You had a business idea, which turned into a business plan and a new venture. But now what?
The first place prospective customers will go is your company’s website. While it seems like the world wide web is just a sea of competition between websites, your webpage can stand out by being unique and different. But how do you go about making your webpage worth visiting?
Read on to learn ten components that should always be on your business website to ensure you’re maximizing its potential.
1. Homepage
Your business’ homepage is the entryway into your brand. It’s the first page your potential customers will see, and its purpose is to give viewers an accurate snapshot of what your company is all about.
A great homepage captivates visitors within seconds and keeps them scrolling. Often customers will look at numerous similar websites to determine which page is right for them, so enhance their experience in the first second of them visiting your site by having a user-friendly design and style.
At first glance, your homepage should include a straightforward web address and a creatively placed logo with enough space around it. Next, you’ll also want to include a brief headline that clearly and concisely depicts in a few words what your business has to offer.
Beyond that, you can consider including a sub-headline with a short description of your business, supporting images that visually tell your story, text to help those images, and key features on the benefits your company can provide to a customer.
2. Sitemap
A sitemap should always include links to all the components of your webpage and should be visible no matter which page a customer is on. A sitemap is crucial to ensure that visitors can navigate your website on their own and find what they are looking for.
Without a sitemap, you could be losing customers. You’ll typically find a sitemap listed out on the top of the website or in a menu format. Dropdowns are a great tool to see every page available on a website visually; you can also consider adding a search box to make sure that you are covering anything a potential customer may want to find.
3. Call-To-Action (CTA)
The goal of any website is to keep your viewers on your page and keep them digging deeper to find out more about your business. The best websites have a handful of CTAs that direct potential customers to different stages of your buying cycle.
You want to have clear commands for your visitors, so they know the next step they should take on your website; think of it as a plan of action. For example, “What do I want my customer to do next?”.
Keep the text brief (ideally no more than five words), simple, and in a first-person, action-oriented tone (i.e., “Sign Up,” or “Try it for Free”). You can include your CTAs on the homepage and as parts of different pages on your site map.
4. About Page
Potential customers want to feel connected to your brand and learn the story behind the business. Add a page to your website that provides a clear description of who you are and how your company came to be.
The about page is one of the most visited ones on any website, so you want to attract visitors’ attention and encourage them to stay on your website longer. Be sure to include a summary of your company, short bios and pictures of the founders, any special awards your company has earned, and how you differ from competitors.
5. Offerings Page
Whether you offer a service or a series of products, you will want to include a detailed list of everything you provide or sell. Start with a summary of the type of offering you have and then list out either the products or services with a lengthier description for each.
Many visitors will immediately look for this page instead of scrolling down your homepage to see your brief description. Because of this, you should build out this page and make it visually appealing and easy to navigate with multiple sections, bullet points, links to specific pages within your website, and again, a clear statement on how these offerings differ from your competition.
6. Testimonials
One of the best ways to turn a potential customer into an actual customer is by utilizing the power of words. Include a page consisting of customer reviews that features honest testimonials from past customers.
By opting to include this, you are making your business more tangible to visitors and are building trust as a result. Testimonials can be as short as a couple of sentences or long to captivate the attention of a potential customer.
When you do this, you are taking advantage of the opportunity to show off all the great reviews you have received. Whenever possible, include the reviewer’s names, photos, and a link to their social media account to convey authenticity.
7. Press Page
Like testimonials, including a press page makes customers see your brand as being more reputable and tangible. When you do this, you are helping build a positive first impression and build credibility.
As your business is featured externally, link the articles to your company press page. You can include press releases, news articles, blog posts, advertisements, achievements (even if you were nominated for an award but didn’t win), video features, and anything related to external accomplishments and press.
On this page, you can also include ways for the media to get in touch with you and have downloadable pdfs, photos, and press releases so they can learn more about your company.
8. Blog
Company blogs are becoming more commonplace. When you include a blog on your website, you increase engagement, nurture prospective customers, and potentially gain subscribers.
Blogs are also a great marketing tool because they can drive traffic and generate sales as your website may pop up in Google searches. Before launching your blog, do some research to determine what your target audience wants to read about and what topics you should include.
Then post regularly, in a conversational tone, so visitors see that you have an active blog. To highlight the company blog, you can include it in the site map or include a showcase of recent posts on the website’s homepage.
9. Contact Us Page
While this may seem obvious, it’s vital to have an easy way for potential customers to find out how to get in touch with you. You should never assume that every potential customer will want to click through a bunch of pages to find your contact information.
The best place for contact information to live is either of the top corners of your homepage or the footer of your website. It’s also okay to have more than one way for customers to get in touch with you.
Include your phone number, email address, standard contact form, business hours, business address links to Google maps, and social media accounts. Don’t fall into the trap of only offering one way for customers to contact you.
10. FAQ Page
Despite having a site map or search box, customers may still have lingering questions. There will also likely be a common theme of questions potential customers will ask.
The FAQ page will tell everyone in one place what they need to know. It will also save you time as a business owner from answering the same question time and time again. For each question you include, provide an honest answer with a CTA that directs the customer to take the next step.
The above ten things are the essential parts of a website you should include to make your brand more visible. No matter how large or small your business is, you want your website visitors to stick around and be turned into long-term customers. How you do that is with a welcoming website that serves as your business’ welcome mat.
Need help launching your business website? Reach out to our team at Let’s B Media to get started.