Building your capsule content: 5 pages every website needs to have

Any stylist will tell you, if you want to spend less time moaning about never having anything to wear, a capsule wardrobe is the way to go. You can also apply a similar theory to building your website.

For those of you unfamiliar with the capsule approach to wardrobe management, let me summarise the premise:

Stop focusing on hastily amassing a mixed bag of frivolous, fast fashion items that you wear once and never again. If you have items that only fit if you’re wearing your most claustrophobic support pants or you can only do up two buttons out of three, they need to go.

Instead start by investing in a limited collection of clothes you covet. They should coordinate well and fit perfectly, so you can wear them in a number of different ways and combinations.

Now, apply this same philosophy to your website…

Stop randomly adding more and more pages to an already sprawling website of poorly coordinated content. Are you relying on pages that haven’t really been a good fit for a while? Are you making your new website by taking the words from a presentation and trying to shoehorn them into some kind of site structure? Do you reel off a long list of caveats before directing anyone to certain pages? But still you keep on adding and adding.

Instead start by investing in crafting a handful of core pages that fit together perfectly and work really hard for you in a whole range of scenarios. So wherever a browser lands on your website you can be sure they have the same fantastic online experience from your brand.

I believe you can do this with five core pages

These five pages are absolutely the most important pages of your website. Perfecting them is the secret to a more consistently stylish website experience.

So, what are the pages? 

1. Home

Your homepage is where the bulk of your visitors first land – whether they find you on Google, from a direct link, or a referral from another website.

What you say here will influence whether they engage and explore your website further. Or whether they close the page with zero intention of ever returning again.

Your homepage doesn’t have to say it all. Instead, it should capture the essence of what you do but without giving it all away. The homepage is about impact and action. It needs to spark interest and signpost the visitor quickly and easily to the information they need.

What’s the purpose of your home page?

To grab the attention of your reader quickly. And then get them to the next page.

2. About

This is often where visitors go next after stumbling across your home page. You got their interest but they want to know more about what’s behind your brand before they look into the details of your products or services. This is all about building know, like and trust.

Think of it as you and your reader meeting for the first time in a coffee shop. At this first encounter, what would you say to put someone at ease before you get into the specifics of how you can work together? Your ‘about’ is an important opportunity to build on the connection you’ve made with your reader before you progress them along the buying journey.

What’s the purpose of your about page? 

To create a welcoming environment where you can further build the connection with your reader.

3. Product or service page

A product or services page is all about convincing your reader to take the next step. This is about selling what you offer.

First, let’s go back to that first meeting in the coffee shop. So you sat down, made your introductions. By now you’ve taken a good few slurps of coffee and started to get to know each other. But let’s not forget why you’re there.

What do you want to achieve by the time their mug is empty? You need to have secured a robust intention to continue the relationship. A sale. A date in the diary for the next meeting. Something specific that symbolises that you’ve converted someone who was vaguely interested in what you offer into someone convinced you hold the answer.

What’s the purpose of your product out service page?

To transform an idle browser into a customer.

4. Contact

Your contact page has a defined purpose – to tell people how to get in touch with you. But it’s often a missed opportunity. The goal of this page is to convert – to turn interest into a real, tangible opportunity for your business. 

Contact pages give browsers on a mission to take their interest in you to the next stage an easy destination. So, if they’ve skipped from the homepage right to ‘contact’ you need to give them the confidence that their blazon behaviour is justified. You want them to pick up the phone, send the email, fill in the form without a second thought entering their mind.

And if they decide they need a bit more information, make sure they have an easy route to it.

What’s the purpose of your contact page

To convince and enable a visitor to get in touch with minimal effort required.

5. Blog

Your website should be the hub of your digital marketing. Posting regular blog content is a great way to make your website an active marketing tool. Use your blog to attract visitors to your website.  It can help your business rank on search engines. And it’s a great way to offer value to your online community. 

What’s the purpose of your blog?

Use your blog to make your website a live, dynamic part of your marketing strategy.

Now, you have yourself a capsule website

But it’s not quite as easy as that. Because you now actually have to write these pages. You have a few options…

Hire a website copywriter to write them for you. This is the premium option, but will guarantee amazing results without you having to tap a single word yourself. Let me know if you would like me to help.

Write it yourself (but not on your own.) My new (coming soon) Capsule Content Academy is designed for business owners who are writing their own content but want help along the way. This is 1-2-1 personalised support and feedback from me, so you not only get your content written, you also get it right, quicker. Every month I’m going to be opening up slots for three business owners to work with me on their content. Together over a few weeks, we’ll get five capsule pages of your website perfected, giving you the best starting block for growing your business online. Interested?

I’m releasing three September slots in the Capsule first to my email subscribers on Friday 21 August. Sign up to reserve your space.