This may seem obvious, but determining the structure of your site (i.e., what pages you want to include) is often overlooked by those planning a new website. Proceeding with a build without a plan is like going to Home Depot and buying lumber and nails before you have a blueprint for your house. How DO you know what pages you should have on your site? We recommend three strategies; do all of them. (Estimated time to complete: 2-4 hours)
Strategy 1: Think of all the services/products that you offer.
- Create a list of the them. Plan to create one page per item on your list.
- Add other pages that are common to most websites.
You might consider:
- About Us/Company History
- Contact Us
- Privacy Policy
- Philosophy
- Why Choose Us
- Awards/Affiliations
- Map/Locations/Directions
- Warranty
- Testimonials/Reviews
Strategy 2: Visit your online competition (remember to search with your target search phrase)
To go with the example that we started with when exploring SEO terms, we will play like we have a roofing company in Fort Worth/Dallas that specializes in commercial roofs. Let’s do a search in Google for “Dallas Fort Worth commercial roofing”.
Here are the first few results we get:
Strategy 3: Create one page for each region you serve
- In this case, we will create two pages:
- Fort Worth Commercial Roofing
- Dallas Commercial Roofing
The Result
Take all of your ideas and divide them into logical categories. You know how you go to a website and you see a top navigation bar that lists the “main parts” of the website? If you hover over one of those tabs, you will see a drop-down navigation. You have just witnessed how pages are grouped into categories. We divide pages into categories to make site navigation easier for the visitor. By using the three strategies outlined above, here is the proposed site structure for our commercial roofing company in Dallas/Fort Worth.
Homes About Us (Category page)
- Why Choose Us
- Company History & Philosophy
- Awards/Affiliations
- Location/Map
- Warranty
Commercial Roofing Services (Category page)
- Fort Worth Commercial Roofing
- Dallas Commercial Roofing
- Roof Repairs
- Roof Replacement
- Roof Penetration Repair
- New Roof Installation
- Roof Check-up
- Roof Inspections
- Emergency Repairs
Roofing Types/Products (Category page)
- Single Ply Systems
- Roof Coating
- Modified Bitument Systems
- Tar and Gravel Systems
- Energy Saving Roofs
- Gutters & Downspouts
- Coping
- Thermal Roof Coatings
- Metal Roofs
- Flat Roofs
Our Work (Category page)
- References/Testimonials
- Videos
- Project Gallery
News/Blog Employment Contact Us
- Privacy Policy
- Free Bid Request
This site will have a total of 37 pages. For SEO purposes, you should expect to write SEVERAL paragraphs on each page, discussing the topic of that page thoroughly. Tune in later for more details on writing copy for your website that is search engine friendly.