Using a Site Map to Organize Content
One of the first big questions you’ll ask as you build a website for your business is: What do you put on it? You may be wondering how many pages you need or what those pages should be about. One way to organize your website content plan is to start with a site map.
By outlining all the pages you want and where they will go, you are creating a plan of action for your website content.
Why is Content Important on a Website?
While it’s always great to have a nice-looking website, it’s all for nothing if your content does not offer any value or can’t be read by search engines. Your web content provides relevant information to your customers, keywords to search engines, and action items for your customers to do business with you.
- Information: Your website may be the first impression that you make on a potential customer. Your content needs to answer their questions like what services you offer, why they should do business with you, etc. If they can’t find what they are looking for on your website, they will go to your competitor’s website.
- Keywords: Google crawls your website for keywords that match search terms your potential customers are using. The more closely your website content matches what your customers are asking Google, the more likely it is that your website will rank higher in the search results.
- How to Take Action: Visiting your website is just one step of the journey for a customer to do business with you. Your content needs give clear direction as to how a potential customer can do business with you. Whether it be scheduling an appointment, requesting a quote, or visiting one of your business locations – you need to use your content to call them to action.
Creating a Website Content Outline
A sitemap is a list of web pages on your site, sort of like an outline. Creating a sitemap helps web designers organize your site, and it helps users navigate your site by creating a hierarchical structure. Additionally, submitting a sitemap to Google improves your search engine optimization. This is because it allows web crawlers to read your site and show it in search results.
When you start building your website, planning a sitemap is like planning a website content outline. In general, there are a few pages that every website should have – like a Homepage and an About Us.
To get started with writing content, here’s a basic outline of the pages you can include on your business website. We’ve also included some content ideas for each page.
- Homepage
The top of your homepage should include a great picture or video with a headline that draws in your potential customer. No, you don’t need to “welcome” them to your website. Instead, make it clear exactly what problem your product or service will solve for them. For example, “Save More on Your Car Insurance” immediately offers a benefit. It also communicates what type of product an insurance agency website would offer.
On this page, you can summarize the products or services you offer and link to another page on your site. You can include a brief About Us summary that directs to another page. Including clear call-to-action buttons, steps to do business with you, and/or brands you use or partner with is also helpful.
It’s important to make an effort to include social proof to help build trust with your potential customers. You can do this by linking to your Google reviews or highlighting statistics like the number of customers you’ve served, years you’ve been in business, or awards you’ve received. - Your Top Product or Services
You can summarize all your services on one page, or you can create individual pages with specific content. Or, do both! On a specific service page, you should highlight the benefits of that service. You should also answer all the possible questions a customer might have about it. Then, include a way to connect with you so the customer can take the next step.
Feel free to include as many pages as you need to cover all the products and services you offer. - Frequently Asked Questions
A FAQ page can add great value to your website. On this page, you would list all the common questions customers ask you and provide valuable answers. If you don’t know what questions to include, start keeping a list of questions that customers ask you in person. Or, you can use tools like Google (or Answer The Public) to discover the types of questions customers are asking.
This type of page will help cut down on phone call questions and make the experience on your website better for your potential customers. Your website is working 24/7, and if someone can’t find an answer on your website, they will go to your competitors’ websites.
- About Us Page
After confirming that you offer the product or service they are looking for, potential customers visiting your website will want to verify that your business is trustworthy. You can build trust and verify your reputation on an About page.
This page helps you communicate the purpose and/or history of your business as well as your relevant credentials. It’s also the appropriate place on your site to get more personal by introducing yourself and your team. - Contact Page
Throughout your site, you should use call-to-action buttons to direct your potential customers to the next step of doing business with you. For a chiropractor, this could be scheduling an adjustment. For an insurance agent, it might be requesting a free quote.
In general, the customer’s next step is to contact your business in some way. This page should include all the relevant details they would need to do so. - Footer
Technically, the footer isn’t a page, but this content will show on every page. We recommend you utilize this space for a brief summary, a map of your location, contact info like a phone number or email, and social media icons (if you are active on a particular platform).
Website Content Already Organized For You
At Best Websites, our specialty is creating websites with content and design that are optimized for your industry. Whether it’s for your law firm, dental office, or insurance agency website, our expert team has written thousands of words of SEO content to help you reach more potential customers.
If you’d like to skip the DIY planning and writing of website content for your business, chat with one of our team members.