Your business is unique, which means the copy you put on it needs to be unique too. As a copywriter, I work with businesses to craft the wording for their websites and make sure it hits all the right notes, which means I often get involved in helping them structure their website pages. While every project is different when you’re structuring out your web copy, there are some critical pages you need to include every time. So today I’m going to break down what pages a standard-issue website should include, and what you should be writing on them.
Home
This is likely the page people will see first, so it needs to make a statement about your business. More than that, it should clearly express who you are, what you do and the benefits to customers – all as quickly as possible. After all, you only have under 15 seconds to catch the attention of the viewer and convince them to stay on the page. That’s not a lot of time! So having the right words on your home page is crucial. It also needs to be well-designed, with a fast load time and look both professional and full of personality. Videos can also be a great way to capture attention on a home page, as long as they aren’t too long!
About Us
It’s been said thousands of times in the past, but just to make it 1001, people buy people. So putting a face to the company name is incredibly important to building that trust. It’s also the second most visited page on pretty much every website, so while it might feel odd to write about yourself, it’s worth putting some time into getting it right. The about page is all about relationship building, so don’t be shy, open up a little!
A good about page will typically include:
- A ‘first fold’ section, which is a few sentences designed to hook the reader and sum up your company.
- A brief history of the company, with any big achievements or milestones highlighted.
- Your mission and core values.
- Short biographies of your team members (with accompanying pictures).
- A few impactful testimonials from clients.
Services Overview
There are a lot of businesses that skip this page, either because they don’t see the point or because that extra page isn’t quite in their budget. But here’s the thing. Some people will come to your website knowing exactly what service they need, and can just skip to the relevant page. But others might know they need support, but not how or what that looks like. A services overview page gives you the chance to lay out all of your services on one page, so that customers can browse and choose what’s most relevant to them. It doesn’t have to be complicated – a paragraph summarising what your business offers, and a short introduction to each service with a link to the detail page is more than enough.
Detailed Service Pages
For each service your business offers, you need a separate page. If we take my website as an example, you’ll see an individual page for blogs, another for case studies, whitepapers and more still for web copy and workshops. This allows me to focus on just one topic per page, making sure all the right information is conveyed and has the full impact I want. Separate pages for each service also means you can really hone in your keywords effectively since you won’t have dozens all competing for first place.
Each service page should talk about the problem the customer has, the effect the problem has and why it’s a problem at all, and offer your solution. This format is called PAS, and it’s a highly effective copywriting tool if you want your pages to convert. Read more about PAS in this blog. A key point here is to focus on the benefits your services provide the customer, rather than all the features your solution has. The details can wait until you’re speaking face to face – for now, the customer just wants to know that you can help them.
Blog
Every website should have a blog. No matter what industry you’re in, there is information in your head your clients are dying to know. Even if you only update it once a month, having a regular blog helps provide your readers with information, showcase your solutions in more detail and give them the confidence to buy from you. Plus blogs are great for your SEO, so why wouldn’t you have one? If you think you’re going to struggle with keeping a blog updated regularly, try hiring a copywriter to manage your blog for you. That way you get all of the benefits with none of the effort!
Contact
Arguably this is the most important page of all since it’s the main lead driver of your website. Once someone has read through your pages and decided they want to get in touch, this is where they go. So it’s crucial your contact page is easy to find and has the right messaging on it. Include some flavour text inviting people to get in touch, along with your basic contact information (office address, phone number, email address). You can also include a contact form for them to fill in and send you a message directly, and if you use automated booking software you can include that too. The entire purpose of this page is to make it as easy as possible for people to contact you, so make sure they have all of the information.
Specialised Pages
This is where your business being unique comes in, because depending on the type of business you run, you may need some extra pages here. For example, if you run an e-commerce business you will want to replace the services overview and detail pages with product category overview and individual product pages. Or if you have a wealth of press and media appearances, a page to display them on. Or you may not need specialised pages at all1 That one’s down to you and your web developer.
So ask yourself – does my website have all of these pages? And is the content on those pages up to scratch? If you’re not sure (or you know it isn’t), I’d love to help you give it a spruce up. I offer a completely free web copy review service, where I go through your web copy with a fine-toothed comb and give each page a score on things like word count, informational content, accuracy, tone and more. And there’s no obligation to work with me afterwards either – just think of it as a website health check!
Just contact me to book yours today. Did I mention it’s free?