One of the main components of developing a new website is deciding its content. If you have a current website, taking a look at its content and deciding what still works and what doesn’t is a great first step. Sometimes, though, you may need to start from scratch. Here’s a quick guide on what components you’ll need to include in your new website content as well as some best practices.
Component 1: Page Title
A page title tells search engines like Google what the title of your webpage is. Your page titles may have been decided during the development of your website’s sitemap. It’s best to be specific with page titles and include the page content’s most important keyword in the title. For example, if the page content is about Mustangs, the page title should include the word “Mustang” and not the more generic “Pony Car.”
Your page title should be compelling as it will be one of the first things a search engine will show someone who is searching for your service or product. Google will cut your page title off at about 70 characters in its search results, so keep your page title within that character limit.
Component 2: Page Copy
Once you’ve decided your page title, it’s time to write content for the page surrounding that subject. Start off your page copy with a compelling introduction to engage your website visitor early on. This introduction should include at least one of your keywords.
Write this content with your website audience in mind. Ask yourself these three questions: Who are they? What are they looking for? What action do you want them to take?
Your website page copy should be from 200 to 1,000 words. You can use headers within the copy as needed to break up the content into sections. We’ll go further into that next.
Component 3: Headers
Within your website page content, you can break the content up with headers at the beginning of each section. “Component 1: Page Title” and “Component 2: Headers” are examples of headers within this blog post. Headers help explain to the reader what the next section of content is about and they present the copy in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the reader. There are six levels of headers from H1 to H6. H1 are typically the “main heading” while the others are referred to as “subheads.”
This type of page organization also helps search engines determine what content is on the page and the level of importance of that content. Be sure to include keywords in your headers to help with search engine optimization. Headers should be no more than 60 characters in length.
Component 4: Images
Each page on your website should have at least one image. Images are a crucial part of the website design process. They help bring your website content to life. When images are properly labeled with captions and other data they also create more content for search engines to find on your site, improving your search engine rankings.
Having great images on your website also plays a role in your social media presence. When someone wants to share your webpage on social media, the platforms often look to the page’s content for an image to display with the post.
Images can come from several places: professional photography, photos your team has developed, or stock photography. Stock photo houses such as Adobe Stock offer a diverse collection of high-resolution, royalty-free assets that can be licensed for a cost. There are also free stock houses such as Pexels, Pixabay, and Unsplash. The important thing is that the photos are royalty-free for commercial use in order to protect yourself and your company from any type of lawsuit.
Extras: Functionality
While your web page may only need to convey information through words or images, sometimes it is beneficial to include a unique functionality. For example, maybe your web page should include a form to collect readers’ information. Or maybe you will sell items or ask for donations on the page. Deciding the necessary functionality upfront helps ensure a smooth design process. Talk with our team today about what functionality you can add to your site pages.