When building or marketing a website I think it’s easy to create content for the sake of having it available. We do our research and know what searchers are searching for, we know what solutions they are looking for, and we know what information they need to feel satisfied.
That helps us create the content for the page. But what is the purpose of the page?
- It’s not enough to have a page that gets top rankings for search engines.
- It’s not enough to have a page that talks about the value of your products or services.
- It’s not enough to have a page that answers your visitors questions.
Those are functions of the page, but not the purpose of the page. The question that gets us to the purpose of the page is this: What’s next?
- After you get top rankings, what’s next?
- After you extol the virtues of your product or service, what’s next?
- After you have answered all their questions, what’s next?
If you know what’s next, then everything on the page must support that as its primary objective. It might be as simple as getting the visitor to proceed to the next page, or clicking “buy now,” or picking up the phone. But even if the “what next” is that clear to you, are you sure it’s clear to the visitor? Does everything on the page support that goal?
Information alone doesn’t necessarily support the purpose of any given page. It might answer their questions or give them all the information they need to make a decision, but it must lead them to do that one last thing. Everything on the page must support that last thing, because that last thing is the real purpose of the page.
There is no doubt that people are looking for information. By all means, provide it. Give them what they came for and make sure it’s accessible and valuable. But also make sure that the page that provides the information also has a purpose. That means telling the visitor what’s next.