What Your About Page Should Be … About
“Getting to know you, getting to know all about you.” - The King and I
If you have a website, you probably have an About page (if not, you should). For people who want to get a better sense of your business, the About page is often the first stop after they enter your site.
But is your website telling people how you can help them? And is it actually telling people what you most want them to know?
Before we begin, I’ll acknowledge that there are a lot of different opinions on the perfect About page. Ours, of course, are right, but that doesn’t mean you have to agree.
What is an About Page for?
When people click on anything on your site, it’s because they want to find out more about you and how you can help them. If they click on your services page they want to know what services they can purchase from you, and get an idea of the prices. If they click on your contact page they want to get in touch. If they click on your blog, they want to see what you know, or want specific information about your offerings.
If they click on your About page, they’re asking, “what’s your deal?”
That phrase “what’s your deal?” won’t mean the same thing for everyone. But it’s always a chance to highlight how your business is uniquely situated to satisfy a potential customer’s needs. The About page is a chance to move from the curiosity created by a good home page and persuade people that there’s something about your company’s story, values, approach, or unique perspective that makes them want to do business with you.
For me personally, when I click on an about page it’s because:
I can’t figure out what the company does
Sometimes I hear a company offers something - a product, a service - that I might like. But when I go to the home page, they don’t clearly explain what they do. They say it’s “revolutionary” or a “quantum leap forward” but I find myself still not understanding what they actually do.
Your website should make it very clear what you do on the home page, but even then it’s good to give more detail in the About section.
I want to get some backstory
Sometimes to really understand a product or service it’s helpful to understand why it was created. “I have unique scheduling software” is not as helpful as “I had a specific problem, couldn’t find anything that did what I wanted, and so I created this thing that solved the problem not just for me but for you and other people like you.”
I want to know something about the people involved
There are a lot of products in this world, so knowing something about the creative force behind them is helpful. What expertise do people have? How does their unique history make them someone I should listen to? Do they share my values?
Of course, not everyone is me
When working on a client’s About page, I asked why she clicked on “About.” She said that her number one concern was learning a company’s values. So that’s what we put at the top of her About page.
Obviously, what you want on your About page is what your customers will want to know. That can be tough to figure out, but one useful approach is to consider what you personally want to see. Your ideal client is likely to be somewhat similar to you and share some similar attitudes. I’m a writer who likes to tell stories, so I like About pages that tell stories. Pearl Consulting NYC is heavily story-focused, so my ideal client, like me, wants a story.
So then, what should be on your About page?
While people may differ on what they most want from an About page, it’s safe to say these are the main points you want to hit (in whatever order speaks to you):
What you do
Why you exist
Who you are
Your values
These elements can be conveyed very differently depending on the brand voice of the company. MailChimp’s friendly, easy-going page is structurally similar to Amnesty International’s serious and inspirational one. Both convey a clear sense of purpose and expertise that tell you who they are and what they’re about.
The hard-sell About page
Some marketers, like Neil Patel, use the About page less as a way to answer a question than as a place for another sales pitch. While an About page needs to sell people on your business, I’m not a fan of hard-sell About pages. The make me suspicious and apprehensive.
For example, I read recently about an approach to the About page using “the hero’s journey.” The idea is to write an About page with this formula:
Some people have a problem.
I used to have this problem. Then I found a solution.
Buy my solution!
When I told this to Laurel she said, “you’re exaggerating.” But there was example after example of naming the client’s pain point and giving a call to action, with only a single sentence somewhere in between that lightly touched on history or biography.
Here’s why a hard sell on the About page is a terrible idea for most businesses
I said before that clicking on the About page is the equivalent of asking, “what’s your deal.” This makes it, in essence, a single-answer FAQ.
Now imagine going to an FAQ that keeps trying to sell you.
What’s your return policy?
I’ve often regretted returning items. Sure, we do have a return policy, which is 30 days for a credit, but before you go to that bother, ask yourself: “is this really the right path for me?”
When are you open?
Our hours are 9-5. You should come now. Or if you’re busy, an hour from now. Click here to add us to your datebook. Bring cash!
In my opinion, that’s a terrible FAQ. If people ask a question and you spend more time selling than answering, you’ll lose audience trust. You’ll be that used car salesman who keeps trying to steer customers to the car he wants to sell instead of the car they want to buy.
Still, I’ll admit that there is a place for the hard-sell About page. If you are selling to marketers, they will doubtless consider your approach of always selling - on every word, every line, every page - as proof of your expertise.
Which comes back to my advice above. Consider what you want to read on an About page. If the answer is, “sales copy,” then by all means, turn your About page into another sales page.
When visitors ask “what’s your deal?”, give them a great answer.
When people decide to buy something from a business, that decision is informed by not just by enthusiasm for the product but also enthusiasm for the business. It’s one reason two companies selling the same product can have vastly different results. When someone specifically asks you to tell them about your business - your story, your values, your inspiration - it’s a special opportunity to sell them on you.
Make your story compelling and they’ll want to learn more. That will get them to click on your services or contact page, moving them closer to a sale. Simply because they asked “what’s your deal” and discovered that they really, really like what you’re all about.
It can be hard coming up with the right words to explain yourself, your business, and what you can do for people. If you need help telling people who you are and why people should be throwing money at you, contact us.