Recommended Content For Your Website

Company Info

This information can either be included on the company?s home page, or if there is an abundance of information, a separate ?Company Info? page can be created. The purpose is to let potential customers and clients become more familiar with your company to increase the personal side of doing business. When customers and clients know more about your company, they are more likely to feel comfortable doing business with you rather than a competitor.

Products and Services

This is arguably the most important aspect of an Internet website. Yes, the sole act of having a website says that you?re on the leading edge of business and gives you credibility, but most people will visit your website because they are interested in purchasing your products and services. If your company offers an extensive line of products and services, don?t attempt to cram all the information into one page. Customers and clients come to your website for information. The more information you can provide about your different products and services, the more apt they will be to do business with your company. Detailed product information combined with visuals seems to work the best.

Contact Info

After you?ve impressed the viewer with your company?s history and excellent lineup of products and services, you need to let them know how to contact you. I always advise clients that a phone number and e-mail should be visible on the home page. In addition to this, a separate page should be constructed to contain:

- your mailing address - phone & fax numbers - e-mail addresses of key employees - a detailed map of your location - a picture of your building to help clients and customers easily find your location - driving directions if necessary

Memberships and Associations

If you are a member of the local Chamber of Commerce, Better Business Bureau, or an industry specific association, you can leverage these assets by displaying the logos of these organizations on your website. I recommend putting these logos on the main page to instantly give credibility to your business.

Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.)

Do you have customers and clients requesting the same information time and time again? Many of these common concerns can be addressed in with a frequently asked questions page. It is a good idea to make reference to the F.A.Q. page on your contact page to ensure that the viewer has read all the frequently asked questions before making an inquiry.

Testimonials

Do you have any satisfied clients who would be willing to vouch for your company? Testimonials make people feel good about conducting business with your company and should be included somewhere on a website.

Company Benefits / Advantages

Why should a client or customer choose your company over the competition? What makes your company different and what advantages would a client or customer gain by using your product / service? Don?t be shy here; this is your opportunity to toot your own horn. If you don?t tell them, who will? Your competition will certainly let them know why their company should be chosen over you.

Image Gallery

Let your potential clients and customers see some of the great work you've performed. Even if you provide a service, and therefore cannot take a picture of the completed job or product, you can use examples on a case by case basis to demonstrate how the services you?ve delivered have benefited the customer.

Blog

A blog can not only serve as a means for informal communication with potential customers and clients, but the search engines also love frequently updated content on your website.

Staff / Employees

Increase the personal side of doing business by including pictures of your friendly and knowledgeable staff. If your employees possess certain qualifications to be deemed experts in the field, it is a good idea to let potential clients and customers know how qualified your employees are.

Equipment

If your business uses specialized equipment, inform your potential clients and customers about the specifics. If you use the latest and greatest equipment, it gives the viewer another reason to do business with your company. Pictures of your equipment would be a great compliment to this information.

Industry Education

If you feel your potential clients and customers would benefit from an explanation of a particular topic related to your business, it is a good idea to include these articles on your website. The more text-based content a website contains the more beneficial it is to both human users and search engines.

In closing, I?ll repeat that this list is not exhaustive, and it is the responsibility of the business owner to let the web designer know what information is pertinent to his or her business. People and search engines that visit your website are hungry for information. Therefore, the more content that can be provided to the webmaster the more effective the Internet website will be.

Paul Coulter owns and operates a Toronto Website Design company that specializes in search engine optimization (SEO). http://www.ekonline.com/