12 Blog Pages That Every Professional Blog Should Have

.Blog pages are an important part of your blog that is easy to overlook. When you start a new blog, most of your initial focus will be on your blog posts. You know that you need content in order to attract readers, and that is true.

However, the pages of your blog are just as important. Blog pages organize your blog’s content so that it easy to find. That not only includes blog posts but other important information from a business perspective.

In this blog post, I will reveal 12 blog pages that every professional blogger needs on his or her blog. These blog pages are critical or your blog’s success. Be ready to take notes and make changes to improve your blog with the right pages.

*This post may contain affiliate links. That means that I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through those links at no cost to you.

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Navigation

I know that all of us have visited a website and have tried to locate specific information and can’t locate that information. Personally, I encounter this problem on a regular basis when trying to contact or access legal information on a specific website.

I know from personal experience that it’s incredibly frustrating when you can’t find this information. And usually, it’s not because the information isn’t there. It’s because the navigation on the website is horrible.

The best way to help your reader find what they need is to create blog pages that link to blog posts and other important pages on your blog. This connects each page and blog post on your blog. It also helps your reader find the content they want to read fast.

The following are pages that you need on your blog in order to help your reader navigate your website with ease.

Start Here Page

I have seen more “Start Here” pages popping up on blogs. These pages are a great introduction for new readers. Start her pages provide content that is relevant to a specific topic on your blog. It also organizes in a way that makes it easy for your reader to find and consume.

For example, if your blog is about cats, you may have a “Start Here” page for new or prospective cat owners. This page would include basic information that people should know before adopting their pet.

There are two ways to organize a “Start Here” page. You can organize it by topic or in a chronological sequence.

Topical Organization

For topical organization, you would need to include a header with the subject. Next, include blog posts and pages that fall under that heading.

So for my website, I could create a “Start Here page” for new bloggers. With topical organization, I would include topics (headers) such as; Writing for Online Media, Branding, and Start Your Blog Tutorials. Under those headers, I would then link to blog posts or pages about that specific topic.

Topical organization works best when you cover a variety of topics that aren’t sortable by chronology. For example, finding your blogging voice or creating blog graphics would be topics that can be addressed at any point in starting your blogging. That makes it difficult to sort them chronologically for your audience.

Organizing your “Start Here” page by Topic makes it easy for your audience to find the content they need when they decide to work on a particular skill.

Chronological Order

For chronological sequence organization, you would need to organize the information on the page by how a person would use it. For example, on my blog, I could organize a “Start Here” page about starting a blog from scratch chronologically.

I could start off with; Step 1 – Choose a Niche, Step 2 – Choose a Name, Step 3 – Choose a Web Host, etc. This would help a beginner find the content he or she needs to move on to the next step with ease. There’s no question about what to do next since it is organized out in a way to keeps your reader on track.

A Blog Page

This goes without saying, but it’s a good idea to have a Blog page on your website that only includes blog posts and blog-related content. I highly recommend creating a subdirectory such as blog.yourwebsite.com to make it easy for your readers to go straight to your blog.

On your blog page, be sure to include sections for the most recent content and most popular content. You can even link to a “Start Here” page to help your reader out. The purpose of this page is to help your reader find your blog content fast and easy.

Archives

Older blogs can include hundreds of posts. When you include this many posts on a “Blog” page, it makes the page appear sloppy and is overwhelming. Archives organize your old content, typically by date and allow your reader to go through old blog posts to find content that they are interested in.

On lifestyle blogs, this can make your archives difficult to organize because you blog on a variety of topics. I know that I have looked for older blog posts through some blog archives and have become frustrated when the topics are all over the place.

Consider organizing your archives page by topic or category. Better yet, create category pages as an alternative for your readers to find content within a specific category.

Category Pages

I am a firm believer in creating custom category pages for each category on your blog. If you think this may be too complicated, plugins and templates make the process stress-free and run on autopilot.

One of my categories on this blog is “Blog Marketing.” I created a page using Elementor’s page builder. Then, I used a plugin to include any blog posts that fall under this specific category. That way, if I create a new blog post, it is automatically added to the page.

I do update these pages as needed and will continue to do so. However, it is well worth the effort since my readers seem to love them and use them frequently.

Homepage

Last, but not least, you need a static homepage for your blog to link to all of that content. Since your content includes more than blog posts, it’s important to use this option in your WordPress theme. Once your homepage is created, you can link to the page’s permalink in the Customizer.

On my home page, I include a banner and opt-in freebie offer, images that link to specific pages on my blog that may interest new readers, and buttons to all of the category pages. I also link to blog posts by including a static “Featured Post” and including a widget for my recent blog posts.

I also link to offsite content, such as my brand Pinterest board on Pinterest and include other useful widgets, such as a profile widget, and a search bar.

Your homepage should attempt to answer any questions that your reader may have about you or your content in a short space. Make every link count and be sure to include whitespace to prevent the page from appearing too crowded and overwhelming.

Legalese

There are three pages that every blog needs to legally protect you and your blog from legal liability, damages, and content theft. These pages are a Legal Disclaimer (or Legal Statement), Privacy Policy, and Terms of Use (or Permission Statement).

(If you would like to read more information on how to legally protect your blog, read this post.)

These pages may seem simple, but they are even more important since GDPR took effect earlier this year. They will protect you in more ways than you may realize.

Legal Disclaimer

The first legal page any blog should have is the legal disclaimer. This one page informs your reader that you are not responsible for legal damages caused by the advice you provide on your blog or the products you recommend or sell.

This page is simply a statement that limits your legal liability and should be in place from day one. If you don’t have a Legal Disclaimer or need help writing one, check out my blog post, “How to Write a Legal Disclaimer for Your Blog and Why You Need One.”

Once you have a Legal Disclaimer, be sure to create links in your blog’s menu or footer to make it easily accessible from every page on your blog. This ensures that your reader will have the opportunity to see it before they read your content, further protecting your blog.

Privacy Policy

If you have an email list or use Google Analytics or other plugins to collect any data, you must post a privacy policy. In May of this year, the European Union passed a law to further protect European citizen’s privacy. This law applies to all blogs, including those that operate in the U.S. and other countries because your readers may be located in a protected country or jurisdiction.

Essentially, it is a statement that informs your reader of the information you may collect, how it is used, where it is stored, and how long that information may be stored.

When your reader subscribes to your email list, you collect personal information from your reader in the form of an email address. Also, if you use Google Analytics or any other plugin that uses cookies to collect anonymous data for business use, you will also need to express this information in your privacy policy.

If you don’t know where to begin with GDPR or your Privacy Policy, you can check out this GDPR course and templates by Lucrezia Iapachino. I personally took the course, which includes privacy policy templates and more and can vouch for it.

Lucrezia is an attorney that practices in Europe, so she knows her stuff. In her course, she goes into an incredible amount of detail about how to make your blog GDPR compliant and breaks down the law into easily digestible chunks.

Terms of Use

An unfortunate part of publishing content on the internet is that it can easily be stolen without consent. Having duplicate content online damages your blog’s credibility. It will also negatively impact your SEO and search rankings.

Your “Terms of Use” expresses exactly how your content can be used and how it cannot be used. This makes it easier for you to have content taken down or removed to legally protect your work.

Your terms of use include topics such as how much text can be quoted from your blog without written permission, which images can be used and how, and much more.

If you come across your content somewhere where it does not belong, you can quickly contact the site owner, social media account holder, Google, or other website hosting the content and request it to be removed. Be sure to reference your terms of use when you do this.

I recommend that you start by trying to contact the person who posted the content. Cite your “Terms of Use” and try to work it out with them directly. If that doesn’t work, you can escalate the matter. Contact their web hosting service and Google.

These companies can cut off traffic and shut down the website in question. If the content is on Pinterest or social media, contact the specific platform. Provide as much detail as possible, including the offender’s username, a URL of the post, and a link to the original content on your blog.

Business Pages

One of the biggest mistakes bloggers make is that they don’t treat their blog like a business. Pages help you manage your business. They increase sales, develop a relationship with your reader, and make it easy for them to find information to get in contact with you.

About

Your about page plays a huge role in connecting with your reader and converting them into a customer. That’s why it is so important that take this opportunity to introduce your brand and connect with prospective customers.

An about page isn’t about you. If you really want to understand what you should include on your About page, check out my recent post How to Write a Killer About Page that Actually Converts. I go into quite a bit of detail about what you should (and shouldn’t) include on your About page.

When done right, your about page will greatly improve your conversion rates, email subscribers, and sales.

Contact

When I visit a professional blog, it blows my mind when I can’t find the contact page. You never know when someone may need to get in touch with you. It is critical that you provide contact credentials for them to do so. Your contact page is the best way to do this.

The best way to provide ways for your reader to contact you is to include the ways to contact you and a contact form on a contact page. That will make it easy to include this information in your menu or footer.

Your contact page should include the basics. This includes items such as an email address and the best way to get in touch. If you don’t answer your email often, state that on your contact page. Provide a better way for your reader to contact you, such as a social media page.

If you prefer to receive emails, I highly recommend using a contact form on this page. A contact form removes the extra step of a reader having to go to their email app or program to contact you. This can improve your chances of receiving communications from them.

Another benefit to a contact form is that you can use it to organize your email. For example, your reader can choose what they are writing about and it will change the subject of the email. This will help you quickly identify the emails that need immediate attention.

Landing Pages

If you sell a product or have an email opt-in, you need a landing page. Be sure that you don’t skip this step! Landing pages greatly increase your conversion rates and help answer your reader’s questions. This can drastically increase your number of email subscribers and increase your income.

Creating a landing page doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. You can either create this through a third-party website or via your blog. I often create them on my website using Elementor. To remove all of your website navigation, all you have to do is choose “Elementor Canvas” as the layout of your page.

Removing your website navigation removes all distractions from the page. To do this, it stops your blog theme from making changes to the page. This allows your reader to focus on the content on the page and greatly increases conversion rates.

I experienced the power of landing pages first-hand when I created my first opt-in freebie. My conversion rates were incredibly low. I just couldn’t seem to attract subscribers despite the fact that I had an awesome opt-in. I decided to add a landing page for my opt-in offer and suddenly my email list started growing!

Take advantage of this conversion tool and create your own landing pages for your opt-in offer and products.

Services Page

If you offer service through your blog, a services page is a must. This can be a landing page, depending on the services that you offer. However, it can also include basic information on the types of services you offer and your prices (optional).

Services that you offer from your blog can range widely, depending on your niche. For example, a blogger who blogs about blogging (like myself) could offer coaching, freelance writing, graphic design, and consulting services. If you have a craft blog, you could offer custom design and artisan services.

Your service page should be tailored to your audience and industry. It should help your reader find the information they need to determine if those services are right for them.

Don’t be afraid to include landing page components on your services page, such as testimonials. Little things like this greatly increase your conversion rates and will boost your sales dramatically.

Blog Pages Done Right

These blog pages will greatly improve your visitor’s experience and will increase conversion, email subscribers, and boost your sales. If you find this overwhelming, take it one page at a time. I guarantee that you won’t be sorry.

Did I miss anything? If you feel like a page should be added to this list, please share it in the comments below.

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