If you’re looking to revamp your business’s current website or build a new one from scratch, you may be a little lost on where to start.
Defining your website’s site plan (or sitemap as we call it) is an excellent place to start, which lays out all the necessary pages your website contains. Once you have this plan created, you can start writing website content, designing the pages, and launching your brand-new website.
Not sure what pages need to be included on your website? Here is a starting list of the must-have pages your business website should have (and a list of nice-to-have pages if you feel they add value to your customers).
Must-Have Pages
1. Homepage
If we were playing “What Pages Should I Have On My Website Bingo,” the homepage would be the free space.
Most people will enter your website through your homepage, as it serves as your site’s central hub and gives users a clear understanding of your business and what you can do for them.
We are firm believers in the StoryBrand homepage methodology, which positions you as the clear guide and solution to your target audience’s needs. While each business’s homepage will be unique and may include more or fewer sections than the standard StoryBrand homepage, it’s still the most valuable page on your website.
2. Call-to-Action Page
This page is dedicated to the clear call-to-action you want your visitors to take with your business. This is usually the contact page, but other companies may want users to schedule a tour, request a demo, or even order food.
These pages are usually simple. They include a form for users to fill out, your basic contact information, address, and any other helpful information a user would need to start working with you.
Your website should serve as a digital sales team, so include a main page where people can complete the goal you want them to achieve.
3. About Us/Our Team
People love getting to know the people behind a business, so we suggest adding an about us page. This page builds trust with your new customers, and there are many different directions this page can go.
You could showcase your key differentiators, tell the story behind your company, or highlight your team with fun headshots or team bios—or all of the above.
As long as users leave this page getting a sense about who you are as a company and why they should do business with you, you have created a valuable about page.
4. At Least One Page Dedicated to Your Services or Products
Whether you sell physical products or services, you should have at least one page dedicated to them. Ideally, you would have a page dedicated to each product or service you offer, which will significantly boost your SEO.
When users search online to find answers to their questions or find a solution to their problem, they want to know this information as soon as possible. Because of that user intent, the more information you can provide about your products or services, the better.
Each of your product/service pages should give users as much detail as possible about your offering, but be cautious about writing too much page content. Consider breaking the content into more pages if the page appears to be very long.
5. Blog
The easiest way to improve your website’s search engine rankings is to create new content consistently. A blog is a great way to generate unique content that provides value to your users while directing them to your website.
If you’re unsure where to start with blog topics, consider the most frequently asked questions you get from customers. Write a thorough blog post for each question, and add a link to your primary call-to-action page. You can also blog about the latest trends in your industry, share stories from other customers, and so much more.
A blog may seem overwhelming at first, but once you get started, you’ll find it’s much easier to manage than you thought. The most important thing is publishing quality posts on a consistent cadence.
6. Accessibility Statement
ADA compliance on websites has been a growing concern in recent years. While making sure your website is ADA-compliant is a whole other matter, it’s essential to include an accessibility statement.
Accessibility statements are important for many reasons. It shows your users that you care about them, you want to provide information about your content’s accessibility, and you want to show your business’s commitment to social responsibility.
If you are not sure how to develop an accessibility statement, there are plenty of tools that will help you generate one. You can use this handy generator tool on the W3.org website as a starting point for your page.
7. Privacy Policy
A privacy policy is a must for your business’s website, as it tells users what you’ll do with their personal information. This page should let them know how any personal information and data (cookies, email addresses, etc.) collected will be used and whether or not it will be shared with third parties.
Just like the accessibility statement, some generators will write your privacy policy content for you. We use iubenda to generate our client’s privacy policy statements on their behalf.
Nice-to-Have Pages
The following pages are not necessarily a requirement, but they would be good pages to consider for future website growth.
FAQs
We talked about addressing your frequently asked questions (FAQs) in blog posts, but if you feel that the answers to these questions could be short and to the point, an FAQs page could be a better option. To take it one step further, you can link to each FAQ blog post on your FAQs page so users can get the complete answer to their questions.
An FAQs page serves multiple purposes. Not only does it give users quick access to their questions, but it also saves you from receiving the same questions repeatedly. It also removes any doubts a user may have about doing business with you, making it an instant value-add page.
Search Result Page
Having a search function on your website is a best practice, and the actual search results page should not be an afterthought. Since users constantly use search engines to get answers to their questions, it makes sense to offer a search function on your website so they can quickly find what they are looking for.
404 Page
A page not found page (also referred to as a 404 page) is a page your users get redirected to when a page or URL no longer exists, has moved, or has expired. These pages are often simple and give users links to live, existing pages to continue their site exploration. Here is our 404 page as an example.
All websites are unique, and there may be pages on this list that aren’t as important as others for your business (and maybe pages not mentioned that are imperative to include). As your website can clearly showcase who you are as a business, what you offer, and how you can bring value to your customers’ lives, it should succeed.
If you have questions about what pages to include on your website or want professional assistance with deciding which pages to have, contact GreenMellen today to start your project!
