A common question many business owners have is how many pages should my website have? The truth is that there is no set number. We could give you a ballpark number of pages that make for a decent website, but the more accurate answer would be that it just depends. You should actually be asking yourself how many pages is necessary to effectively provide the information your target audience is seeking.
It is important to remember that your website has two types of audiences:
- Humans (potential and current customers)
- Search Engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.)
Humans tend to prefer a simpler and easier to use website that is absent of clutter. When it comes to people, less is more. How can you tell the people everything they want to know with the least amount of clicks possible?
Search engines on the other hand want as much content as possible. If you want to be ranked high in search engine results, then you must create more pages with keywords. This will give you greater opportunity for at least a few of your site pages to show up when users search for services that align with your business. Adding subpages to the pages you already have or implementing a business blog on your website are great ways to increase your content for SEO purposes.
What factors should I consider?
The trick to creating an effective website is finding the balance between satisfying both your human readers and search engines. There are many factors specific to your business website that you should consider when determining how many pages you should have:
Competition
If your main competitor has 500 pages, you may want to consider a more extensive website as it may be an indicator of how many web pages are standard in your industry. Look through popular sites in your niche and see what kind of information they provide to get ideas on how you can add to your website’s content.
On the other hand, if you find that your competitors have very few webpages, you can take that as an opportunity to increase your pages to get the upper hand on online visibility. The more valuable and search engine optimized content you have on your website, the higher it will rank in search results.
Industry
If you are in a large and competitive industry, you will find that you must post more content on a regular basis. This is because people are constantly searching for services in your industry and you want to stand out in the search results above your competition. If your industry is relatively small with a very specific market, you may not need to update your site as regularly.
Budget
Hiring a writer to create all the content for your website is not free. If you cannot afford a writer, you will essentially become responsible for creating and publishing your own website content. This will require a lot of time that you may not have. If you spend too much time focused on website content, you will not have enough time to focus on other aspects of your business which could ultimately cause you to lose money. Think about how much money and time you’re willing to invest before you start adding pages to your website.
What type of pages should I include on my website?
Aside from the supplemental pages of content you can add for SEO purposes, there are set expectations that many users have when they visit the website of any business. Here are a few standard pages that your website should have:
Home: This is the page that everyone will see when they first enter your website. Be sure to include intriguing content on this page that captures the user’s attention and encourages them to continue navigating your website.
About: This is often one of the most visited pages on a website because consumers want to know more about the people behind your company.
Services and/or Products: You may have one of these pages or both depending on the type of business you have and what all you offer. This page consists of a summarized list of your products and services with a brief description of each. If you want to provide more information about specific services, link to subpages that go into greater detail.
FAQs: This is a great page to have as it will not only increase your site content but also save you a lot of time answering the same questions repeatedly.
Reviews/Testimonials: Use this page as a chance to increase your credibility by showing off positive and honest reviews from customers.
Contact: This is one of the most important pages as it lets potential customers know how they can get in touch with you which can eventually lead to a sale. It is important to include all your social media accounts, your mailing address, phone and fax number, email address and business hours.
Privacy Policy: This is an important page because it lets users know how you will use any information you collect from them.
Terms & Conditions: This page will include rules and guidelines about how your website functions and which country’s laws govern those rules. It should also include an intellectual property disclosure that states that your website is your property and that it’s protected by copyright laws along with a “links to other sites” clause that states you are not responsible for or have control over third party links on your website.
Page Not Found: Technically called a 404-error page, this is where your users will be directed when a page no longer exists, has moved, or has expired. Because it can be an HTML page, you should customize this page to fit your brand.
A website is never truly complete and should always be updated with fresh content that educates your consumers. There is no such thing as too many web pages as long as your content is valuable and caters to what your users are looking for. As your business continues to grow, your website should as well. For more information about how to build your website to attract new customers and stay connected with current customers, use our Element of a Website guide.