If you’re new to business, then one of the first ports of call is building a website. No matter what your budget, it’s a must have. It’s essentially the first impression many will get of your business, and by not having one an air of trust towards your business will usually disappear.
It’s easier than ever to build a website these days too, so there really are no excuses. If you’re capable, you can of course build one yourself. However, there are tons of website builders out there too that can have you up and running in no time at all.
There are hundreds of templates to choose from, with brands like Duda and other well-established website builders offering templates for all manner of businesses. In fact, website templates like these really do showcase the diversity of what is available.
That is all well and good though. Getting your website off the ground is the perfect place to start, but then you also need to have the right pages on your site. And there are a series of must haves…
Homepage
This one perhaps goes without saying. Every website should have a homepage. It’s the first page of your book, the first port of call for a customer, and will ultimately be the difference between a customer sticking around or closing the browser.
The homepage needs to be the who, what, where of your website and the customer must be the centre of all the design elements and all the features. In an instant, potential customers must clearly understand what your business is about, who you are, and how to use your services. Imagery, copy, headlines and videos can all help you succeed with this.
Contact Page
Transparency is key with any business and a good way to portray that is with a high-quality contact page. The contact page is a must, and the vast majority of sites will have them. But these days you also find so many are broken or don’t offer enough options to get in touch.
You should be thinking about your contact page as if it’s the ultimate resource for anyone who has a question. Therefore, you need multiple ways of getting in touch, including a contact form, email address, and social media channels, while you can also consider a phone line and live chat function.
Alongside this, think about whether FAQs can make life easier for both users and yourself, as by entering a few frequently asked questions you’ll likely cut down on the number of questions being sent to you, which will then require responses.
About Us Page
An About Us page is also crucial, particularly for new businesses or ones that perhaps don’t have the largest brand awareness. Users and potential customers will ultimately want to know who you are.
However, it’s a page that offers much more than that. Your About Us page can really help sell yourself, highlighting your core brand values and what you’re all about. These days especially, people are looking to use businesses that have morals, whether it be when it comes to charity, equality or sustainability. The About Us section is your chance to champion these and talk about the work you do in these areas.
Prince Kapoor, a leading digital marketing analyst, once said of the page, “An About us page is meant to connect emotionally with people. Hence, when you own a story that tells how you have touched lives, say it loud to the world. Such content humanizes your business supplying meaning and context for your product.”
Other Pages To Have
There are of course many other pages that are worthwhile having on your site, and close to the must haves are certainly product and service pages, if you are trying to sell something. Product and service pages allow you to go into further detail on what you provide as well as encouraging, through the use of CTAs, people to use it.
Alongside this, the likes of blogs can also play a huge part in any business, while testimonials and success story pages can also be a useful addition to highlighting how great your brand is.
Leave a Reply