What Should I Put On My Website?

Ok - so you've answered the question "Do I Really Need a Website?".  Congratulations!  You are now ready to take the next step!

Some people would think the next step would be to start looking for a website designer, and we'll get to that shortly.  However, it's a good idea to do a a little pre-planning before starting the search for your perfect design partner.  This will help you in your initial discussions with a designer, thus making your conversation very productive.

At the minimum, your website should have the following pages:

Home Page
The home page is the place where most of your potential customers will land. 
Your homepage should clearly show the name of your business/organization and provide the following:

• A simple description of what you do (with a link to an About page)
• A list of categories of services/products you provide (with relevant links to those category pages)
• Embedded social media feeds (facebook, instagram, etc).
• Your logo and informative pictures about your products/services
• A calendar (if appropriate)
• A blog feed (if appropriate)
• Plus any other information you would want your customers to see right away.

About Page
This page should display general information about the owners/founders of the organization.  The about page should discuss how and when the business was created and a little bit about it's history.  It should also have pictures of staff/board members and links to bios.

This is a great place to put your Mission Statement or Curriculum Vitae.

Product/Service Pages
These pages should be displayed so that each page represents a single service or category of products/services.  Google likes pages "chunked" up in in relevant portions.  Don't try to list and describe all of your products and services on one page.  List them logically with relevant links between pages.  It's good to use Next and Previous links if a customer should go in order from one page to another.

Contact Page
This is where you'll display (in a clear and concise way) how a potential customer would contact you.  You'll want to list both your physical and mailing addresses, with an interactive map if appropriate.  You will want to make sure that the phone numbers and email addresses are hyperlinked, so that people can simply click on them to call or email you directly.

Important!  If you work from home, I highly recommend that you DO NOT display your home address.  I would suggest getting a PO Box or purchasing a mailbox from a UPS store location, and using that address instead.  You can't be too careful in this public arena!

Trust me, your website will grow from here.  But this is a good starting point in planning your site.

Have questions?  Feel free to contact me and I'll be happy to discuss your website needs.