The first step in preparation for your new site is to outline the content that will be included in your website. Your website could contain general company information on the home page which could also feature an image carousel to catch the attention of new visitors. So please dig up your best photos or alternatively we can help you find some stock photo images. The following pages could be named as navigation links at the top of your web site – about us, services and/or products, contact us; optionally you may want to include a frequently asked questions (FAQ) page.
The next steps include outlining the page content listing the relevant topics you wish to communicate with your visitors.
About page
On the about page, people are looking to find basic company information. How long have you been in business? What is the company’s background, who are the company’s leaders? Following the home page, this will likely be the most visited page on your site; this page helps to establish credibility with your target audience. Are there any accomplishments or affiliations that you should include to help establish trust with your visitors? In short, this page characterizes your company and describes what clients should expect of your organization. If you have testimonial letters, this page would be a good area to feature accolades; and may grow into a separate testimonials page. Use brevity when authoring your site content, visitors tend to be impatient, quickly scanning the pages for relevance. You way want to record a video or audio message to speak directly to your audience in a person to person format.
Services page
On the services page, list and describe your various levels of service; including whom you serve and where you provide these services. It may be beneficial to list the clients you provide service for, listing the benefits they receive. If you wish to include your client’s logos or trademarks please request a graphics release form to gain the legal permission to publish registered trademarks on your website not owned by you. Listing the types of business or industries that you serve helps visitors to identify your company as the right fit for their common interest, experience or type of business. If you provide a service for a specific niche industry then write a paragraph on the needs of this audience how your service provides the necessary solution.
Products page
On the products page describe the main offering, yielding the most reward; provide details, features and benefits. Use example solutions to describe how your product catalog meets business or consumer needs. Featuring a sample case study is a good way for visitors to catch this messaging in story format. Next, list each offering or category of product offerings; providing the details necessary for visitors to understand important factors such as availability, how to purchase, requirements, warrantee, fulfillment, and return/refund policies, etc. Prepare or gather full size photos of your products at about 600 pixels wide. For product offerings that are a custom solution, or an implementation of a group of products, provide photos of this type of implementation or bundle(s); and describe how the components work together to create the solution(s) you offer.
Contact page
On the contact us page, provide the primary means of contact you wish visitors to use to reach you. Do you work better with a call center? Or, would you rather correspond via email communications? List the details you want visitors to reference they may bookmark this page. Will you display your office address, phone, email, hours of operation, etc? A web form will act as a contact engine, available 24 hours a day / 7 days a week, to capture leads when visitors land on your web site. Provide a list of fields that your visitors can fill in, providing you with the information you need to qualify them as a prospect. For example, the contact form may list: name, email, phone, city/state and/or zip, choice of followup communication by phone or email, message area, drop-down list for tracking an answer to the question, “How did you find us?” List which fields are required; less helps more people complete the form, while more required fields limit the volume of form submissions. It may be a good idea to include a list of the regions that illustrate your service or market area.
Side bar content
All these pages include a side bar at the right or left. The side bar will display additional information like highlights from a testimonial letter as featured “quotes” under the heading “What people are saying about us.” Or, excerpts from case studies; where you briefly quote the solutions you provided as example wins that your clients’ experience when working with your company or using your products.
This area can be used to nudge visitors to contact you by phone or email. Any special offers or upcoming events can be published in this area. If your company is a member or has an affiliation that would resonate with your audience, or provide name recognition, then include this information for display on the sidebar. Widgets, or scripts that have some special function, like Google Voice which initiates a toll-free phone call from the website, are usually featured in the side bar area of your website.
Case studies / testimonials
Case studies or testimonials are not required to launch your website; but do offer value to your visitors. This type of content can grow as your business grows. A case study lists your client’s name, business type, business requirement or problem, the solution you provided, and the benefit the client received as a result of your product or service. This publishing tool uses a blogging feature called “posts” to publish articles over time. This can be implemented after your site goes live. Having new content on your website shows returning visitors that your company is progressive and informs search engines that your site is an authority on the topic of your business, products and/or services.
Home page
The most important thing we ask you to complete is a list of pre-sales questions that people ask you (when deciding to work with your company). This is your prospects’ objection list challenging you to provide answers for during the engagement process of wooing your clients. We ask this preparation primarily to be sure that we include these answers in strategic places throughout your website. Also, this list of answers to frequently asked questions will eventually become your FAQ page. This also helps us to personify your audience and targeting their interest or needs when creating the visual design and arranging the web page content for your website. Please list these questions in order of importance; from the point of view of your prospects. Typically, the answers you provide to these questions will become the testimonies you publish later, where your clients rant and rave about your company. It may be a good idea to feature the top three answers as content on your home page.
In completing this preparation you ensure rapid delivery of your website. You and your prospects will benefit from a professional presentation of your business on the internet and accessible from anywhere your prospects can connect to the world-wide web. Whether considering and sourcing a solution on-the-go from a mobile web browser, at home, or in front of a desk this effort is designed to promote the best practice of publishing a brochure website that will be optimized for reader and search engines alike. The goal is to generate traffic to your business website, convert visitors into leads, thus helping you turn visitors into customers.
