The first problem you should address when beginning to create your company website is the purpose of the site. Is your website simply for contact info? Allowing your customers to find who, where, what you sell, and your hours available? Or maybe your website has the purpose to sell something, generate an online service, or to interact with your consumers. Discovering the purpose will assist you through what you should and should not host on your website.
If your site is for the purpose of generating revenue online and not for contact information then you will need to decide how you plan to generate that revenue. The traditional merchant model is through sales of non-digital and digital products. This is a per unit or volume price; for example, a website that sells speciality ice-cream delivered to your door (a product and service mix) will generate cash on the margin value or how much is made in profit per unit/customer purchasing on your site.
The utility model is a user "pay as you go" site and is a very common way to generate online revenue. For example, Skype enables users to place telephone calls from their computers. Access time is metered and charged to the user's Skype account, which is put onto their credit card or Paypal account. A similar but different type is the subscription model. Some businesses have users subscribe to their site for a product/service, which users pay a monthly or annual fee in exchange. An example of the subscription model is Netflix as they provide access to an online movie database. Users have the ability to watch any movie they have and at any time through Netflix.
The last popular form of generating online revenue is the advertising model. This can be measured by the number of times a visitor of your site 'clicks' on a banner ad or regular ad that leads them to a new site. The new site they are now visiting will pay you based on your clickthrough count.
This brings us to the topic of discussion, what you should and should not be putting on your website:
1. When To Use The Advertising Model
If you are not generating cash through the advertising model then it is usually more professional not to host other company ads on your page. Keeping a clean and organized site that focuses the user on your company and content will be the best way to create an online presence. Merchant models definitely shouldn't post outside advertisements on their page because the sole usage and purpose of their website is to represent their company. You do not want to confuse the consumer about your brand qualities. It would be as if you went to Nike.com and saw an ad for the McDonalds 'Big Mac'. Not only is this a distraction but the two companies do not necessarily go hand-in-hand, one is focused on sports and fitness while the other one offers fast food.
2. Intros
We have all seen them, intros to your website is not as exciting as they appear to be when you plan and create them. In most cases, the user wants to be able to enter your site with ease. An intro is like entering a construction zone on a 100km/hr highway when you are on your way to work. It's not motivating and usually doesn't even contain a lot of necessary information about your brand or site. Forbes.com often post "thoughts of the day" as an intro to their site while it is loading on your computer. They also use the advertising model, the intro will usually generate an ad for which there is a better chance they get a higher clickthrough rate. In general, skip the intro and simply put it directly onto your home or index page (the first page viewers see of your site).
3. Irrelevant Content
It is important that your website stays on topic and the content you provide users about your company should be relevant. If I am going to Bob's Bar & Grill website and see all of Bob's photos from his trip to Punta Cana posted on the home page I will be very frustrated and discredit the company all together. Your website is your online store, you need to treat it as a representation of your company. Make sure all your content is directly related to the company or its consumers.
4. Customer Information
This may seem like an obvious one, but there have been cases where a customers privacy was infringed upon through an online site. Facebook.com, and many other social mediums, allow for its users to limit how much they share and to whom they share their information. Every website should have a privacy policy and should make clear to users what information will be used, public, or distributed.
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