Essential elements of an About Us page
Back Posted on 26 Jan 2014
Your About page is not about your company, how long you've been in business and your products. It's an opportunity to tell prospective clients how you solve their problem.
People find themselves on your website because they have a problem that needs solved. What problems do you solve for your clients?
Don't be that guy at the party who only talks about himself and takes no interest in others. Anyone who gets cornered by him just wants to get away. As quick as possible.
You should talk about the problems your prospective client's face. Show that you understand and explain how you solve these problems. Tell your prospects how happy they will feel when they've worked with your and the problem is gone.
Concentrating on yourself and your products is dry and uninspiring. Writing about your clients grabs their attention and makes them feel like you understand them. You will solve their problem.
Writing a page about what you do sounds simple enough but it's all too easy to throw something together quickly and miss out on a good opportunity to better engage with visitors.
The About page is one of the key steps in the process to secure new business through your website. Once a visitor is satisfied that you provide the product or service they need the next step is to find out more about the company behind it.
Common Mistakes
Copyblogger identify 7 common About page mistakes in their aricle Are You Making These 7 Mistakes with Your About Page?
1 You didn't create an About page
This is a key opportunity to convert a visitor into a customer. After identifying that you provide the required product/service you need an About page to show that you are the type of business you customer can identify with and will enjoy working with.
2 The About page does not include the names of the key people in the organisation
This is the start of building a personal relationship, all introductions start with sharing your name. In some cases it is appropriate to include a small personal detail about each team member:
Steve Smith, Head of Operations
Steve likes to get round at least 9 holes at the golf course early on Saturday morning before taking the kids to football practice.
3 No photo of you or the team
Everyone likes to be able to put a face to the name but don't use awkward school yearbook style headshots and make sure you spend more than a minute planning your photoshoot. Plants growing out of heads is not cool and definitely make sure you can't see the internal targets board in the background.
CFH Clearing got it right introducing you to their key players up front in a corporate style that suits their market - even the VP who doesn't seem too keen on having his picture taken got in there.
4 The text is dry and uninspiring
I don't want to see corporate speak, tech jargon or your life story since you left school. Tell me how you can help me and what makes you different from the rest.
5 Using only video
It's rare that I see any video on About pages but the sentiment is correct. If you don't provide a text transcript you've lost me, I'm not hanging around for 5 minutes to watch your video but others may so it is an option. Do what you can to cater for your audience.
6 There is too much text
Keep it to the point, the About page is there to show visitors that your products, knowledge and experience are a good fit for their requirements. This can be done in a few short paragraphs.
7 You only talk about yourself
On typical About pages companies talk about themselves but think what would happen if you did that in a social situation. You're not going to pick up new friends if you are only interested in yourself. Talk about the problems you can solve, the value you can add and what your customer is interested in.
Who has a good About page?
Copyblogger are in the business of writing copy so you know their About page is going to tick all the boxes. Simo Ahava introduces himself quickly and concisely, tells the reader what he can do for them with a clear call to action of making contact through several channels including Google+.My favourite one of my clients has put together is Custom Sight & Sound's About page.
Need more inspiration? Check out bestaboutpages.com and go wild.
Bonus tip
The About page is not the most important page on your website yet traditionally the navigation structure of many websites started:
- Home
- About Us
I don't want to know details about you until I've established that you offer the product/service I am looking for and you're on my shortlist of potential providers. Make it easier for visitors by structuring your website in a logical order:
- Home
- Products
- News
- About Us
- Contact Us
Ps. I know at the time of writing I missed out #3 myself but I much prefer being on the other side of the lens. I'll get to it though.
Updated 26 April 2014 and 29 January 215