Business Websites: Common Pages Found in a Website
If you are looking to get started on building a website for your new business, you may be not be sure about what types of pages your business websites should have. We often have clients ask us what types of pages their new sites should have and what should be presented on them. It is important to remember that business websites should answer all of your potential customers’ questions. Additionally, any visitors to your business’ website should be able to learn the basics about your business, its services and/or products without digging through several nested pages. The five most common pages found on many business websites are the home page, about page, contact page, services page and the FAQ page. Out of all of these pages, the most important one is the home page!
The Home Page: The Most Important Page of ALL Business Websites!
Because the home page is the very first page your visitors will see when they pull up your website, it has to be the best looking page out of the entire site. Best looking doesn’t only mean it has been designed nicely, though. While the design of the page is extremely important, the home page should address all of the general questions of your visitors first; the design of the page should aid, not distract your audience from the information at hand. First time visitors will spend 10–20 seconds on your website; that is not a long time so your home page must make a great first impression before that back button is clicked. The time a user spends on a website before leaving it is known as the bounce rate, and it is your job to ensure that your business website keeps it at an extremely low number (on WordPress, you can measure it using this plugin). We recommend that you check out our guide on bounce rate reduction after you read this post. Let’s break down the CDG home page and its elements so you can understand why we designed it this way (consider opening it in a new window by right clicking on this link and read it side-by-side with this post).
Use a rotating banner or single hero image at the very top of your home page!
Here is one of the rotating banners we use at the top of our home page; it is important to think of this area as the “billboard” of your website. Notice how we have three banners mentioning three important points: WordPress websites, small business branding and custom apparel. We want people who visit our website for the first time to know that these are our core services, and we want to ensure that the message is straight to the point and eye-catching. The WordPress website banner mentions the benefits of building their business websites with WordPress while using bright colors to ensure that the user does not miss the visual when it loads up. Secondly, the banner for small business branding mentions the core components of a branding system as means to let visitors know that we provide services assisting in those aspects. And lastly, the custom apparel banner lists out the steps for placing an order for t-shirts through our website; no need to add any extra fluff, the main purpose of this banner is to guide the visitor through the process easily.
Take 3–4 key points about your business (and its services) and mention them!
Directly below the rotating banner, we have our three core services reiterated as a means to help the message stick. Some people like to scroll through a website really fast without reading it, so the information presented in the banners are repeated directly below it. However, this section elaborates a little bit more about the products and services; additionally, we added print design instead of custom branding because we want to inform our visitors that we can design pieces intended for printing such as business cards and brochures. Following the reiteration of our core services, we then mention the benefits of the services (in the black area). You must be able to explain why your company should choose your services; simply telling them you offer this service or that service does not entice someone to buy.
Include a call-to-action. Don’t assume people will attempt to contact you later.
Following the key points and benefits of choosing CDG, we included a call-to-action to encourage visitors to call us. Client testimonials are placed above a contact form, as well as a button for a free consultation. Placing the testimonials and the FREE graphic next to the contact form serves to entice the visitor to call us; while we have another contact form on the Contact page, placing one on the homepage eliminates the need to go digging through the website. Our address and phone number are also placed in the footer to also aid in eliminating this problem. If you need help creating a good call-to-action, check out our previous blog post.
The About Page
The about page is where you can start to elaborate on the background of your business. Here, you can go into detail about different aspects of your business, such as its history, information about your team and your mission/vision statements. Take a look at the example above from a major CDG client, Eyedeal Vision. Their about page describes how they put the patient first and that it is their job to tend to them with a professional bedside manner. It also mentions how it is their goal to ensure they receive “the most effective solutions to common and not-so-common eye problems using the latest technology and equipment.” Eyedeal wants to be different from other optometry clinics, and they make that clear by saying “you are treated as a respected individual and not to be rushed in and out like another set of eyeballs.” The goal Eyedeal wants to achieve for its patients is clearly stated, and they want everyone to know that they care for each patient personally.
This next example comes from another one of our major clients, Stone Cold Meats. On the About page for Stone Cold Meats, they have two components: a mission statement and a biography of the owner. Although this example may be brief, it is easy to learn about how Stone Cold Meats strives to provide high quality meats and great customer service with the Mission Statement. Then, following a picture of the owner and his family is a biography explaining his background in the meat industry as a means to establish credentials. Make sure you have a good mission and vision statement for your business; once you have written it, it should be presented prominently on your company’s About page. Check out these links for more information on writing mission and vision statements. Make sure to check out our About page to see another example of employee/owner biographies.
In short, the website for your business should contain these elements: mission statement, vision statement, company history and owner/employee biographies. Make sure that you write these with great detail and give your audience the best explanation about why you are in business and what your business attempts to achieve for its customers. Always make sure that your descriptions make the customer feel good and NEVER write anything that makes your business look greedy or money hungry.
Contact Page
All business websites should have a simple, clean contact page with no distractions. Here, you must present your contact information and the location of your business in a straightforward manner. But do not forget to add a contact form; this will make it extremely easy for possible customers to contact you. Make sure that this form has fields that the user will be required to fill out, such as name, email and phone number or else you will not know who these messages are coming from or how to contact them back. Place an embedded map from Google right next to the form (with your address printed above it) as a means to keep your office location in memory while filling out the form. Do not forget to add your business hours, as many people will browse your website trying to find them. If you are only available for an appointment only, make sure that you state this and include a link to set up an appointment with you (we can assist you with this if you need help. Check out this example from our past client, ToTo Dental).
Products or Services Page
The products/services page is where you list out everything you have to offer to your customers. When the visitor goes to this page, they are expecting to see every single thing you are selling; it is important that you do not forget to list anything you sell here. While customers are expecting to see prices on this page, you should use your best judgement when deciding if you want to list prices with your products. Sometimes, it may be best to hide your prices if you feel they may scare people away (this is not a dishonest business practice. Some people do not understand why companies charge high prices, and this encourages people to contact you to find out). However if you are running an online store, then you will want the prices to be shown on each product. The content of this page depends solely on what you are selling; for example, if you are running a restaurant then this would be your menu page. The example above is from Stone Cold Meats; click on the picture above to visit their products page and see it in action. Each animal represents a meat they are selling and when the user clicks on one, a popup designed to look like a chalkboard appears with a list of products and their price. We wanted to give Stone Cold Meats something nicer than a plain list of products, so we made it graphical to make it more visually appealing.
The FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Page
If you have customers who always ask the same questions, then you should list these questions with their answers on this page. Additionally, if you can think of questions that your potential customers will ask a lot, you will want to do the same with those as well. The FAQ page should be able to answer these questions in a straightforward manner (try not to use technical terms that most people do not understand); people coming to your website will be looking for these answers and should be able to understand them the minute they start reading. If possible, try to avoid listing out each question and answer as a large paragraph and organize them so that they are not just one big block of text. Take a look at the example below:
A well-designed FAQ page that uses drop downs to avoid large blocks of text
This example, from Eyedeal Vision has each question placed inside of an accordion menu; when the user clicks on the question, the answer is revealed by sliding out underneath it. An FAQ page that creates engagement is much more effective than one with large blocks of text; remember, interactivity is the key on every page.
If you are thinking about getting a website started and but were unsure about what types of pages it needed, this post should have given you a general idea of where to begin. Please share your thoughts and questions below in the comments section. If you require assistance in starting a website for your business, we would love to help. Please click below for a
