Essential Pages On Your Website For SEO

For many businesses, and particularly e-commerce enterprises, their websites are their most powerful marketing tool and are unquestionably the key to success in the hotly contested digital space.

But remember, good website design is as much about satisfying the search engines as it is about satisfying the user.  A website has to be properly structured with the right pages and the right content to get noticed where it counts – at the top of the search engine rankings.  Good design is also important to make a site appealing to the user on a practical level.  The website needs to be good to look at, engaging, quick and easy to navigate and simple for someone to transact on.

Which Website Pages are Essential For SEO

This article highlights which website pages are essential for SEO and provides some insights into the do’s and don’ts for each of these key pages.

1. Home Page

Your home page should make your online audience feel….at home.   It should reassure visitors that they are in the right place and it should establish credibility and trust.  It should be sufficiently compelling and interesting so as to hold visitors’ attention, educate them if need be and encourage them to go deeper into your site.

Google and the other search engines will also be looking at your home page to see if it accurately reflects your business.   Credibility and trust are as important to the search engines as they are to your online audience.  In fact, Google has announced a heightened focus on E-A-T (Expertise, Authority and Trust) as a key ranking factor, so if you’re serious about SEO, you need to include elements that promote these qualities throughout your web pages.

• Do populate your home page with engaging content
• Do provide a concise summary of your business and what you offer
• Do have your focus keywords in the content
• Do have a compelling headline and use sub-headings
• Do link through to the main service or product category pages on the website
• Don’t clutter the homepage with unnecessary information, graphics, images etc.

2. About Page

Your about page establishes your business’s credentials as well as the credentials of your management team.  It should reinforce your expertise and leadership, build your brand, show your authority and inspire trust.  These are all crucial signals for the search engine rankings, so your “About Us Page’ is basically a CV for SEO!

• Do mention how long your business has been around for
• Do summarise what your business is about. Facts not fiction!
• Do set out your values, mission and corporate culture
• Do provide examples of your approach to business eg. problem-solving abilities, keeping within budgets, meeting briefs, innovative thinking etc. Provide a link to a case study if appropriate.
• Do incorporate client testimonials/reviews with a link to a review feed if possible
• Do offer a call to action if possible
• Don’t write a novel. Tell your story but don’t overwhelm the reader with too much verbiage

3. Individual Service or Category Pages

Individual service or category (if you have an e-commerce website) pages are beneficial to your clients, but they’re also a must for SEO too. These are often some of the most important pages on the website from an SEO perspective.

It’s recommended to have a page dedicated to each service or product type that you offer (unless of course, you only have a single service offering).    These pages give you the opportunity to talk to a niche audience and address any question you think customers may have in relation to the specific service.

Individual service pages also offer a great opportunity to demonstrate your expertise and authority in delivering that specific service.  You can also strengthen your trust by including a review or testimonial relating directly to the service offered on that particular page.

• Do optimise the page for the relevant service only
• Do have category pages if you an E-commerce website with relevant content
• Do use specific keywords and phrases
• Do consider search intent when populating the page
• Do feature unique content about your service or product
• Don’t make your service pages too similar as Google won’t like it!

4. Separate Pages for Different Areas You Operate In

We’ve talked about individual service pages, but it’s good for your SEO to have separate location landing pages.  These are aimed at customers from the specific geographical areas that you service.

These pages should feature unique, relevant content aimed at attracting ultra local traffic.   They can be particularly beneficial for businesses with bricks and mortar operations which want to promote their various locations.

• Do remember one of the most basic SEO rules and add a title and meta description to each page, including your brand name, geo-specific keyword and keyword
• Do target the specific service area with unique and relevant content
• Do consider including original images, maps, a call to action, name/address of your operation, links etc
• Don’t have these separate pages just to draw traffic. Make each one unique and valuable.

5. A Blog, News or Resources Page (eg FAQS)

Content is king for SEO.  Helpful, informative and educational content that answers a user’s question (and which is a pleasure to read) is a key driver of SEO success – and you can capitalise on this with a great blog or news page.

These pages are an opportunity to showcase your industry leadership and demonstrate your E-A-T.   A blog post, how-to guide or video tutorial, an article on troubleshooting or helpful tips are all ways that you can demonstrate expertise and authority to your users – and to the search engines for SEO.

• Do post fresh content regularly
• Do use graphics and other visual images to enhance your words
• Do use keywords strategically
• Do use strong headlines
• Do use social media for sharing your content
• Do proofread!
• Don’t post irrelevant content that erodes your credibility and your reputation

These are just some of the essential pages on your website for SEO which you need in order to establish and maintain strong online visibility and a competitive business edge.

If you have an e-commerce website also check out my info-packed “Don’t Miss These Top 5 E-Commerce Tips For Successful Websites”

If you’d like to learn more about how to put SEO to work for your business, you’ll be interested in a new self-managed online DIY course, The SEO School.  This course is ideal for business owners and website managers who want to learn and implement the key essentials of SEO as they progress through the modules. Find out more or book your course at The SEO School.

Karen Dauncey

Karen Dauncey has been working in SEO since 2003. She specialises in helping businesses get found online through Google using Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) She is the founder and creator of The SEO School an online SEO Course to help teach business owners how to do their own SEO. She regularly delivers educational programs for both Local, State and Federal Government and is an advisor for the ASBAS Digital Solutions Program. Karen’s passion and commitment to help small business owners get found online is the driving force behind her online school, making SEO advice accessible to all with free resources and online courses.

Karen's wealth of SEO knowledge and practical digital marketing experience comes from running her own SEO and Google Ads agency, Blue Cherry Online Marketing since 2008. Karen has optimised over 1000 websites, managed millions of dollars' worth of spend on Google Ads and has a solid understanding of the constantly shifting industry of digital marketing and SEO. This gives her a unique advantage when it comes to being able to recommend the right online marketing strategies for your business. This gives her a unique advantage when it comes to being able to recommend the right online marketing strategies for your business. She was recently recognised as an SEO Expert for the popular course creation platform, Kajabi as well as appearing on ABC Radio
for her expert opinion on the ACCC's investigation into search engines.

Karen has attended search engine conferences in London, Stockholm, Adelaide and Sydney, and was also invited to attend a pilot Business Coaching Course at Google’s Head Office. She has a Diploma in Marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK.

She is also the co-owner of the Digital Experts Directory, an online directory for female serviced-based businesses to promote their business (with a great backlink for SEO).

To keep up to date with the latest in SEO, join her Facebook group The SEO School Community or follow her on Facebook or LinkedIn.