You know what you want – a website! You’ve even purchased a domain name, and you’ve either decided to DIY the site design or you’re going to trust that piece of the plan to website design experts. Either way, one of the next decisions you’ll need to make is crucial.
What pages do I need on my website?
Of course, every site is unique with its own goals, but in the last few decades, patterns have emerged that give us an excellent starting point to determine what pages most sites need. Over time, site visitors have absorbed these patterns and now have expectations that site owners should reasonably try to meet.
The Essential Website Pages
Visitors expect at least seven essential, must-have pages will exist on every site:
- The Homepage, of course
- An About Us page
- A Products and/or Services Summary page (or multiple product and service pages)
- A Blog Home page
- A Contact Us page
- A Privacy Policy page
- A Terms and Conditions page
The Potentially Necessary Website Pages
Then, depending on the type of site they’re visiting, they might assume some of the following pages will be present.
- A Business Locations page
- An FAQ page
- A Portfolio page and/or a Photo Gallery page
- A Testimonials page
- A Case Study page
- An Events Calendar page
- A Press page
- A Podcast Page and Video/Media page
The Also-Useful Website Pages
Finally, there are a few more pages that visitors might not think about, but you should supply them because they are helpful, either to visitors or to meeting your own goals. These include:
- A Custom 404 page
- A Sitemap page
- An Email Signup page
Now that you have a list to start with, you’ll probably want to ensure you’ve included the appropriate information on each. Let’s dive deeper to see what each page should include.
Note: When discussing what to put on a page, we could probably say “it depends” for each one, but we won’t repeat ourselves and bore you. Remember that what you’ll include on each of the pages mentioned below may differ depending on your site’s goals, your audience, your topic, etc. Now on with what you want to know.
Essential Website Page Details
The Homepage
The homepage is the front door to your site. Although many visitors won’t enter via the homepage, it’s still vitally important. It sets the tone of your site, and it’s almost always the most linked-to page. This makes it the most valuable page for SEO, as it will help lift the rest of the pages in your search engine optimization efforts.
The Homepage should include the following:
- Your site’s elevator pitch, brand statement, or a brief summary of what visitors can expect to find here
- Short descriptions of you and your products, services, or informational categories
- Calls to action
- Social proof or testimonials
- Navigation / links to the top-level, most important pages of the site
Get more Homepage tips and design inspiration.
The About Us Page
The About Us (or About Me) page is one of the first places visitors look for when they want to know more about you or your company. They expect to see enough details to give them the assurance they need that they can trust you.
The About Us page should include the following:
- Who, What, Why details: Who are you, what do you do, and why do you do it?
- History and achievements
- Team or personal bios and photos
Get more About Us page tips and design inspiration
The Products and/or Services Summary Page
If you have numerous products or services, each should have its own page, but in addition to those, you’ll want to include one page that gives a short description of the types of products and services you offer.
Obviously, if you have thousands of products, you don’t want to summarize every single one on this page.
Instead, you’ll give a broad overview of the kinds of products or services offered. Describe the top-level categories, and link through to those category pages. The category pages will then link to subcategories or individual product or service pages. It all starts with the main summary page. Think of it as your product/service’s mini-homepage. If you use an ecommerce system such as WooCommerce, this page will be your storefront page.
The Products / Services Summary page should include the following:
- A short, descriptive summary of the types of products or services you offer
- A breakdown of the different products/services or the highest-level product or service categories, with links to each product, service, or category page for more details.
- Any deals or current sales, pushing products you want to showcase
- Testimonials from users who love your product or service
Learn how to build a shop page with WooCommerce and blocks
The Blog Home Page
Although a website doesn’t require a blog, it is often the driving force behind generating traffic and interest in your website. We strongly recommend maintaining a blog and posting consistently to keep this benefit for the lifetime of your site.
A blog is made up of many blog posts, and these posts are listed sequentially, in descending order, on the blog’s home page. Depending on the theme you use, your new WordPress site may assign the blog home page as the site’s default home page, which will automatically show a feed of your latest blog posts.
If you’re using your site only as a blog, that makes sense, and you don’t need to do anything else. However, if a blog will only be one part of your larger website, and you’ve already decided to have a page that acts as your site’s homepage, then the blog’s homepage will be a separate page.
You can assign any page you’ve created as your homepage (aka your front page) from Settings > Reading. You’ll also be able to assign a new page as the blog’s home page. To do so, all you have to do is create a new blank page with no content, name it Blog (or News or anything you like), and then assign that new blank page as the Blog’s home page within Settings > Reading, as shown here.
The Blog Home Page should include the following:
- An automatically-generated feed of your latest posts
Get step-by-step guidance to write a good blog post
The Contact Us Page
The Contact Us (or Contact Me) page is the perfect place to help visitors communicate with you, either directly or via links to your presence elsewhere, such as social media platforms or support forums.
The Contact Us page should include the following:
- A contact form
- Your physical address, if you have one that customers can visit
- A map to your location
- Phone and/or fax numbers, if you want to receive contact this way
- Email address, though a contact form may take the place of this, to avoid spam
- Business hours, if applicable
- Links to each of your social media profiles
Learn how to build a business contact page with WordPress blocks
The Privacy Page
Online privacy is on the minds of users and world leaders alike. Many parts of the world have made laws that should be followed to protect users’ rights.
The Privacy page should include the following:
- What information you collect from visitors
- Where the data is stored
- How you’ll use that data
- Whether or not you’ll share that data with third parties
- If and how users can delete their data
Get all the details to learn how to write and add a privacy policy to your WordPress site
The Terms of Service Page
Most websites have a set of rules that they expect users to follow. These rules are outlined in a Terms of Service (TOS) page. Although a TOS might be unnecessary for some sites, most will benefit from using one.
The Terms of Service page should include the following:
- Text that mentions your site is protected by copyright laws
- An explanation that your site does not have control over the content of other websites you may link to and that you are not responsible for the content that may appear on other sites
- Which country’s laws govern the terms listed here
Determine if Terms of Service pages are necessary for your site
Potentially Necessary Page Details
The Business Locations page
You may have included your business location information on the contact page, which is absolutely recommended. However, if you have multiple locations, you may choose to add a separate locations page to help users find a location near them. Instead of contacting you, users may just want to find a location and get directions. A Business Locations page is perfect for that.
The Business Locations page should include the following:
- A list of each address where your business is located, including all its contact details
- An interactive map for each location
Learn more about Local SEO and how to rank there
The FAQ page
FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions. In reality, FAQ pages may not actually list questions that customers ever ask, but the site owner believes customers should have access to that information nevertheless. The best strategy is to combine these two approaches.
The FAQ page should include the following:
- A list of questions, with answers, that users frequently ask
- A list of questions, with answers, that address any potential doubts a user may have
- A list of questions, with answers, that you believe visitors should know
Discover how to create a top-notch FAQ page
The Portfolio page and/or a Photo Gallery page
Portfolios and photo galleries are similar but may serve different purposes. Their similarities, however, mean they can be listed here as one item. Businesses may want to showcase various projects they’ve worked on, and creatives might like to show photos of their work. Both generally end up with a gallery of some sort on a page.
A portfolio will usually include images of the projects or work done, along with extra information describing the projects. For example, a gallery may only display images for a photographer or artist but may also include additional information. The photographer may include camera details, F-stop used, etc., or the artist might describe the materials used, style, etc.
Whether creating a portfolio or gallery page, the concept is the same. You’re showcasing the best of something – your work, your projects, your skills, etc.
The Portfolio or Gallery page should include the following:
- Images of the projects or work that best showcase your skills and abilities
- Short description of each
- Bullet list of the skills or techniques used for each
Read the complete guide to creating an online portfolio
The Testimonials page
Testimonials, and their cousins, reviews, are quick ways to provide social proof that others approve of your work, your products, or your business. People are hard-coded to look for testimonials and reviews these days. They want to know if others have had a good experience with you, so they can feel more confident about working with you or buying from you.
The Testimonials page should include the following:
- One or two sentences of an actual customer praising you or your service or product
- Headline of the testimonial
- Image of the customer, where possible
- Link to customer’s external review or social media profile, if possible
Get tips to improve your marketing through testimonials.
The Case Study page
A case study is like an extended version of one portfolio item. If you were to choose the best project in your portfolio and then give all the details to prospective clients, you would write a case study.
Case studies provide an in-depth look at what a relationship with your company would involve and can serve to calm any doubts a user might have. Case studies are especially useful when your product or service is complicated, carries some risk to the client, or has a high price tag.
- If your product or service is complicated, a case study can provide proof that you have the skills needed to complete the project.
- If your service carries some risk to the client, a case study can ease a visitor’s mind. For example, if you are a hair stylist, a case study can show how your hair-straightening process doesn’t damage hair.
- And if your product or service is expensive, a case study can show all of the value that clients get for their money.
The Case Study page should include the following:
- A summary of the client’s problem
- The strategy or plan you decided to implement to solve the problem
- A detailed guide of the entire process, including high and low points, and how you overcame obstacles
- Measurable outcomes that prove the success of the project
See how case studies can tell your brand’s story
The Events Calendar page
If you host events, either virtual or physical, you’ll need an events calendar page. This may either be a page that lists just one or multiple events. Regardless of the number of events you’ll be listing, each one should include all the important details on this page.
The Events Calendar page should include the following:
- Event names
- Event descriptions, including photos and videos
- Date and time of events
- Event agendas
- Location information (address/map for physical events, or URL for virtual events)
- Registration form
- Organizer information
Build an events calendar page in six steps.
The Press page
Suppose a reporter is going to write an article about you or your business. In that case, it’s always a good idea to give that reporter enough information to help control the narrative to some extent. A press page allows you to accomplish several goals.
First, a press page can prevent inaccurate basic information from making its way into a widely-shared news article. If a journalist wants to describe your business quickly before diving into the story details, a paragraph about your company on your press page is an easy way for them to include that. Journalists will appreciate you saving them time, and you’ll love knowing accurate information was included in the story.
In addition, the journalist can pick up positive information they might otherwise not have been aware of and may use that in the story.
Finally, you can ensure your brand assets are used properly.
The Press page should include the following:
- Press releases
- Articles written about you
- Press kits
- Brand assets, such as logos, and guidelines for use
- Images and any other information to help media and news outlets write about you
Learn how to create a small business press kit.
The Audio and Video Media page (including podcasts and videos)
If you host or participate in podcasts, or you create videos, a page that introduces visitors to this content is essential. It may just be a summary page that links to a different platform where the media is hosted, or it may contain everything needed for the visitor to listen to or watch the content right on the site.
The Audio and Video Media page should include the following:
- A description of the type of content (podcasts or videos) and the general topics covered
- A list of all podcast episodes or videos, if the list is relatively short
- A list of categories or just the top episodes or videos, if the list is long
- A link to watch or listen to each
- A short description of each
- A call to action to remind visitors to subscribe to future episodes
Build a podcast page with WordPress blocks.
Also Useful Page Details
The Custom 404 page
Page Not Found. We’ve all landed on these pages as we navigate the web. This page is automatically generated when the URL a visitor attempts to view doesn’t exist. Browsers will display a generic message when this happens, but site owners can customize this message and make the experience much less frustrating and much more helpful. Instead of a jarring non-helpful error message, you should provide users with options on what to do next.
The Custom 404 page should include the following:
- A note letting visitors know that the page they’ve attempted to go to does not exist
- Helpful links to the homepage and other important pages
- A search bar
Learn how to optimize a custom 404 page.
The Sitemap page
When we say “the sitemap page,” which kind are we referring to? Yes, there are two types of sitemaps, and we will discuss both.
The first, and most important, is the XML Sitemap page. This is a page that is not designed for visitors to see. It is created specifically for search engines to read. The XML sitemap allows search engines to efficiently follow and index the pages on your site.
The second type of sitemap is the HTML Sitemap page. This is designed for visitors to view. It is essentially a nested tree listing all of the pages on your site so that visitors can see every page available at a glance. These pages are rarely seen “in the wild” any longer. They used to be popular before we understood the importance of keeping things simple and intuitive.
A giant list of links will only make navigating a site more difficult, not less. However, if you believe a long list of every page on your site will be helpful to your users, then an HTML sitemap is the way to go.
The Sitemap page should include the following:
- The XML sitemap page will be autogenerated by a tool or plugin and will include all the information search engines need, by default.
- An optional HTML sitemap page will contain a list of page titles, linked to each page on your site, preferably categorized in a logical fashion.
The Email Signup landing page
You’ve heard it many times before. The money is in the list. The email signup list, that is. When a user signs up to subscribe to your list, you know you have someone interested in what you offer. It will be much easier to sell to that person than it would be to sell to some random person who just landed on your site in one of a million ways.
You can place an email signup form almost anywhere on your site, and in multiple places. And you should do that. But you might also want to have a dedicated email signup landing page that gives you the extra room to show visitors why they would benefit from submitting that form.
The Email Signup landing page should include:
- What they’ll get if they sign up – include clear benefits
- A simple, no-hassle signup form
- As few distractions as possible
Learn how to set up a welcome email series
There you have it! Eighteen pages that are either essential or potentially useful for some or all site owners. Which pages do you need? The ones that help your users and help you meet your goals.
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