How to create a resource page

If you are interested in creating useful content for your audience (and you should be), you should consider creating a resource page.

It’s the best way to gather the best product or service recommendations and promote the tools and resources you love and use in your business.

And as part of your content strategy, a resource page can add depth and value to your website.

We dive into what a resource page is, why you should create one, and how to do it, as well as examples of resource pages.

What is a resource page?

A resource page is a curated page that links to useful resources, tools, apps, products, services, media, or websites that your audience may find useful.

(You may also know this page as a “recommended tools” page, an affiliate links page, or even a branding “toolbox.”)

A resource page is a one-stop shop for finding a brand’s recommended resources, including the tools or products its people use and love in the day-to-day business of the company.

If you are a solopreneur or freelancer, your resource page can be very personal and reflect your experience. And, if you’ve built a following and an engaged audience, your resource page will be invaluable to people who trust your guidance.

There are three ways to approach a resource page:

• Use affiliate links. (This means that you and the company of the product you recommend have a deal: You earn a small commission from people who click on your affiliate link and engage with that company.)
• Connect to resources organically (because you love them and for no other reason).
• Include a combination of affiliate and organic links.

Why you should create a resource page

The first and foremost reason to create a resource page is the availability factor.

• A resource page that you curate can help your audience discover tools, websites, and resources to help them solve the problems they face.
• The resource page you create can be customized with hand-picked links that you actually use, enjoy, or get value from, and because your expert opinion matters to your audience, they’ll care about the resources you recommend.

The second reason to create a resource page is if you are involved in affiliate programs and want to maximize your income.

Including your links on a dedicated resource page in your top navigation gives your readers an easy way to find and engage with them.

But remember: never create a resource page just to get people to click on your affiliate links.

Instead, create this type of content to help your audience connect with great resources that have helped you throughout your journey in your niche.

How to create a resource page with value

Anyone can put together a list of links. To avoid the plague of thin and useless content, follow these steps to create a resource page with real value for your readers.

1. Gather links to your most trusted resources for your niche

This initial step in creating a resource page should be the easiest.

You simply need to collect a list of links to your tools, websites, products, services, etc. Favorites and most trusted that relate to what you do in your niche.

For example, if you’re a seasoned baker who posts recipes, your resource page might be filled with the baking tools you trust and use on a daily basis, like on this baking website:

Similarly, if you’re selling content marketing courses, your resources page would likely include a list of tools you use to make content marketing easier.

(Think SEO tools, content creation tools, your favorite website host, and the content calendar tool you depend on.)

Do not include any resources. Think about what would be most beneficial to your audience.

Finally, never recommend something you haven’t actually used or enjoyed. Honesty and transparency are essential to maintaining trust between you and your audience.

2. Include affiliate links? Add a disclosure

If you plan to include affiliate links on your resource page, add a clear disclosure that you may earn a commission when your visitors click on those links.

This is not only a good practice for ethics and transparency, it is also a Requirements of the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The FTC considers linking to affiliated sites without disclosure to be false advertising.

Luckily, disclosure itself doesn’t have to be a big deal. A simple and clear statement at the top of the page will suffice. Here is a great example from a photography website:

3. Describe each resource and why you included it

Now we can start beefing up your resource page with helpful content.

What will make your page useful besides the links themselves?

Useful descriptions that explain why you are recommending each product, service, tool, etc. and why they are valuable.

Here’s a good formula for describing the assets on your page:

• Introduce the product/service/tool/resource and explain what it does.
• Explain why you use it and trust it.
• List at least one way it could improve your reader’s life.

Your descriptions don’t have to be long either. You can summarize each of the above points in one or two sentences. Here is an example from Smart Passive Income:

Ultimately, this list of recommended tools is far more valuable because SPI describes how and why each tool is reliable and effective.

If they just gave you a list of links instead, you wouldn’t understand the value of any of them.

4. Organize and optimize your resource page

Again, don’t just throw a list of links on a page. Strive to organize and optimize your resource page so that the majority of visitors get the most out of it.

Particularly, organize your resources into categories and add a heading (an H2 or an H3) to each one.

For example, if you have a list of media you can use to learn more about a topic, you can categorize links by media type, such as books, podcasts, videos, blog posts, courses, and so on.

This health club, for example, has a resource page for employees and their families that includes online fitness resources categorized by workout type:

Another option: If you regularly blog about great industry resources, collect them on a resource page, like Learn to Code With Me did:

5. Link to relevant content on your site

Yes, you can include your own content on the assets page, but be careful: adding too much content can feel a bit too self-promotional.

Instead, look for ways to organically mention or link your content.

For example, this travel blog features their in-house tour company as one of the resources in the « tour companies » category.

However, the mention isn’t overtly commercial, and it looks even less so next to their other recommendations.

Another way to include your content on your resource page is to link to related blog posts.

Add these links in the descriptions of each category, such as « Want to learn more about choosing a travel company? Check out our guide. »

6. Update your resource page regularly

Next, since your resource page is essentially a page full of links, you’ll want to make sure your links are working and accurate on a regular basis.

For example, this can be an activity that you set up as part of your regular website or content control.

A quick way to check all URLs on your page for broken links is to use a broken link checker.

Finally, make sure your affiliate links are all accurate and working so that they are tracked whenever someone is referred through your page to a product.

7. Link to your resource page in your other content

Once you’ve created your resource page, link to it in your other content, including blogs and main site pages like your About Us page.

For example, a baking blog might link to its resources page whenever it talks about baking equipment. For example, “The right size mixing bowl is essential to creating this recipe. Check out my resource page to see the large bowls I use and love.

Basically, any opportunity or mention of « learn more » in a blog could link back to your resource page.

Of course, another great place to include a link to this content is right in the main menu. Learn to Code With Me does it right – its resource hub can be found in the top menu under the « Where to Learn » heading.

Those aren’t the only possibilities. Here are some other tips for linking to your resource page in your other content:

• Include a link in your site’s footer menu.
• Create a banner or call-to-action graphic to place strategically within blogs.
• Add a link to your lead magnets, ebooks or giveaways.
• Create a perpetual link for your blog’s sidebar.
• Link and promote your resource page in social media posts.

A resource page is useful content

Fix: A resource page can be useful content if you create it with the previous steps in mind.

And that matters because useful content matters to your audience as part of their overall experience of your brand. It is also important for Google, because the search engine wants to offer users content that helps them.

As you will remember, the useful contents are:

• Created with a specific audience in mind.
• It has indicators of trust and credibility.
• Includes creator skills.
• Satisfy the needs of the public.

Crafted with care, your resource page can add value to your content strategy by educating your audience and strengthening your website. And those are worthy goals.