Good Foundation Pages Make Successful Websites
The secret of any form of construction is a good foundation. These foundation pages are the starting point for your website.
A website no longer is a luxury. The front door to your business is your website! All businesses no matter what size are expected to have a website. What should you have on your website?
Think about who are your customers. What are the most common questions your customers ask?
Journalists try to answer their readers’ questions by providing information on Who, What, When, Where, Why & How. Now that you have an idea of what information to share, where do you put it?
Let’s start with the three basic web pages that should be included on every website; Your Home page, an About page and a Contact page.
The Home Page:
This is the most important foundation page on your website. The vast majority of people looking for information about your business will arrive on your home page. Is your home page making a good first impression?
Here are some valuable tips for a good home page.
- Keep it simple and uncluttered.
- Have your basic information clearly presented.
- Provide internal links to other pages for additional information.
The first thing a person will do is to scan for information. Your goal is to make it easy to find your basic information. More people are using their smartphones when they search for information. You must consider how your website looks on different devices.
That good looking desktop design may not work as well on the smaller screen of a tablet or a smartphone. Too much text in large paragraphs will drive our website visitors away. Pictures or graphics that load slowly will also drive away our visitors.
A customer seeking additional information is ready to read and not simply scan. This is why you provide more detailed information on a separate web page. Internally links allow the visitor to easily access the information they want.
What basic information must be here?
- Who: The name of your business. It never hurts for this to be repeated.
- What: The products or services you provide.
- When: Your business hours.
- Where: Your address.
- Why: This is your opportunity to make a statement that defines your business.
- How: Here you back up your Why statement. This statement stresses not just how you do things. You want to emphasize customer service, workmanship, the user experience, or any unique factors that make your business the best choice.
At least one form of contact information should be included and you should link to another foundation page, your Contact page.
The About Page:
Many people may not realize the About page is actually an important part of your website. The content varies wildly, as does the quality of these pages. To make this page contribute to your company’s marketing effort carefully consider what content you put here.
In marketing, there is a concept known as the “the know, like, and trust factor.” A potential customer wants to know something about the company and the people before conducting business with them. Once satisfied with the information the customer feels comfortable or “likes” them. That is when they begin to consider doing business with this person or company. See more about this is the “My” Connection article.
A certain degree of trust is necessary for making any purchase. Even a quick in-store purchase has an abbreviated version of the three steps. You probably have had the experience where you have left the store without making a purchase because a salesperson was rude, pushy or otherwise makes you feel uncomfortable. The other end of the spectrum is when you have gone to a store just to get information. The salesperson assisting you listened to you, made you feel comfortable. Their help made you decide to go ahead and make the purchase.
What to Include and not Include
Providing company information is a good touch. A few ideas include; the history of the company, the civic involvement of the company or information that ties the company to the community in some fashion. These types of community relations matter.
Adding the company mission statement, goals or other ambitious company documents is a common practice. However, customers must see that the employees to know and live up to the ambitious standards the company is showing off. This can actually cause you to lose credibility if your company does not “walk the walk.”
The About page allows you to begin the “getting to know us” process before the customer makes their first contact with your company. It is where you can introduce people to the company; your leaders, the employees or possibly just the sales or service employees who interact with your customers.
Be sure the information on the About page and any sub-pages coordinate with the company’s core message and marketing efforts. This should be consistent throughout your website.
The Contact Page:
This foundation page is a vital part of your customer service!
Your company information should all be listed in this convenient location. The company name, address, phone number, e-mail address and business hours should all be on this page. A contact form is another good idea.
It is very easy to set up your contact form. The message can automatically be forwarded to any e-mail address. An auto-respond e-mail can acknowledge the message and thank the sender.
Having an avenue for your customers to reach out to your business is another important part of “the know, like and trust factor.” How you respond will help define your reputation with your customers.
Other Pages:
What other pages should you have? That totally depends on your individual business. Go back to your Who, What, When, Where, Why and How questions. The Who detail is on your About page. Answer the remaining questions on additional pages.
A few final tips:
Use a clear menu structure. When people are trying to find information, you want to make it as easy to find as possible. This is not a time to be cute or creative with your menu titles. The standard alignment is for the Home page to the first page, followed by the About page and the Contact page is the last item on the menu.
Include a lot of internal links. Cornerstone content makes a great navigation hub. The easier you make traveling thru your website, the more likely visitors will spend time looking at additional pages.
Never leave a visitor at the bottom of a page without a way to access more information on your website. An arrow to take them back into the top of the page, widgets with previews that link to other pages or another menu are good options.
Remember your website is where you make your first impression on many customers. You want to make a good first impression. Don’t let bad content or a poor design make you lose customers before you ever have a chance to speak to them. Carefully examine what you have on your website.