Expert tips from a marketing agency specializing in website design.
One of our favorite services that we provide is website design. We love to take the vision, business goals and branding of a company and roll them out into a beautifully designed website. The most common question we get asked when in the beginning stages of website design is "what should I include on my site?" Although each business is different, we believe there are six core pages your website should include no matter what you sell.
PAGE 1 - HOME PAGE
The home page is a given! Your home page is truly the hub to your entire business. Think of it as your digital storefront. It should be inviting, says who you are and provides enough information to keep visitors clicking.
Every home page should include:
A header with your logo
Clear and easy-to-use menu
Hierarchy of information, most important calls to action and information first
Value proposition
Testimonials
Overview of products and/or services
Testimonials
A footer with social icons, privacy policy and contact information
PAGE 2 - PRIVACY POLICY
I'm sure you've seen the link to a privacy policy in a company's website footer. But what is a privacy policy and why does everyone have them? A privacy policy is a legal document that explains how a company captures visitor/customer data and uses that data. A privacy policy is critical to your business' website, protecting both you and the website visitor. There are many online privacy policy generators, but we always suggest you use legal council to help define these terms.
Privacy policies should define:
Date of policy
What information your website collections (names, locations, email, etc).
How you plan to use that information (email marketing, targeted ads, etc)
If your site uses cookies
If your company shares data
You take data storing seriously and will protect the information
A clause that the policy can change at any time
Contact information for a user to contact if they have policy questions
PAGE 3 - ABOUT PAGE
Having an about page is beneficial to a business. An about page let's you connect to your website users from a personal perspective. It lets you define your company's mission, goals and history while showing users that you have the business that can solve their pain points.
About pages can have many pieces of information on them, some of our favorites to include are:
Company mission
Company goals
Company history
How the business solves customer pain points
Clear direction of where you want to send the website user next
PAGE 4 - CONTACT PAGE
The contact page goes without question. Having a contact page instantly builds trust with website users by defining there is a way to contact your business if they need to. It can also answer questions for the website user that they may be looking for like where your business is located and your hours of operation.
From our website designer perspective, every contact page should include:
Phone number
Email address
Question/comment submission form
Hours of operation
Social media links
Address and map (if applicable)
Contact to customer service (if applicable)
Press and media contact (if applicable)
PAGE 5 - PRODUCT/SERVICE PAGE
The product and/or service page of your website are where sales are made! This page is critical to the business to be well-branded, easy to use, clearly defines the product and/or service and purchasing is easy.
In addition to a user-friendly interface, your product and/or service page should include:
Name of product/service
Clear description of product/service
Clear pricing of product/service
Hi-res photos of product/service
Reviews
Similar product/service suggestions
Simple way to purchase or book
PAGE 6 - BLOG
Not everyone might think of a blog as a necessity to have on their website, but hear us out, a blog is the easiest way to define yourself as an expert in your field as well as build up your SEO. Perhaps, think about a blog differently, think of your blog as a hub to advice and functions of your website. People love to see businesses in action. Depending on the type of business you are running, you can include research, fashion posts, testimonials, before and afters, projects, employee spotlights and customers in focus.
Are you ready to start building the website of your dreams? At STAK Marketing we love to build out website designs for our clients. We are an approved Wix partner and have experience building in Shopify, Wordpress and Squarespace as well. Contact us to get started today!
Keep STAKing,
Michelle Johnson
Owner/Founder STAK Marketing
Michelle Johnson is the owner, founder and Chief Marketing Guru at STAK Marketing. Our passion at STAK Marketing is to create beautiful STAKs of marketing strategies that help small and mid-sized businesses grow and reach their goals. STAK Marketing's expertise ranges from SEO to branding, e-mail marketing to website design, PR to advertising and much more - making STAK Marketing a one-stop-shop for all your small business marketing needs .