One of the nice things about WordPress is that you can use it as a web page with an embedded blog. Every blog should have certain information available to readers, such as a disclaimer, and it is easiest to do this as pages. Here are the five pages I consider essential:
1)Home — This is like the cover of a book. If the home page is not appealing, people will stop and go elsewhere. Pop-ups, flashing things, and autoplay noise are things that make me flee as quickly as possible, and I am not alone. Make your first impression count for you, not against you. Your blog may feed onto your home page, or it may be separate.
2)About Me — I have not met anyone who likes filling this thing out. However, if people enjoy your blog or are impressed with your home page, they will go here next. This is your chance to show them you are human and give them a sense of what kind of person you are. This is not a resume, that goes elsewhere.
3)Disclaimer — The FTC now requires disclosure of any relationship which might influence the reviews or writing of a blogger. A disclaimer also helps if you give advice on a topic where something might go wrong. Of course, a disclaimer does not excuse negligence. A web search will turn up several templates for this disclosure, depending on what you blog on.
4)Contact Me — Put clear ways to contact you here. If you use a form and it malfunctions, no one can tell you because it isn’t working. It is easy enough to create a dedicated email account for your blog and list it here. If you work by phone, you can list that here, along with the hours you answer the phone. Be sure to include your time zone, or you will get calls at 2 a.m. from somewhere across the world.
5)Hire Me – If you take clients for writing jobs, babysitting, whatever, you need to let people know you are available. Otherwise, they may like your work but assume you are not accepting new jobs.
There are a few other tabs that are useful, such as a “PR OK!” tab, Resume or store, but these five are essential. They keep you out of legal trouble, give people an idea of who you are, and tell them how to contact you. What tabs would you add to this list?
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Great list! And very useful (I still haven’t finished the CONTACT tab on my page and you’ve inspired me to get working on that.)
I am in your group for the SITS31DBBB challenge and I wanted to stop by and say hello. You have a wonderful site and I look forward to seeing more here and getting to know you better.
Allison recently posted..Project Update: Almost, Almost Done!
If people cannot reach you they become frustrated and leave. Most won’t try again, so that one is important.
Hi Stephanie
I think the About Me page is one of the most important, as you have stated in the post. I always read it when i go to a new site.
Just as I would like to be introduced to someone at a social gathering or if I am going to their home. Like to know who I am conversing with.
This is sadly neglected on some sites.
Thanks for sharing Stephanie. Appreciated. Hope your week is going well too.
Patricia Perth Australia
Thanks for stopping by, Patricia. You certainly know a great deal about captivating your visitors.
Very useful, Stephanie. I stopped by again to try to figure out how the new CommentLuv plugin works. As you know, you’re one of the cutting edge bloggers who installed it right away.
Gail Gardner recently posted..Why Your Blog Should Have a Hire Me Tab
Well, the good news is it mostly works. The bad news is the registration thing is a bit tricky. I will write about it when I get it working on the photography blog and start registration here.
I forgot about a disclosure page, thanks for the reminder! Love the post!
~Brittany Baughman via #SITS31DBBB
Brittany Baughman recently posted..Day 2 #31DBBB and 5 Reasons You Should Join Us
It is easy to forget that one, but the FTC is second only to the IRS in scary!
Thank you Stephanie. I think of you as my teacher in blogging. And I am try to memorize evetyhing you say here by heart.
copywriting recently posted..SEO copywriting: Les éléments essentiels pour satisfaire les moteurs de recherche
Wow, what a nice compliment. Good luck with your blogging.
Great advice Stephanie, thanks for sharing.
I’d also add that once you’ve created all those pages, keep them updated. I know that’s one thing I’m looking forward to doing now that the blogathon is over; it’s been too long since I updated some of my site’s static pages, e.g., my clips page, bio, resume, etc. If you’ve taken on new job responsibilities it’s especially critical to let the world know what you’re doing.
Michelle Rafter
Michelle Rafter recently posted..8 dumb things I did in college that helped my writing career
Yes, updating those pages is a constant process. I am not sure which is worse — no pages or outdated ones.
Definitely essential pages for any blog. It can be very frustrating to want to contact someone and not be able to find any information to do that with!
Kristi Hines recently posted..If I Knew Then What I Know Now
Or be trapped in a form web that won’t work so you can’t tell anyone it is broken.
Great post.Thanks for your sharing.I love the homepage, because it will help our reader to find out newest posts and they can take part in discussing with me.
Haley recently posted..Getting Fast Loans- What You Need To Know
Thanks for stopping by. I am always up for conversation.
Hi Stephanie,
I wanted to stop by and say “hi” to all of our 31 day challenge ladies! I love hosting this as it is such a wonderful way to meet so many ladies who each have amazing and different stories to share! I love this list post! Great idea, and it does really bother me when people don’t have contact pages… I mean how do they expect to be contacted if someone has a question? Or let’s say someone wants to make their story a “movie?” come on, i’m waiting for that one! LOL
Shelley
shelley recently posted..It’s that time… again! ProBlogger 31DBBB
Hold your breath on the movie deal, Shelley. Thanks for stopping by.
The only one I don’t have is the Hire Me page but then I haven’t considered selling my services online. That may change soon though as I’m about to set up a blog for someone and who knows, that may lead to something
Sire recently posted..How Should You Treat Your Affiliates?
I didn’t add the Hire Me tab until I started getting requests for my services and had to think about what I would charge for things. Now it is down in black and white and people can think about it before they contact me.
Hey, thanks for this! I have recently been thinking about making a new blog and this is a great starting off point for me, I’ll include everything you suggested. Is there anything else you’d recommend?
Hi Stephanie -
This list looks great! The only thing I’d add to the tabs is links to your social media sites – if you have a facebook or twitter and want people on your blog to be able to access them, they’d be great to have embedded along with the info you listed.
~Laurie