About Page: BLAH to BOOYAH!

Your About Us page is one of the most important and visited pages on your website.

People that land on this page are your most engaged audience, because they actually want to learn more about you and what you offer.

They didn’t land on About Us page by accident and it wasn’t their entry point to your site. It was their intent to click on it after you’ve impressed them with something on either your home page, your blog or any other place populated with great content that they were searching for.

So if About Us page is so important to any business and its clients, why is it often one of the most overlooked, poorly written and not overly engaging pages for many business websites?

Why a lot of About Us pages suck?

Well, the answer is not everyone knows what a great About Us page looks like and what content it has to have in order to truly connect with your audience. So you end up with a page that resembles other About Us pages of businesses in your competitive space. And those are typically dry, corporate-sounding, not very creative or memorable, not easily digestible, and just kind of blah.

So how do you go from blah to booyah About Us page?

The truth is, there is no template for a great About Us page, but certainly there are things that your audience wants to see on this page. And what’s equally important is how you present this information in a way that your About Us page sells your product or service, cuts through the sea of other similar businesses, impresses the hell out of your website visitors, and makes people want to work with you.

 

Don’t be all me me me. Talk about your customers’ needs, not your offers.

Start with your customer, more specifically with your customer’s needs. People care less about what your company does and more about what your product or service can do for them, how it can help their problems, what value it can bring, and how it can improve their lives.

Many businesses make the mistake of talking about their products and services using buzzwords and industry terms. But in doing so, they fail to connect to their audience and earn their trust. While the big words might sounds impressive, they don’t really resonate with customers’ true needs.

“We have award winning strategies, hardworking team, and most astonishing services in the fields of website design, web development, E-commerce and online marketing. We are a result-driven & goal-oriented digital agency that has been recognized many times for its exceptional services in the fields of E-commerce, web design, web development and online marketing. We work for our client’s satisfaction and awards motivate us” is a lot of words that don’t really say anything specific in terms of what the company actually does and how their solutions help their clients.

This, on the other hand is a less brag-gy and more customer-oriented About Us page description: “We are always-on marketing platform for small businesses. We make innovative, beautiful products that empower those businesses to find more customers. We were designed as an alternative to the oversized, expensive email software of the early 2000s. It gave small business owners who lacked the high-end tools and resources of their larger competitors access to technology that empowered them and helped them grow.”

 

Be human. Use conversational tone, not corporate-speak.

Let me just say it. Corporate tone is boring. It’s formal, dry, and stiff. You’ve seen one About Us page, written in this tone, you’ve seen them all.

Whoever clicked on your About Us page has an interest in learning about you. They are curious to get to know who you are, what knowledge and expertise you have, and why they should pick you over others. The tone that you choose for this page is important. It’ll let your audience know whether they’ll feel comfortable connecting and working with you.

Use a conversation tone because it’s more natural and authentic. It lets people know that you are a human speaking to humans. It’ll give your brand a voice, a face, and a personality.

To make it easier, try addressing one specific individual, rather than a group of people. A person reading this will feel that you are approachable and relatable, which are so important when it comes to fostering a relationship and developing trust.

 

Time for Show and Tell. Tell a story about your brand.

Everyone loves a good story. Even if you don’t think you have one, or yours is a simple and uneventful one, giving your audience a glimpse into how your company came into existence is interesting and memorable. And About Us page is a perfect place for it.

Stories evoke an emotional response in people, and according to Siege media, it’s a proven approach to increase customers’ intent to purchase, which is really your goal.

When writing About Us page using storytelling, think about what got you to where you are today. What steps have you taken to get here, challenges you faced and milestones you’ve accomplished. Take your customer on a journey of your life.

Maybe you have resigned from a corporate job because you realized that you heart was in selling art or baking cupcakes. Or maybe it wasn’t as dramatic and you simply saw a lucrative opportunity and decided to take it. Or perhaps you realized that you have a skill or a product that no one else has, and decided to launch your business based on that. Whatever it is, telling your story on About Us page will help your clients get to know you a little better and make it feel like a personal experience.

 

What’s so special about you? Include your brand’s Unique Value Proposition.

Your About Us page is a great place to tell your audience about your brand’s unique value proposition. Your value proposition is the number one reason that sets you apart from your competitors. It could be the uniqueness of the product itself, or the value it contributes to your customers. It could be a competitive price, a try before you buy offer, or a generous refund policy. Whatever it is, it has to be short, simple and compelling.

Many companies not only lack a unique value proposition statement on their About Us pages, but they are not even sure what their value proposition is. They know they have a great product or service, and they can easily describe the benefits of the product, but they fail to determine that one single thing that’s so special that it sets them apart from the rest of the world.

Quicksprout does a great job at explaining how to write a great value proposition in a simple to understand visual infographic, in case you don’t have one.

Essentially, a great value proposition statement should be short and concise, target a specific audience, clearly articulate the value it brings, and explain why it is different from other similar products or services.

Once you are clear on what your value proposition is, include it front and center on your About Us page, so it captures your audience’s attention immediately and makes your About Us page go from blah to booyah!