updates like this one.
August 14th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
I liked your article but you could potentially utilize a couple of social sharing buttons I’ve seen all over the place, this way I really could mail this particular blog post to my contacts
August 19th, 2010 at 11:04 am
Thanks because of this! I’ve been searching all above the web for that data.
September 9th, 2010 at 11:22 am
These are all the pages I usually put up when doing a website.
October 21st, 2010 at 12:31 am
great job of list there, but it only works for a website. How about blog?
November 3rd, 2010 at 7:55 am
This is a main issue regarding online business and you must have too take care about your landing page, that it should be well written to attract the customers.
November 13th, 2010 at 7:50 am
Great Job…thank you.
November 18th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
One thing that does annoy me is how complicated and cluttered some websites are. I think the thing to remember is that sometimes the best websites are the simplest. If someone comes to your website seeking information and all they see is a confused mess, they are likely to leave immediately. Take a look at your bounce rate to see how "sticky" your site is.
December 8th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
This is a very useful post. I learned some new things. Now I can apply it to all my new projects.
Thanks for sharing this information with us all.
December 27th, 2010 at 12:17 am
Perhaps this article is interesting for you
December 29th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Another tip would be to use "Mission Statement" About Us.Create a Blog with RSS feed and generate a .xml sitemap for google
February 8th, 2011 at 3:21 am
One thing that does annoy me is how complicated and cluttered some websites are. I think the thing to remember is that sometimes the best websites are the simplest.
February 21st, 2011 at 11:50 am
nice info…because of this, i have to check my own website and blog again. nice and thanks for the people who share it. i appreciate it much.
February 22nd, 2011 at 11:31 am
I’ve noticed that a lot of website don’t have FAQ sections – Me included…
I don't have any frequently asked questions, as nobody asks questions. Is this a bad vibe to be getting?
May 22nd, 2011 at 9:25 pm
I liked your article, but you could use a couple of buttons of social exchange that was everywhere,
June 10th, 2011 at 12:42 am
Thanks so much for this post. I'm starting a new website, and needed some ideas on how to fill up my WordPress blog. Looking over your other posts, it looks like you guys are doing great work here. Keep it up!
July 13th, 2011 at 2:03 am
I feel like you could probably teach a class on how to make a great blog.