How to Write a Killer About Us Page

how-to-write-about-page
Spread the love

I was talking to a friend of mine as he was working on making changes to the ‘About’ page on his website. He commented, “I don’t know why I put so much effort into this, I bet no one reads it anyways”. I’ll confess that I often think the same thing. When I think about my own browsing habits, when I find something I’m looking for, I’m not real concerned about reading a press release type of article about the company history and other boring information. The questions forefront in my mind are, “Do they have what I want?” and “What’s it going to cost me?” So, is putting time and energy into an about page even worth it? If done correctly, It’s an important part of your website strategy.

What to Include in Your About Page

I know that writing your about page can be one of the most difficult parts of writing your website content.  It’s so easy for your head to start spinning with ideas and thoughts about company history, important points you want to communicate and more.

Like other pages on your site, your about page needs to be broken down into sections. People naturally scan through content, so it’s important to think of this page in the same manner.

For the quick reader, here is a partial list of things you may want to include on your about page:

  • Mission Statement
  • Your Purpose
  • Company Core Values
  • Personal Bio
  • Testimonials
  • Awards / Recognition
  • Team Photos

In order to really make your ‘About’ page effective, I believe it needs to go beyond the above list. However, some of the items listed can be a good place to start if you’re feeling stuck.

How to Make it a Killer About Page

To bring your about page to the next level, I recommend a different approach to take it to total ‘killer’ status. Here are some suggestions:

Start with a headline

Using a client focused headline or value proposition is a great way to grab the readers attention and remove the dull ‘About Us’ title at the top of the page. Here are a few headline ideas.

“Celebrating 15 Years of Web Design & Development Experts” — Orbit Media

“Artists Who Just Happen to Use Video Equipment” — FortyOneTwenty

“Mans Best Friend” — Bull Dog Skin Care

Feel free to be creative, even unexpected when writing your headline. The headline should be something that relates to your product or service. Think about what you really want to communicate to your target audience – What do you want them to know most about you or your company?

Mission, Purpose & Core Values

If you choose the root of including your mission, purpose & core values, ensure that they are short. Your mission and purpose should be one short line that’s easy to remember. Our company mission for example is “Be Your Online Hero”

Your core values should be ideally one word each. How to construct your core values is a whole other blog post, but to keep it simple, you should have 3 – 4 core values, one word each and a short description for each.

Satisfy Your Visitors Desires

If I’m truly interested in what a website is offering, I’ll want to know more about them. What makes a great about page for me is one that focuses on me and not the usual company information. Your landing pages serve to provide features and benefits of the product or service you’re offering. In contrast, your about page is a landing page that provides features and benefits about your company.

One of the best examples of an about page I’ve come across is conversionxl.com

Besides how it’s written, take a closer look at the structure of the content. It has a heading, a sub-heading, it validates who their target market is. It also is clear about what they do, and how they do it.

Further down the page outside of the screenshot is a personal bio. It’s written in a personal tone that helps endear the reader to him, and clearly displays his passion for what he does.

Include Calls to Action

When thinking about the layout for your homepage or any services page on your website it’s natural to include a button – A button asking the visitor to do something. Why is then that when it comes to the about page the process stops? Having examined a lot of websites I notice that most peoples about pages are a dead end street. Other then the main navigation there isn’t really any buttons or links to the about page, and then when I get there, there’s nowhere else to go. I get to the bottom of the page and… nothing!

After someone consumes your about page content, what do you want them to do?

Your about page is good place to get people to connect with you more directly. I think one over-arching goal of the about page is to foster connections and build relationships. What better way to do that than to invite them, no wait… Tell Them to follow you on your dominate social media channel.

ConversionXL in the example above does a great job of this by placing the following on the bottom of the page

“You Should Follow me On Twitter Here: @peeplaja”

Notice that it wasn’t a social icon, or a row of social icons? I think many people of seen the standard social icons far too often that in situation such as this I can see how using a text link, or even if it was a standard button, would work so much better.

Another option relating to social links here is to get people to join your Facebook page to get quick and fast updates.

Regardless of your choice here, the goal is the same, leverage the opportunity for your visitors to connect with you in a more personal way.

Conclusion:

Writing a killer about page takes a bit of though and planning. The key is to be client focused while maintaining a personal tone endearing your readers to help create that connection with them. I encourage you to step away from the typical company information and move towards how your visitors will benefit from working with your company.


Spread the love

Discover How to Turn More

Visitors Into Customers

Hey, my name is Randy and I want to help you improve your websites conversion rate.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

About Street Smart Creative

We help businesses of all sizes build websites that turn more visitors into leads and customers.

Click here to find out more about our web design services

vancouver web design, randy ldueck

Randy Dueck | Founder Street Smart Creative