Plan Website Pages
What website pages will you need?
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Planning your Website Pages
Short website pages are ideal
Websites are structured – they are divided into separate documents, called website pages or web pages. The leanest websites may be only one page. The largest may comprise thousands of web pages.
A single website page may be any length, but you should probably plan to include from about 400 to 1000 words in each one. Readers can manage to read an article of that length in a few minutes.
Each page should contain only one main idea, even if that results in a short website page of only 400 words or so. As a rule it's better to make your pages too short rather than too long. Some people find long pages boring or hard to read. They may find relief by flitting away from your site altogether!
If a website page turns out longer than expected, find some way of splitting the page idea into two or more. You may need to rearrange the content, to keep each paragraph relevant to its new page idea.
Better to have more website pages
If search engine traffic is going to be important for your site, you need to be aware that search engines index every page of each site separately. When responding to a search request they will choose the best page, rather than the best site. "Best" to a search engine means most relevant (to the search term) as well as most authoritative.
Having separate pages in your site gives you an opportunity to use a different key phrase or search term for each page. A different key phrase attracts a different group of searchers, increasing your overall traffic. When visitors “land” on a particular page of your site, as directed by the search engine, you can encourage them to visit your other pages too.
The most successful websites usually have many web pages, all related to the main theme or topic of the site. Each web page attracts visitors and enhances the site's credibility as an authoritative source of information on its topic.
Each website page should relate to your website topic
It's best to avoid website pages which are unrelated to your website topic, or only vaguely related. Visitors may get confused about what your site is about, or bored, or frustrated.
Search engines also get confused by collections of unrelated pages. Then they rank your whole site poorly.
Planning your website pages helps you plan your site
Knowing what web pages you are planning helps you decide how your website will be structured, what type of menu/s you will need, and how pages will link to each other.
Once you have listed what web pages you want, you will have some idea of the scope of the work to be done in researching and writing those pages. You can also start thinking about your content and making notes about it.
Give some thought to how your website will look in five years time, when it may have grown to 50 pages. Try to create a structure now that will accommodate those extra website pages in future.
Start with a few website pages, then add on
You may have to decide just how few pages you want to include, when you first publish your site.
There’s no harm in starting off with a very limited number of pages (say 4 or 5), as long as your visitors still find your site worthwhile.
On the whole, the benefits of publishing early outweigh the disadvantages of starting off with a scaled-down website.
Give thought to your Home Page
The most important page of your site will probably be your “home” page. This is the page that will open if your visitor just types your website URL into his browser, without any further indication as to which page is being requested.
The home page is important. Many visitors will land on it, so it gives you an opportunity to make them feel welcome. It should be a showcase for your site.
From your home page, visitors should be able to see, preferably at a glance, just what your site is about and what information is on offer.
Our next tutorial looks at outsourcing website development, or some part of it, to a professional. Who should consider this, and why...
Links / Resources
URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of a web page, as you see it displayed in your browser
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Choosing your website pages helps you to plan your website structure