If you’re struggling to connect with and inform potential clients, a well-written About page may provide an excellent way to do so. You’ve got an amazing company that can truly help people, and your About page can help spread that message. Focusing on good copy can build trust and foster a better understanding of your products and services. Furthermore, analytics show that the About page is the second most visited page on most sites, but, despite this, they are often hastily written and poorly maintained.
Follow these seven tips and treat your About page like the opportunity it is.
Table of Contents
Emphasize Benefits Over Features
As the proprietor of your company, you’re very excited about all of the features that make your offering special, but that’s not necessarily how customers think. If you’re finding it difficult to generate a similar level of enthusiasm from the public, it’s possible that you’re emphasizing features over benefits.
Let’s consider a bicycle. Specifications about the wheels, gears, or braking system can indeed prove persuasive, especially when dealing with sophisticated shoppers. Even more convincing, however, is content about how the customer will benefit or feel. Words and phrases like ‘safe’, ‘durable’, and ‘easy to ride’ come to mind. Features and technical information does have a place on your website, but, in high-traffic areas like your About page, it’s better to remind them how they’ll benefit from your offering.
Manage Your I’s and We’s
If your about page is full of ‘I’ and ‘we’, but lacking in ‘you’ or ‘your’, then you’re neglecting everybody’s favourite topic; themselves! This brings us to our next tip…
Make Sure Your Customer Comes First
Your customer should be the hero of your story. Use your About page to paint a picture of a customer with a problem and a company or organization that can help them solve it.
In 1949 mythologist Joseph Campbell, with inspiration from psychologist Carl Jung, published a book that really broke down the concept of the ‘hero’s journey’ in literature. Granted, your about page is not a novel, but as this article from Divvy illustrates, the same concepts can apply.
Of course, it’s not always appropriate to go over the top with this concept, but the key takeaway is that stories and benefits are proven to be more effective and inspirational than facts and features.
The hero in this blog, for example, is you, the courageous business owner who endeavours to overcome their lacklustre About page and spread their message throughout the land.
Don’t Forget to Include Yourself
While we’ve established that customer benefits should be the central focus of your About page, your company should not be left out completely. Using this section to showcase your company, staff, and mission can help you establish a personal connection with the visitor, building trust in the process. Essentially you’re writing yourself into their story. Images and information about your company are good inclusions, but resist the urge to convey your life story. Try reading your about page from the customer’s point of view and ask yourself if your attention would be held throughout.
Show Your Company Journey
What’s next for your company? What are you excited for in the present? The future? Touching upon where your company has been and where it’s going will convey longevity and stability, building confidence in the process.
Ensure that Your About Page Remains Up to Date
If your About page reads like a blast from the past, it’s time to do some maintenance. Your company is fluid and your about page should be too. Would you explain your company to a friend today the same way you would have a year ago? Ten years ago? There’s nothing worse than an about page that talks up all of your big plans for 2018.
Conclude with a Call to Action
Your About page has successfully demonstrated the value of your company, much to the excitement of the reader. Don’t waste this opportunity to convert an interested party into a customer. Conclude your About page with a call to action and a link to a services page, sign-up form, or Contact page. (Spoiler alert: that’s where this blog is going).
Next Steps
Peak Ed Designs wants to build a website that will convey all of the things that make your organization special, showing the customer just what you have to offer them. That’s why we use our intake call to learn all about your organization and your goals. We then turn these findings into a well-performing website that will help you grow your business.
I want a website that turns visitors into customers.