4 Must-have Website Pages That You May Have Missed

If you are in the planning stage of building your website or have an older website that someone built for you, there’s a good chance you’ve overlooked a few key pages that are critical for your success. You probably have the core essential pages of a healthy website (Home, About, Services, and Contact), but if you want to cover all your bases, read on.

In this article, I’m going to cover the 4 pages you need to have on your website that enhance SEO, provide legal protection, and make your site a pleasure to experience.

Woman white sweater gold jewelry opening macbook laptop

4 Overlooked Website Pages That Enhance SEO and Legal Protection

Keep Users Engaged With a Custom 404 Page

A 404 Error page, a.k.a. “Page Not Found” is what you see when you try to visit a webpage that doesn't exist or can't be found. It's important for a good user experience because it helps guide visitors back to the main site instead of leaving them lost or confused.

I love a fun, on-theme 404 page that makes what could be a really frustrating experience into an engaging, helpful one. A good 404 page keeps people on your site (which helps SEO) by offering helpful links or a search option instead of them hitting the back button. You can keep your 404 page on-theme with illustrations, photos, or fun gifs and the copy on the page. Check out these fun 404 pages:

Pixar

Airbnb

Spotify

2. Express your gratitude with a Thank you page

After someone fills in your contact form, what happens? If they get a generic “Thanks for reaching out” reply, or even worse, there’s no feedback at all that the form was sent, you can do so much better!

I believe that at every point someone interacts with your business, it should be an intentional, polished experience. So why not redirect them to a thank you page after filling out your contact form (or booking an appointment) to really round out the experience?

On your thank you page you can say “thank you for inquiring”, and:

Set expectations for your response time,
Explain what they can expect next in the process,
Provide additional resources like downloads,
Offer more content to explore, like your blog or social media,

All the while strengthening your relationship with the potential client by providing a pleasant follow up after the “send” button has been pressed.

Woman scrolling through her phone on the internet

3. Control the narrative with a Social Landing Page (Linktree Page)

If you are an Instagram fiend like I am, you are likely to be familiar with this type of page. Many businesses use Linktree (or a similar service) to create a simple, one-page site where you can share all your important links with just one URL. You can then guide visitors to your website, special landing or offer pages, a sign-up form for your email list, or any other content you want to highlight.

But you don’t have to use a service like Linktree for this type of page; you can build it yourself on your Squarespace site. This way, you can maintain brand consistency and completely control the user experience that you can’t on a third-party service (and one less password to remember!).

Improve SEO with your social media landing page

Driving traffic directly to your site also enhances SEO by boosting your site's visitor count and engagement metrics. Instead of directing users to an external Linktree page, you bring them to a page that you control, which helps search engines see your site as more valuable and relevant. Additionally, it allows you to use your own domain, which strengthens your site's authority and can improve your search rankings.

When you build your own social media landing page, here are a few tips to remember:

Don’t confuse your visitors with too many links! Add in 5 links maximum, otherwise, people can get overwhelmed and may leave altogether.
You’ll want to remove the header and footer on this page so users aren’t distracted before you show them where you want them to go. There’s a handy new feature in Squarespace 7.1 where you can remove the header and footer of any page with the click of a button.
Keep it on brand. Add a photo of yourself or graphics that support your business.
Make sure it is optimized for mobile. Since most people will be clicking the link on their phone, this point is super important - you want a smooth and positive experience as users move from the social media platform to your site.
Always check your links after setting up the page - you wouldn’t want someone’s first interaction with your business to be a broken link!

Legal Pages: Essential Website Pages for Legal Safety

Privacy Policy / Terms of Use / Cookies Policy / Accessibility Page: Ok, ok, this is not just one page, but I want to include them all here. These are simple but powerful pages that could help you avoid potential lawsuits by being transparent and compliant.

Privacy Policy: This page explains to users how you collect data on your site and how you use it. If you have a contact form on your site, you are collecting data!
Terms of Use: This page sets clear rules for how people can use your website. It explains what people can and can't do when they're on your website. It helps protect the website owner and the visitors by setting clear expectations, like how to use the content, what happens if something goes wrong, and how to behave when interacting with the site.
Cookies Policy: Your site uses small pieces of data called 'cookies' to remember things about the actions users take on your site. These cookies help the website function better and personalize your experience. The page also explains how your website uses this information and how users can manage or delete these cookies if they prefer.
Accessibility Policy: In the US, you are open to lawsuits if your website is not accommodating to blind users under The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Scary! Accessibility on the web is a big topic– it touches on things like how your site is structured, the colors you use, and lots more. In general, you want to make sure that people with no or low vision can access the content of your site just as readily as people with vision. You can do a deep dive into this topic and try to make your website as accessible as possible, or you can install a paid widget that will do the work for you.

There are several services that will make your site compliant so you don’t have to worry so much about accessibility lawsuits - here are 3 options you can explore:

Legal pages such as Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, and Cookies Policy are non-negotiables these days, as they not only protect your business but also establish transparency and trust with your website visitors.

If you're working on a tight budget, you can utilize free templates to get started. I’ve listed a few sites below that are highly rated and you can explore. It's important to have your policy pages reviewed by a lawyer, as requirements vary from country to country and state to state.

Free and paid legal page templates:

Wrapping Up

Bringing it all together, ensuring your website includes these important but often-overlooked pages can provide significant benefits. By adding these pages to your website, you'll build trust with your visitors, stand out from the competition, and protect your business from legal trouble. Take the time to review your website today and see if you're missing any of these critical pages. Your users - and your future self - will be grateful!