So you’re putting together the content for your website, and you’re wondering where to start. If you’re a small business, you’ll want to keep it as simple and to the point as possible, to make your website easy for people to use.

There are website conventions that have become accepted to the point that people expect certain items to be there and in the right place.

You should always have a ‘Home’ button somewhere near the top left, and you can guarantee if you don’t that people will say ‘where is the home button’.

You should always have a ‘Contact’ button linking to a page with all your contact details, it’s one of the things people look for, and most people in business want to make it easy for potential customers to contact them!

Another standard feature to include is the ‘About’ page. This is your opportunity to share your history and qualifications with visitors to your website, allowing you to build rapport and become less anonymous.

What you put in between the Home, About and Contact pages is the stuff that makes you different; it’s the products and services you offer.

This formula will make it easier for people to use your website, and if you’re in business, that’s good news.

Ten years ago, most people would look for goods and services in the Yellow Pages or newspaper classifieds. Today, people ‘Google’ the business they are seeking. A business with a professionally built website is more likely to be found near the top of the results for a relevant search.

The types of business that don’t need a website are diminishing as more and more people search for everything online. Five years ago, many categories of business didn’t need a website. Why would a motor mechanic need a website? Today if you are searching for a local motor mechanic on Google and the top result takes you to a well designed web page, you may well contact that business first. Especially if it provides details of the services provided, operating hours, pricing and contact information.

Consider a restaurant website for example, it could contain information about the style of food served, the location, operating hours, menus, how to contact or make a booking. This information would be very useful to the person looking for somewhere to eat out in the local area.

A brochure website is simplest and most economical type of website; it can even be a ‘one pager’ – just a home page and nothing else. It’s an information source about your business that is accessible to potential customers wherever they are located. As a minimum it will contain sales and marketing copy and contact information. It is for businesses operating in the ‘offline’ world – also referred to as ‘bricks and mortar’ businesses – which have a physical office or shop that they operate from, and they don’t sell goods or services through the internet.

As more and more people search for goods and services online, consider the advantage for your business of a professionally designed brochure website.