What Pages Should a Website Have? Here’s the Must-Have List.

When you’re starting the process of putting a website together for your small business, one of your first questions is typically what pages you should have on your website.

Obviously, it will depend on what exactly your website is for (i.e. Are you a hairdresser? A published author? A seller of water bottles? The prime minister of Britain?).

…but really when it comes down to it, there are some key pages that all small business websites will have in one form or another. These are the essentials – and they’re the best place to start.

From there, I’ll also include a laundry list of other page ideas to get the creative juices flowing and inspire you for what else you’d like to put on your website. Enjoy!

Home Page

By nature, of course, every website has to have a homepage. This is often the very most important page of your website because it’s your visitor’s first impression and will dictate whether they decide to navigate to other pages or simply leave your site. Not sure what to put on your homepage? Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Who you are, what you do, and who you do it for (front and center at the top of the page).
• A personalized welcome letter from you with your photo and signature.
• A preview of each one of your services with a link to learn more.
• Your latest blog post.
• Contact information.
• A welcome video.
• Customer testimonials.
• Your company core values.
• Your opt-in free offer and signup.

For more, check out my posts Website Homepage Best Practices: The Ultimate Checklist or Website Homepage Ideas: 3 Designs That Will Inspire You.

About Page

Site analytics often show that a website’s About page is visited more than many other pages. And it’s no mystery why – your prospective customers want to learn about YOU! For this reason, it’s in your best interest to write this page from the heart. Not sure where to start? Here are some ideas:

• What are your purpose and passion?
• What is your story? How did you get here?
• How has your unique journey equipped you to provide an excellent service?

Services Page

What exactly do you do? Your Services page is your chance to take the mystery out of it and show your visitors how you’ll get them to where they want to be. I recommend including the following on your Services page:

• Your step-by-step proven process (check out my Services page as an example).
• Pricing, if you’ve made the decision to list it on your website.
• Information about how your visitor can know if they’re a good fit for your services.

FAQ Page

FAQ pages are truly a win all around: they make your life easier by saving you having to answer question after question via email; they make your visitors’ lives easier by giving them the answers they seek; and being written in question format, they’re also great for search engine optimization! Include any questions that you’ve noticed your prospective customers asking, or just anything related to your services, what it looks like to work with you, and who makes a good fit.

Testimonials Page

One of the first things we do when we’re “shopping around” is to look for customer reviews, and your website visitors are no exception. Include a comprehensive list of quotes from past happy clients. Here are few additional tips:

• Keep them short and sweet. Just include the single most powerful sentence or phrase.
• If possible, include a name and photo. This makes it more real.
• If you have reviews directly on your Google My Business page, include a link as well.

Blog

A blog on your website will a) define yourself as an expert in your field, b) give you a reason to share links on social media that point back to your website, and c) give you a big search engine boost! For more on blogging, check out my posts Blog Topic Idea Generation or Blogging Tips and Tricks: Create Compelling Posts & Get Them Read.

Pages, pages, pages galore!

Now that you know the must-haves, here’s a laundry list of other pages you might want to include on your website. See which ones feel relevant and useful for your particular industry.

• Upcoming Events (could be in-person or virtual)
• Podcast
• Our Guarantee
• Newsletter Signup
• Videos
• Photo Gallery
• Before/After
• Press Mentions
• Links
• Specials
• Search
• Register
• Portfolio
• Shop
• Statistics
• Free Resources
• Anything else you can think of!

In Closing

I hope this post has gotten the ideas flowing to know what pages you should put on your website. As you put your pages together, remember to 1) Shoot for simplicity in your overall message and content – make it skimmable and easy to understand! 2) Keep your audience at the forefront of your mind and speak in their language about their experience, and 3) Write from the heart, always.