Essential Website Content Your Company Can’t Afford to Miss

How often have you visited a website and you can’t find key pieces of information or even what a company is about?

Unfortunately, I see this all the time.

Last week, I talked about the essential elements for building a great company website, which included everything from great design and navigation to blogging and social media.

But, perhaps the most important website component on that list was compelling content.

You can have the most beautifully designed website in the world, but without compelling content that tells people who you are, what you do and why someone should buy from you, you’re going to have a tough time achieving results.

Sadly, many companies treat website content as an after-thought and instead focus their time (and dollars) on the design.

Don’t let that be your business.

Website content your company needs

A website gives you the opportunity to tell your story and answer your prospects questions — even before they pick up the phone to call you.

But, if you want your website to do that kind of heavy lifting, you need to make sure the content delivers the necessary content.

If you’re not sure what that should include, below you’ll find a comprehensive checklist for the key pieces of content that every company should include on their website.

Who You Are

About.
 The “About” page is often one of the most visited pages on a company website. Why? People want to get a quick glimpse of who you are as a company and what you’re all about.
 But, what people really want to know is how you can help THEM. With this page, talk about how you can help customers with their problems and they’ll be eager to keep reading. Need inspiration? Here are some excellent “about us” page examples.

History (your story). Oftentimes, what makes a company compelling is the story behind the business. Why did you start the business? What do you stand for as a business? Sharing your brand story can be a great way to differentiate your business. Check out 1907 Apparel for a great example.

Team (your people). People want to do business with people. That’s why it’s so important to showcase your team on your website. This page or section should include names, bios, photos and ways to connect with the team members. Depending on the size of your business, you might not be able to showcase every employee. But, larger companies should at least have bios for the leadership team. Here are some cool team page examples. And, I’ve always loved Emma’s team page (above).

Awards / Recognition. Showcasing your awards, prominent news stories and other accolades gives visitors proof of your credibility. However, I would caution against listing every award you’ve ever received and only highlight the most prominent and relevant items that prospects would value and recognize.

What you do

Products and Services. This is a no-brainer and most websites include this information. But, don’t just rattle off the things you do for people. Talk about the problems you solve with each service offering.

Portfolio. This doesn’t apply to every business, but companies that produce a tangible offering should include this prominently on the website. For example, photographers, designers, artists, stylists and architects all should include work samples on their website.

Case studies / testimonials. Case studies and testimonials showcase your work in action. These don’t have to be incredibly complex, but they should show how your solved a problem for your client or customer. This helps prospective clients better understand how you can help them.

Who You Work With

Client list. It might not make sense for you to list every client on your roster (and non-disclosure agreements could prevent that). But, for some companies, it helps to showcase the customers — especially prominent ones – that work with you. Again, this helps with credibility.

Industry areas. If your company focuses on certain industry verticals, make sure you include that information so prospective clients can see you have experience in their industry.

Ideal client. Who is a good fit for working with your company? Including a section that profiles your ideal client or customer will help people self-select into this role. If a company identifies with this list, it will make them more likely to call.

Who you do NOT work with. While every business wants the phone to ring, we want those phone calls to come from qualified leads. One way to improve the quality of your leads is to boldly declare who is NOT a good fit for your company. Share a list of characteristics, industries or even types businesses that you don’t want to work with. Check out this excellent example from Marcus Sheridan at The Sales Lion (shown above).

How You Think

Blog. I won’t belabor the point here, but adding a company blog is a great way for website visitors to get a better insight into who you are as a company and how you think. Not to mention, a blog is one of the best ways to attract traffic to your website.

Premium content. Offering free resources on your website, such as webinars, eBooks, tutorials, videos and white papers, gives website visitors more in-depth information. Not only does this help prove your value to prospects, but this also serves as an excellent lead-generating tool.

Hiring You

Pricing. A lot of B2B and service-based businesses cringe at the thought of putting pricing on their website. And, in fairness, it can be difficult for many companies to do this. For example, it’s difficult for a law firm to put a price tag on handling divorce cases because the price will depend largely on the individual client’s needs.

However, businesses that fall into this camp can still address pricing on their website. or instance, you can talk about how you price your work. In the case of the law firm, you could talk about whether you use flat-fee retainers or hourly rates. Or, you could simply explain why there isn’t a set price for legal fees and give the reasons why that’s the case.

Another option is to list a starting price for your services. That way, you’ll weed out people who are price shopping and can’t afford you. Yet, it doesn’t hamstring you because it only lists where your prices START.

Process. If someone wants to work with you, what’s the next step? Make sure you include this process on your website. Maybe that’s calling to set up a free consultation or contacting you to request a proposal or estimate. Whatever your process is for new business, include that on the website. That way, people know exactly what to do when they’re ready to take the next step.

FAQs. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) can be a great way to answer any final questions or concerns people may have before hiring you. What are the questions you commonly receive? If you take the time to answer these on your website, it could save your team a lot of time in the sales cycle.

How does your website content stack up?

Depending on your business and the type of work you do, there will be other elements that need to be included on your website. However, this is a good foundation to help you get started.

Does your website have all of these pieces? What other website content do you think is essential for businesses to have?