5 must-have pages for your business website.

You’ve got a product or service to sell, you’ve registered a domain name and now it's time to create your website. WordPress is a great choice for business owners as it allows you to create a professional website quickly and easily without any programming experience. One of the first things you would do for a new site is decide what pages you need. In this post we outline the five core pages every business website should have.

A home page?

Your home page is your opportunity to pitch your business offering – your product or service – and hook your customers by telling them what problem your product or service can solve for them. Research shows that 99% of websites have a 10-second opportunity window – this means visitors decide in 10 seconds whether they want to stay or leave. Good navigation is key to visitors being able to find what they’re looking for, and quickly. As a start, keep all your important information above the fold – this is the section of your site that visitors will see before scrolling down.?

Keep it simple and don’t forget to add a strong call-to-action – tell visitors what you want them to do. From your home page, your customer should be able to know exactly where to get to find what they need. Don’t make them look too hard for it!

An about page?

This page needs to tell visitors who you are and what your business is about. It’s your space to tell your brand story, share your values, and unpack your vision. If you’re not sure what to include on your about page, you can start with these important details:?

• Your business values are and what makes your company special
• A brief history of your business?
• Where you’re located – don’t forget to include what area(s) you service if necessary
• Customer testimonials or reviews to foster trust
• Links to your social media pages
• A newsletter sign up button if you have one

Remember to be human, authentic and honest. You want your customers to trust you and believe in what you do and why you do it.

Product or service pages

Your products and/or services pages should provide information about what your business offers. If you have a large catalogue, create a separate page for each product or service, as too much information can be overwhelming.?

Some key elements to include:?

• A detailed description of each product or service
• A breakdown of features
• Any important benefits and problems you’re solving for your customers
• High-quality images and/or videos
• The price of each product or service and whether or not VAT is included
• Customer reviews
• A call-to-action button to help customers place their order

A contact page?

Customers need to be able to get in touch with you – so include your contact number and email address. It’s also useful to add Google Maps if you have a physical address that’s open to the public to help customers find you.??

You want to make it as easy as possible for customers to get in touch with you. If you’re using forms, keep them simple and only ask for important details. Tell people exactly what information you need, why you need it, and how you plan to use their information. There are important legal considerations to keep in mind when requesting customer data. You can also consider using a chatbot if you’d like to further automate the contact page and create an effortless experience for customers.?

A blog or news page

The blog or news page is often underrated but plays an important role in the success of your website. For a start, it’s a great Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) tool, which is important if you’d like your website to reach more potential customers.?

Whenever you publish or update content, Google receives a signal that says your site is active. In addition, writing blog content means you can target keywords that you can’t include on your landing pages.

Beyond SEO, though, a blog page can:

• Offer you additional content that you can easily repurpose for social media.??
• Help convert traffic into leads with well-placed Call To Actions (CTAs).?
• Establish you as an authority in your area of expertise. To do this, though, you must make sure the content you publish is both accurate and useful for your readers.?

Creating a business website doesn’t need to be difficult, nor do you need to hire expert help. Take the time to research the best practices, look at what your competitors are doing, and most importantly, use the tools available to make your life simple.?

If you’re thinking about using WordPress to create your website, take a closer look at our new e-commerce Starter Site for WordPress.