August 25, 2020
The two most visited pages of any website are the Home and About pages.
It’s obvious why Home is visited more frequently than any other page, after all, it’s the landing page, the address you put on all your marketing and the first place you tell visitors about what you do.
Your About page is just as important, however. It’s where visitors go to discover who you are and why they should do business with you.
It’s actually not really about YOU at all, like every other page on your business site it should be aimed at giving customers the confidence to buy from you.
Yes! You need an About Page for three reasons:
If you’re creating a one-page site with us, the About section is just as important. It’s your opportunity to prove your credentials, to give potential customers reassurance you are good at what you do and to provide great reasons why they should do business with you.
However many businesses struggle more with writing their About page than they do with any other page on their site. Some people get so stressed about their About page that they can’t even bring themselves to create one. Don’t make that mistake.
Some of the biggest obstacles to writing an About page are:
If you’re stressed about your About page, you are overthinking it. You can write a killer About page for your business by simply answering one question:
The About page is for customers, it’s not really about you at all but about why customers should use you for whatever service you provide.
Don’t be mistaken into thinking it’s the place to share your journey so it’s not an excuse to write an essay about how you went from a university drop out to the owner of a plumbing empire or to share your love of cats, stand up paddleboarding and wildlife photography; save that for your personal social media.
There is nothing wrong with being proud of what you do, but it’s not the place for hype, just be honest. Customers love and respect honesty.
This is the place where you explain your qualifications and your unique selling proposition. You need to show a potential customer that you are the logical choice to solve their problem.
You should stick to the facts on your About Page, but you need to present those facts in a customer-friendly way.
Have you ever bought or rented a house? The first thing you did was open every door and have a proper look in each room. Why?
Because if there’s a room with damp in the corner, peeling wallpaper and mould growing up the walls, it’s a big clanging alarm bell.
Potential customers are coming to your About Page to open every door. They want to see if you have the right qualifications and attitude to help them with their problem, so make sure everything you say is honest and truthful.
Don’t be tempted to plaster over the cracks!!
A great About Page is:
You want to write in a way that explains why you are the best one to help the customer. The copy doesn’t need to be long. A good About Page is often only 250 to 500-words, with 350 words being the sweet spot for most companies.
Customers will want to deal with you if they like and trust you, so on your About Page you do need to show something of your personality, otherwise, it can be really dry and un-engaging, however, it should enhance your professional reputation not detract in any way.
A great About Page will use the words “you” and “your” more than it uses the words “I”, “we”, “my”, or “our”. You need to demonstrate how all of your business’s strengths work for the customer.
As with everything you write aimed at customers think their thoughts – so if you write about a feature for example: “I’m a member of the Chartered Institute of Plumbers.” – think, what does that mean for the reader? So you could put “My qualifications have been endorsed by the Chartered Institute of Plumbers the UK’s leading trade body so you can be assured you’ll always get a thoroughly professional job.”
Think about what your customer needs to know before hiring you. If you have a lot of experience, you want to communicate that. If you have a particular certification that will matter to the client, you need to mention it.
Even if your customers don’t care about credentials, they do care about your competency. Credentials are one way to show competency. Another way to explain how much experience you have.
If you are new to an industry and don’t have any credentials or experience, you will need to get creative with how you can demonstrate competency. But, there is always a way.
Why are you in business? Explaining that you have a passion for helping your customers and tying that passion into your experience and expertise makes it easier for people to want to buy from you.
If your About Page is exactly like everyone else in your industry, you have a poor About Page! It needs to be unique.
For example, if you’re in the beauty industry and only use ethically sourced products, tell people why you do that, allow your passion to come over, show people why you care and why they should too. It’s the thing that gets potential customers excited and wanting to work with you.
Your About Page is the perfect place to tell a short story about how you helped a customer or about an experience that shaped your business’s philosophy.
While the most effective About Pages tend to be no more than 500-words, you can break this rule if your About Page is exceptionally interesting.
We all love stories. A great story will stick with a potential customer longer than a bullet point list of your diplomas and certifications.
Why does your business have a website? Hopefully, it’s because you want to make more money.
The last thing on your About Page should be an invitation to take the next step. It can be to call for a free quote, to complete a form for more information, or a request to buy now.
If your About Page has done a good job of explaining why you’re the right one to solve their problem, they will be ready to take the next step. Make it easy for them to know what to do.
This call to action doesn’t need to be pushy or flashy. You don’t need arrows or a flashing box. But, if you fail to ask for the sale, you probably won’t make the sale.
One of the problems many business sites have is that they are static, once built the owner never looks at them again. This is a bad idea.
A good website needs to be dynamic, it should be updated regularly. Firstly its good for your SEO but more importantly it shows you are interested in your own business. No business is static, new products or services are launched, new stories are written. Remember to review and rewrite your About Page regularly.
If you already have a site read your About Page. Is it like a Wikipedia entry? If so, you need to rewrite it so that it becomes a powerful, persuasive argument why your business is the only logical solution for your customers.
If you don’t have an About Page, write one today! A bad About Page is much better for your business than not having any About Page.
Finally remember you’re in business for a reason, use your About Page to show your customers just how good you are.
