Small Business Website Design – What Do I Put On My First Website?

Creating your first website can feel overwhelming and intimidating.
The words and images on your website are often known as it’s content.

Creating website content can be a daunting task if you’ve never written for the internet. It doesn’t work to just transfer the kind of content you would use offline into the online world.

The internet is an entirely different creation, a completely different medium and you need to really understand how people think in order to write for it well.

Let’s start by going over some of the most common and important website pages:
Home page – This is the main page of your site. It’s the page people will land on if they type your domain name into their internet browser. So how do you make sure you don’t mess this page up and end up driving people away? Use your home page to capture the attention of your potential customer or client. Call their name by understanding them as a person with a specific need or problem that you can help with. Know their language and use it. Don’t save the good stuff for later because there may never be a later – get it out there and grab their interest from the start.
About page – It’s a mistake to leave this page off your website. People routinely go to the About Page to find out about a company or a business owner. They want to know they can trust you and that you’re a real person. Create a detailed about page that assures their worries and confirms that you’re just the type of business they’ll love to work with.
Products or Services pages – Of course you’ll need to showcase what you have to sell. Make sure you clearly state what it is you have to offer and give your visitors calls to action. Don’t just assume people will see your stuff and know what to do next – spell it out for them!
Contact page – Another essential website page that builds trust. Even if a potential customer has no intent to actually content you it’s very likely they’ll check your contact page to confirm you are a legitimate business. Prove your legitimacy by posting your name, position, phone number, email AND physical or mailing address. The location is important because it’s much less suspicious than having no way to track you down physically should problems arise.
Privacy Policies & Disclaimers – Legally it’s a smart idea to have some privacy policies and disclaimers added to your website.
Every website is different. What you write for your site is going to depend largely on your target market and what they respond to. Pay attention to how your visitors react and do what you can to track – then tweak as you go to improve your content and the response it gets.

By Angela Wills