How to write your ‘about us’ page
1st March 2021
When it comes to writing an ‘about us’ page for your website, you need to bear in mind it actually should be more about your audience than yourself. Confusing we know, since it’s called an ‘about us’ page.
You’re right in thinking it’s a little bit about you. This page needs to tell your story, where and why you started and where you’re going, but it’s also about why that makes you a viable option to your customer. You may have started ten years ago because nobody else in the market was offering this solution and you were frustrated, but you need to highlight why this solution benefits the consumer.
Your 'about us' page checklist
1. Friendly and professional opening line in the right tone
If you’re a comedy company, it needs to be fun. If you’re a family lawyer, the sentence needs to be professional and trustworthy, but also make you sound easy to work with. Hook your customer quickly.
2. Location
Mention your location to help customers relate. If you have offices in the UK and US or Madrid and London, tell them. If you only work with clients in Hertfordshire and London, explain that briefly. It’s good for SEO value too.
3. Why you started
This can be incorporated into the first sentence or paragraph, but it needs to benefit the reader. If you set up your company because you were fed up of not finding well-fitting bras for curvy women, or you thought all socks on the market were too boring and overly expensive, say that. Perhaps when you hired your lawyer/accountant/cleaner you found it difficult to find someone approachable, so changed your own business model to reflect that. Whatever it is, explain it. Why does it make you the best solution to the problem?
4. A picture
Put a face to a name. A team snap is a great way to bring a personal edge to a brand.
A relaxed photo of staff captioned ‘this is the happy team who spend hours finding and testing beauty products to bring you the best on the market,’ is a great way of engaging your audience and gently selling.
If your business is family run, get a snap of you and your spouse/siblings and make that clear.
This image of our Dee paints the perfect picture of why we love having her on our it'seeze Stevenage team. Especially if you move your mouse over it!
5. USP
Why you started should feed into your USP. Do you offer a service that can be tailored to smaller budgets like us at it'seeze? Our USP is that we believe everybody deserves a great website, whatever your budget. Or, are your gym tops eco-friendly? Are all your products hand-crafted locally in the UK? Or perhaps your just rigorously taste test all your coffee and reject 98% of it on flavour alone. This will help you stand out from the crowd.
6. Giving back
You might have started your business selling palm-oil free products because you wanted to save the gorillas - tell your audience that. Perhaps your business doesn’t use eco-friendly materials, so to make up for it, you plant a tree once a week or fund research into making these materials sustainable. It doesn’t need to be directly related to your business either. Your staff help out at a homeless shelter at Christmas? Say it. The ‘about us’ page is all about connecting positively to potential customers and instilling faith that you’re the type of company they want to deal with.
7. Your vision
This vision might feed into your USP or how you give back. If you’re the company with palm-oil free products, your mission may be to save ten gorillas each year. People buying your products leads to less forests being chopped down, so less gorillas are left for dead. If you’re an all-female law firm that set up because you feel women are underrepresented in the sector, your target customers will likely be female too. Use your staff roster as a way to plug your services to ladies and give them the confidence to contact you. If you have a USP, own it and explain how it will help.
8. Testimonials
You could include a quote from a previous customer that confirms what you’ve described on your ‘about us’ page. Customers would prefer to hear corroboration from other clients, to prove you’re not all talk.
9. Call to action (CTA)
Don’t end your page on a bum note. After all your hard work explaining how much your business could help, you need to direct potential customers onwards. Ask them to sign up to your monthly newsletter which will keep them informed of your great charitable work, as well as new products and discounts. Alternatively, steer them subtly to your services page with the CTA: ‘see more of what we do’. Or, encourage people to read your blogs offering free tips. Don’t hard sell, but lead them around your site. The longer they stay, the more likely they’ll buy into your brand.
10. Be short and snappy
Admittedly, there is a lot you can include on this page, but pulling out one key message for each of the above points will keep the word count down. Nobody will read your 2000 word long ‘about us’ page. 500 words is ideal.
The don'ts of your 'about us' page
The ‘about us’ page aims to build a rapport with your target customer, so don’t sell too hard because it’ll cut the emotional connection and make you sound like a dodgy salesman. To prevent this, don’t over exaggerate or use words that can’t be substantiated. Words like ‘amazing’ and ‘fantastic’ aren’t personal or easy to prove. In contrast, ‘knowledgable’ can be corroborated, provided it comes with a sentence that explains how long you’ve worked in the sector and how your expertise helped previous clients.
Writing in the first person is also key to your ‘about us’ page as it’s relatable. The words ‘we’ and ‘I’ are key to building a connection and sounding more genuine. ’You’ is another important word here. Using generic sentences like ‘we help customers’ or ‘we help people’ is not as powerful as ‘we’ll help you’. Talk directly to the consumer.
Jo Ciriani from Spaghetti Agency often talks about the value of a well written 'about us' page.
"Your 'about us' page is one of the most important pages on your website, so don't neglect it" says Jo.
"Tell your story and show your personality, remembering that it needs to focus on how you will help your reader."
Equally, it’s not all about words - design is key. A good website designer will know how to make you stand out in a crowded sector. If you’re a fun company with a playful ethos, web designers like us at it'seeze will come up with a great way to reflect that, just as a copywriter would with words. It's always worth considering a professional copywriter if you need help.
The two work hand in hand, coming up with copy and a design that fit your brand’s personality.
Need Help?
At it'seeze Website Design, you're never alone. If you want help updating your website, let's arrange a website review. We can make content suggestions, provide training, and help make sure that your website never gets stagnant.
Just contact us to get the ball rolling.
Tagged as: best practices, Content
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