By Lee Polevoi
Depending on who you ask, the About Us page on a business website is the “second-most” visited page, “among the top three pages” visited – certainly “one of the most-visited” pages of any company website.”
Get the point? Sadly, a lot of businesses don’t. They spend vast amounts of time, money, and resources elsewhere on the site and at the last minute slap on a brief CEO bio and the company’s mission statement.
Then they wonder why prospective customers click through and move on, without sampling all of their wonderful content.
Crafting a powerful About Us page can significantly enhance the success of your business by answering the question every first-time visitor has: “Who the heck are you and what do you do?”
Your About Us Page
A knock-out About Us page provides an opportunity to:
- Connect with people
- Set yourself apart from the competition
- Show there’s something more to you than just your product or service
With these goals in mind, here are some tips for getting the most out of this much-visited page:
Tell us a story: Every business, like every superhero, has an “origin story.” Not every story is equally dramatic or compelling, but it’s your job to make your story at least interesting.
Talk about why you started the business, the niche you sought to fill, maybe something about how life experiences guided you toward this business opportunity. As important as facts are, people sitting around the virtual campfire will respond to the passion with which you tell your story.
It’s only sort of about you: Yes, people want to learn something about your business, but what they really want to know is, What can you do for me? How can you solve my problem? Think about the questions customers usually ask during a sales call and work your answers into this page.
Don’t make yourself out to be something you’re not: There’s a fine line between reeling off impressive statistics and outright bragging—and visitors generally know it when they see it.
Describe how your product or service is uniquely qualified to benefit customers, but leave off the marketing fluff and grandiose adjectives (“visionary,” “unprecedented,” “the best thing the world has ever seen”).
Be human: Spoiler alert! People like doing business with people. Go beyond job titles and add a line or two about what makes you and your team tick. Photos are always a good idea (formal or informal, depending on the nature of your enterprise). Prospective customers need to know they’re dealing with flesh-and-blood individuals when they purchase your product or service.
One additional tip: Include each person’s Twitter handle and invite people to follow you and your team.
Throw in a call-to-action: You already have calls-to-action scattered throughout your site, so why not on the About Us page, too? Add a link or button that moves visitors to take the next step – check out your products, download a free newsletter, etc. It’s another way to keep visitors engaged, rather than wandering off to a competitor’s site.
Don’t bury the page: Remember how we established early on how many people go to the About Us page first? Imagine the frustration they feel (and remember your own frustration) when they have to scroll around a company’s home page just to find it. Always have a link to “About Us” in the main navigation bar, where no one can miss it.
Remember to keep it fresh: Your business and your career keep changing, so it makes sense to update the About Us page on a regular basis. Have you recently upgraded a product? Expanded your menu of services? Relocated your bricks-and-mortar establishment? New visitors to the page will be suitably impressed with all the activity, while loyal customers will be happy to hear about how well business is going.
What’s your secret to an irresistible About Us page?