22
Important Pages To Include On Your
Website
Designing
Your First Internet Site? Not Sure What To
Include?
The very first thing you need
to do before you start thinking about
designing
a new personal or business web
site, you need to
create a simple web layout plan, .
This way you won’t
repeat yourself or forget vital pages to include in
web design. Well, now you'll know because Ivana has
written a nice guide to web design and planning to
keep you on the right track. Although it's not all
inclusive, this will give you some very good ideas
in laying out your plan.
How To Create A
Website
Wondering what pages to
include on your website and why? Here is a list of
important information that should be included on
your site.
Before you start thinking
about what to write, it is important that you
create a plan, which outlines what each page will
contain. That way you won’t repeat yourself or
forget vital information. The most common pages on
successful websites include:
1. Home Page (First
Page)
This is your
“sales” page and should provide
information about what you can do for your
customers. It should also give your visitors a
brief overview of what they can find on your
site.
2. Products /
Services
It is useful to have a
separate page for each product/service and write as
much detail about each as possible. Start each page
with a brief summary of the product/service, then
provide whatever information you can.
If the page appears too long,
you can always break it into more pages. When
people are searching for information on the
internet, they want to know it NOW.
They don’t want to wait
until tomorrow when they can speak to you on the
phone. The more information you can provide about
your products/services, the better.
3. Contact
Us
Place contact details in as
many places as possible. Make it easy for your
customers to contact you. Create a special
“Contact Us” page, include your details
in “About Us” page and also at the bottom
of each page. Information to include: business
name, physical address, mailing address, telephone,
fax, email, emergency number, website
address.
4.
Pricing
Whenever possible include the
price of your products/services. Even if you
can’t be specific. It is helpful to put at
least a range of prices, eg. Carpet cleaning ranges
between $40 - $60 per room.
5. Testimonials /
Product Reviews / Before &
After
Include testimonials from
your current customer to show your potential
clients that you are trustworthy, reliable and that
you offer great service and/or products.
Make sure the testimonials
are real and if possible provide contact details of
the person who supplied you with the testimonial.
If you don’t have any right now, get them!
Simply email your customers and ask for their
feedback on your business and service. Most happy
customers will gladly provide this.
You could also include before
and after photos. Show the problem picture and
beside it show the picture of resolution, with an
explanation of your product’s
benefits.
6. Frequently Asked
Questions
This has proven to be a great
time saver for many companies. Instead of having to
answer the same questions over and over again,
place them on your website and keep adding to them.
The more information you have on your website, the
less time you will need to spend answering
questions by email or phone.
Frequently Asked Questions
should address your customer’s concerns that
may otherwise be an obstacle to making a sale.
7. Response form such
as “Subscribe” or “Enquiry”
form
An absolute must if you want
to build a mailing list. Most people don’t
like giving out too much information, so ask only
the basics, such as Name and Email Address. Then
keep in touch with your customers on a regular
basis by sending out information that may be of
interest to them. You may even wish to develop your
own on-line magazine (ezine). There are many
fantastic free or inexpensive programs that can
handle this for you. We will discuss these in more
detail in future articles.
8. On-line Magazine or
Newsletter
This is a great marketing
tool. Not only does it help you keep in touch with
your customers, but provides your website with
fresh content. You can set up your Ezine in 2
different ways:
- 1. Email
subscribers on a regular
basis or
- 2. Publish it on your
website.
- Or both. Include
information about your business, industry or
anything that may be of interest to your
customers.
9. Resources /
Articles
Add value to your business.
Provide information that is complementary to what
you do. For example, if you sell wedding dresses
include information about reception venues, wedding
planners, wedding cakes, flowers. By adding extra
information you encourage more hits.
10. About
Us
This is a very important page
as it tells your customer about who you are and why
they should buy your products, services and/or
trust your organization. It can also feature your
business hours (if you have a bricks and mortar
store) or when they can speak to someone live.
Many companies also include
their mission or purpose on this page, details of
their staff (photos, biographies, qualifications),
recently completed projects. Other information to
include: ACN or ABN, logo, directions to your
store/office.
11.
Guarantee
Offer a money back guarantee.
The longer the guarantee, the more effective it
will be. It could be 30 days, 60 days, 1 year or
lifetime.
12.
Survey
Find out what customers think
about your website, business or product.
13. Events
Calendar
This can relate to your
business or industry. If you are an artist, you can
feature dates where and when your art will be
displayed or if you are a singer, where you will be
performing.
14. Search My Website
Feature
Some visitors to your side
may not know exactly what they want but if you
include a search function on your site, they can
look for it very easily. Like search engines, this
feature will allow your visitors to type in a word
or phrase and then search for it on your site.
It’s like having your own mini search engines,
only instead of it searching the world wide web, it
just searches your website.
15. Return / Refund
Policy
To make your customers feel
more comfortable when making a transaction at your
website, you should provide then with your
return/refund policy. Ensure it is easy to
understand and spelt out step by step.
16. Privacy
Policy
Privacy continues to be a
major issue for customers shopping online. Concerns
about how their information is going to be used is
a major barrier when making a sale. Internet
shopping experience is built on trust and privacy
is the number one ingredient in trust.
More "Must Haves" When
Creating Your Website
17. Site
Map
A site map is similar to a
contents. It shows
visitors how the site is laid out and which
sections are where.
18. Copyright
Information
Your website should carry a
copyright notice to protect its intellectual
property. It is generally in the form of
“Copyright © 2004, Your Company
Name”.
19.
Links
Here you can place links to
the manufacturers of your products, trade
associations or complementary services. When you
place links to other businesses, you can request
they do the same for you. This will not only bring
you more visitors, but may improve your search
engine ranking.
20. Media
Information
Include any information,
articles, photos of your products, staff etc that
have appeared in the media – print, TV, radio
or internet.
21.
News
This can include news about
your products/services or about your
industry.
22. On-line
store
An on-line store allows you
sell products directly on the internet 24 hours a
day/7 days a week. When building an online store it
is important to take in a number of key
concepts.
- ** Make sure that
when visitors arrive at your store the
navigational mechanisms are simple and
effective
- **
The actual process of placing the order must be
simple
- **
Make sure you accept common and convenient
methods of payment
- **
Continually test your store so you understand
your customer’s shopping
experience
Hope you found some useful
tips about creating a website and making
a plan for your pages.
Remember, a plan will save time and money in the
long run. Now, go design your new web site. - Bob
More Training Classes for
Website Design Beginners
Learn
Web Design - Beginners Getting Started
Guide
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Your Website
Website
Creation for Small Business
Owners
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About the
Author: Ivana
Katz is the owner of Websites 4 Small Business, a
company specialising in the design and promotion of
small and growing business websites. She believes
that every business deserves to have a successful
website, no matter what its budget is. For more
information visit http://www.web4business.com.au or
email info@web4business.com.au. To download your
Website Plan go to
http://www.web4business.com.au/WebsitePlanRequest.htm.
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