Over the last few weeks I’ve explained how to set up an About Us page and a Contact Us page. This week I want to explain what every website page should have. A lot of website pages miss a few simple things that, if added, could significantly improve your website’s return on investment.
1. A Goal: The first thing you should do before developing a website page is to create a goal or several goals for the page. If you do this, the website page will be created in a more structured manner and won't include content or images that could prevent you from reaching the goal. For example, if I’m creating a new product page, my goal is going to educate people about the new product, provide images and benefits of the new product, and generate leads from my new product’s whitepaper.
2. Phone Number/Address: Your business’s phone number should be at the top of every website page in the header. Don’t make people try to search for the number. If that’s all they’re looking for than you better make it very easy to find or they might go to a competitor. Likewise, include the address in the footer of every website page so it's easy to find.
3. Link to Blog: Is there a clear link to your blog on each page? I hope there is because why would you try to make it difficult for people to find your awesome blog content? You can also name the link something other than just blog so it matches the blog’s theme or your business brand.
4. Social Media Icons: You just can’t ignore it anymore and your pages must have links that allow visitors to follow your business on social media. They also should include social sharing icons so visitors can help you promote your business. Not every page will necessarily need the sharing links, but I recommend adding them to your product/service pages, thank you pages and educational-related pages
5. Call to Action: This one is hopefully a no a brainer. Help the visitors make smarter decisions and try to motivate them to do something by including at least one call to action per page. This is an important time to think back to the page’s goals.
6. Menu: It may seem obvious, but I’m going to say it any way. The pages better have a clear menu that helps visitors find what they’re looking for. Every page, except for landing pages, should include the website’s menu. Think of a menu as a map to different parts of a department store. You want visitors to go the departments that they’re trying to find.
7. Whitespace: Website pages need to be easy to read and shouldn’t be cluttered with images or text that won’t help you achieve the page’s goal. Simple is always better, and whitespace keeps things simple and trains the eyes to pay attention to the most important content.
That’s it and now it’s time to start making improvements to your pages!
Did I miss anything that you think every page should have?
