Your ‘About Us’ page should humanize you and your company and cultivate credibility. Here are a few simple guidelines to help improve it.
If you’re like most companies, your About Us page is one of the most visited pages on your website. Make sure it gives potential customers what they need to feel comfortable choosing you. Here are a few ideas for hitting the mark.
Start with customer needs.
Customers don’t care immediately about what you do. They care about what they receive and how you’re going to help them drive revenues, reduce expenses, or make something easier. That’s it. Tie everything back to one of those three levers in an interesting and engaging way.
Think specifics, not superlatives.
Too many About Us pages are filled with words like visionary, outstanding, world-class, leading edge, etc.
Give specific details and let your prospect or customer decide if you’re outstanding. If your business really is leading edge, talk about services or products you’ve pioneered and let the market decide if they’re leading edge.
Don’t try to be something you’re not.
Sometimes smaller companies try to overdo an About Us page in order to look bigger. Fluff is easy to detect. Genuine explanations and descriptions are always more compelling.
Be who you really are. If you’re bootstrapping, own it. Smaller can mean more personal service. Newer can mean new ideas and business models.
And if you’re a new business, just say so, and describe what you hope to achieve and how. We call this a “future” story which can be very powerful when done well.
Use real photos of you and your people.
Always use photos of real people and places. And try this: A nice hand-drawn illustration or diagram, photographed with your smartphone, can give an informal whiteboard feel to your marketing message. And there are no stock photo charges.
Never stop editing and improving.
A great About Us page should be a work in progress. Whenever you land major customers, add expertise and capabilities, or enter new markets, update your About Us page right away.
Get it done and be proud of it. It’s important.
If you’re modest, writing it may be difficult or feel too salesy. If you have a healthy self-confidence, it’s easy to go over-the-top.
Focus on facts, figures, and accomplishments. Objective information is a lot easier to write. Simply think about the needs you fulfill and the problems you solve for your customers. Then use simple terms to describe how you fulfill those needs and solve those problems.
The famous marketing truism “people buy from people” has never been more important. Transparency, candor and plain language will make you more accessible, get you noticed — and get you hired.
Photo credit: photopin zen 4
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