Whether you've already launched
a web site and are looking to enhance it, or never launched
one before, a brochure site almost always includes
a few basic pages.
The Index (or Home) Page
is the door they come in.
It should include at a minimum navigation, contact information,
and graphics which provide a visual anchor for your business.
Top Level Pages
are the products or services
you offer, logically divided. So, for example, a sheep farm
might have "sheep for sale," "wool for sale,"
"visit our farm," and "resources."
Sub-level Pages
are "below" the
top level pages, so in our example our farm might have sub-level
pages under the "sheep for sale" pages for "ram
lambs" "ewe lambs" and "adult ewes."
Under the "wool for sale" page might be "patterns",
"spinning fleeces," "roving," and "yarns."
Sub-level pages can be subdivided again... so "yarns"
might break apart into "lace," "sport,"
and "worsted." However even though breaking
things down seems more organized, try to limit yourself
to the rule of thumb: three clicks to the sale. If people
have to drill through 6 pages to buy something from you...
they won't buy from you.
About Us
is the page generally used
to expound on your business philosophy or to introduce yourself
to potential customers. Possibly even to extol your virtues!
On a farm site it is generally listed as "Visit Our
Farm" whether or not you actually expect people to
do so live and in person.
Resources
this page is not unique to small farms... on a bed and breakfast
site this would be the "Local Attractions" or
"Events" page. But this is an integral part of
any small farm site because these are the pages
you can list for free on LookSmart's system. If
you don't want to pay to play on the search engines... provide
information and they'll let you play for free. What can
you add to your site as a "resource?"
- How to... pages. How to fence
your stock. How to knit a sock. How to build a barn. How
to wind the yarn. Sounds a little like a Dr. Seuss book!
But how to articles will serve you two ways: they'll punch
you up the search engine ladder... and they'll answer
questions before they arrive in your email box. If someone
does ask a question you've already addressed, you can
simply respond with "see our article at http://www...."
- Links to other people's how to
resources. Which, from a search engine perspective, can
have the same results... and make you friends at the same
time. Everybody loves a free link.
- You can actually make money at
this by including links to suppliers from your affiliate
relationships on your resources page. Just make sure the
links are relevant. So, for example, on our chicken resource
pages "A flock of your own," we include our
affiliate links to Lehman Brothers, ebay, and Magazine
City. Lehmans sells books on raising chickens and supplies,
ebay is a source of used equipment, and Magazine City
offers Mother Earth News at a discounted rate. All of
these links have made us a little money, a few dollars
now and then, but more importantly... they spare us from
having to answer, over and over again, email which asks
"where can I buy..." The links are right there!
Resource pages, properly designed
and written, are submitted for free to the LookSmart directory,
which is the directory MSN and other major search engines
draw from. You may NOT submit your front page, or commercial
pages to this directory without paying for them, and paying
for them adds up very quickly. Writing a few articles and
coding the pages carefully to draw traffic unobtrusively
back to your main index page is a most cost effective way
of getting into the hierarchy, without having to shell out
$300 or more in placement fees. So consider "Resources"
a must include... not a luxury item.
In addition to the traditional
pieces that make up your business, you should consider these
additional pages:
The Affiliate Page is
a little store within your site, or links to someone else's
store. Commerce and income potential... without the attending
headaches of running an e-store. Learn
More.
A Micro Store is
a tiny store powered by PayPal buttons which you manage
yourself, stocked with your own merchandise, which you will
ship out to the customers. Learn More
The "Friends" Page
is a page you can use
to promote other businesses or websites who will either
enhance your site by providing content you can't offer,
or will exchange links with you, also known as a "link
farm."
Directions to Us,
often overlooked, but seriously,
don't you want folks to actually find you?
The Guarantee is
almost never used, but look at the miles Land's End and
L.L. Bean have traveled with the "unconditional guarantee."
If you believe in your products... guarantee them. A guarantee
is a priceless piece of good public relations, and often
spells the difference between making a sale, and not.
The Contest
using your product. Sell fleece? Have a contest for the
best handspun using your fleece with bragging rights and
a small prize. Punch up your site with lamb recipes by having
a contest. You can make a contest out of almost anything,
just make the rules clear and fair, and run the show clean.
Feeling comfortable? If you're
not, you're not alone. It is difficult to imaging breaking
your business apart into little boxes and stacking them
back together in any cohesive order. So to make it a little
easier for you, we've designed a worksheet.
Sit down with a nice cup
of coffee, and sketch out your ideas.
And.. at this point, I should say
something about design. There are as many ways to manipulate
and display graphics as there are web designers. And there
are as many ways to present information as there are imaginations.
Please visit our portfolio
where we discuss different options in detail.
Plug
into the Commission
Junction network, make money on your site.
brochure sites 
Welcome
to OrbWeaver's Business Resource Lab