What information should be on a website?
Information that should be on a website by law
All businesses, e-commerce or not, must provide minimum information which should be easily accessible at
all times. Include the following somewhere on the website, like the footer, the contact page or terms
and conditions:
- The company name may be different from the trading name – e.g. "Kaydee Web is the trading name of
Kaydee Web Limited".
- Include the registered address. A P.O. BOX (post office box) will not suffice. If different to the
geographical address, also include this and differentiate between the two.
- Full details including email address, allowing fast, direct contact and effective communication. A
contact form is not sufficient.
- List the registration details, such as the company registration number.
- List the VAT number if a business has one – even if the website isn’t e-commerce.
- Display full details, including email address. Double this up with a contact form, allowing fast,
direct contact and effective communication.
- Confirm membership of trade registers available to the public and display registration numbers.
- Add any professional bodies or institutions where the business is registered.
- On e-commerce websites, prices must be unambiguous and state whether prices include tax and delivery
costs.
Limited companies
By UK law, limited companies must include on their website:
- The registered number.
- The registered office address.
- Where the company is registered (England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland).
- Make it clear it is a limited company by spelling out the company’s full name including Limited or
Ltd.
If you want to include directors’ names, you must list all names of directors.
Information that should be used for website layout
To determine the information used in a website, decipher what type of business you run.
Businesses can generally be split into three areas 'service businesses', 'merchandising businesses' and
'manufacturing businesses'.
Sometimes a business can be a combination of all three.
Use the information below to determine your type of business.
A service business sells products of no physical form.
Service businesses offer professional skills, expertise and advice.
Examples of service businesses are web designers, content copywriters, photographers, accountancy firms and coaches.
A merchandising business is a buy-and-sell business model, whereby profit is made by buying products at trade price and selling the products at a higher price. The product does not change form.
Examples are goods shops, toy shops, clothes shops and distributors.
A manufacturing business buys products and use them as materials to make a new product.
Included in the final consumer price are labour and factory overheads.
Some businesses, for example, tourist destinations, hotels and restaurants, could come under all three categories.
For example, a restaurant buys products and creates a meal from them (manufacturing), then offers waiter service (servicing) and also buys and sells drinks (merchandising).
Local or international?
Take into consideration whether you intend to sell locally, nationally or internationally. Having an idea of the businesses catchment area will help to target your content.
- Would you like to simply advertise services or products online?
- Can you sell the services or products online?
- Does the business offer services or products locally?
- Can the business sell services or products internationally?
Once you know your type of business and targeted markets, planning the company website will be
easier.
Now write down which products or services you would like to advertise or sell. Do they come in different
formats?
Pages to include on a website
A service page or product page is likely to be included on any website.
For transparency, Google likes to see an ABOUT page offering background information on the business owner or company itself.
Include a contact page with company information and contact details to make it quick and easy for users to contact you.
An FAQ page can often help an audience and provide search engine content.