Your website needs content. The content you need for your website depends on the purpose of the website, the target audience, and the type of website you are creating, so it’s important to consider the goals of the site when thinking about what it’ll contain. You can also get creative with your content website if you really want to stand out in your industry.
There are some fundamentals when it comes to content that apply to all websites no matter what your business or your website goals. These might be things you hadn’t considered but they’re all elements that your website designer will ask you to provide or will need your assistance providing before the website design process can begin.
Home page content
This is most likely to be the first page visitors will see when they land on your website. The content that goes on your home page is really important as it will be the content that your website visitors get their first impression from. It should include an overview of your website, your brand, what you offer and begin the journey through your site to take your visitors towards your website goals.
About page content
If your website doesn’t have an about page, you could be missing out on some serious business. Your about page is an opportunity to start to make human connections with your website visitors. Chances are, if they want to do business with you, they’ll want to know who they’re doing business with. This is a vital step in making sure you humanize your brand and show them your authentic self.
This page could provide information about your company, mission statement, history, and team members, but shouldn’t list these out like a CV. Your about page shouldn’t really be about you at all. It should always come back to your ideal clients and talk about why you and your team are the ones who understand your ideal customer’s pain points and why you’re the one to solve their problem. Find out more about what content your website’s about page should have in this blog post.
Products or services
If you are selling products or services, it goes without saying that you should have a page dedicated to them. Your website visitors won’t automatically know what products and services you offer just by coming to your website. They’ll need to be told clearly what’s on offer and how they can get it. If you’re a service based business, you might even benefit from having one page per type of service you offer to make things really clear and keep them separated.
Contact
A way of getting in touch with you via your website is vital and making sure you give your website visitors plenty of opportunities to contact you is important rather than allowing them to search around on your site and get lost. It should be really clear exactly how you want them to get in touch with you too. Is this by phone or email? Will you have a contact form on this page and if so, what important information do you need from people when they get in touch with you? You could also consider having an option here where people can book a call with you as well as other ways they can connect with you on social media too.
Testimonials
You may not need an entire website page for testimonials and i actually recommend having your testimonials in various places across your site so your website visitors don’t have to go to a specific page to see them. Including testimonials from happy customers can help establish credibility and build trust with potential customers.
Blog
A blog can help drive traffic to your website and establish your expertise in your industry. It can also be a platform to engage with your audience and share your thoughts and insights. If you write a blog frequently this can be a great way of ensuring that you also always have something to say across your social media platforms and make sure your posts tell your audience to go across to your blog to find out more.
FAQs
A page or a section with frequently asked questions can help visitors quickly find answers to common questions they may have about your company or products/services. If you don’t already have these on your site, I’d recommend simply writing down every question any of your clients or potential clients has asked you. This could help to clear up your website visitor’s questions without needing to contact you and could help them make the decision to buy from you if they have all the information they need.
Legal pages
If you are selling products or services, you should have a page that outlines your terms and conditions, including return policies, payment methods, and privacy policies.
Media
If you have been featured in the media or have press releases to share, you may want to create a page or section dedicated to showcasing them.
Images
Let’s not underestimate the importance of images across your website. The image you use on your website can help tell the story of your brand and together with your brand colour palette can help create the look and feel for your site. It’s important that you showcase your products and services with high quality images and that you also feature images of yourself and your team too to add that human side to your website. You might also consider having a gallery of images on your site to showcase your products in use or how you make them.
Video
Video is a great way of getting your message across to your website visitors and connecting with them. Using video is becoming more and more common but it’s still a relatively underused medium for a lot of businesses. Consider using video as one of the content types on your website to give your website the edge and help it to stand out among your competitors.
Get creative
The user experience of your website is increasingly important and a great way of engaging your website visitors, keeping them interested and keeping them on your site for longer so that they are then more likely to grow their trust in you as a business and a brand. There are so many fun and creative ways to improve the user experience of your website. You could provide a quiz or survey for your website visitors to complete, ask them to take part in an activity or even play a game. Of course what you choose to go for depends on your brand and what will identify with your ideal clients. Take a look at this amazing example on Sketch’s website. Of course the user experience of your website doesn’t need to be this advanced or involved but this can give you an idea of what’s possible.
Remember, the key is to make sure that the content on your website is clear, concise, and relevant to your target audience. It’s so important to consider the content of your website before embarking on a website design or redesign project with a website designer. Remember to keep your website content relevant to the overall strategy of your site and your business goals and if you can get creative with it to make sure it helps your business stand out this will give you a huge advantage over the others out there just sticking to the usual content.
