What Does Your About Page Say About You?

Your About Page is everything!  Outside of your home page (if your site has one), its the only other page where visitors can get an idea of what you offer and who you are.  If you don’t have a home page (i.e. a page before you get to the rest of your site), then you most definitely need to have a stellar about page.  If all visitors see when they land on your site are your blog posts or items from your shop, and no place to get to know you, then odds are that they subscribe or purchase your items.  People want the five W’s when they land on your site.  They want to know who you are, why you’re in business (or write), what you sell or write about, typically where you’re from (this can be by country, state, city or whatever your comfortable with, but give them some idea where you reign from), when you started doing whatever you’re doing on your site.  So I pose the question, what does your About Page say about you?  Is it accurate?  Could it be better?  Here’s a few things to keep in mind as you may be reviewing, drafting, or updating your About Page.

1. Make It Easy to Find

Link to your About Page in your navigation bar and sidebar.  Insure its super visible for visitors to locate and click through to.  The last you want is for your visitors to have to search all over your site just to learn about you or your business.  When visitors land on your site, you want them to immediately want to get to know you.  Make it easy for them to do so.

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2. Can Your Site Visitors See Who You Are?

Do you have a good quality photograph of yourself on your About Page?  You don’t necessarily need professional grade photos (although highly recommended) if you’re just starting out or don’t quite have the budget to hire a professional photographer to take headshots of your quite yet.  Having a good quality photo makes you appear more professional, which in turn tells visitors that you’re serious about what you’re doing.  When people can see that you invest in your business, they are more likely to trust and work with you.  Getting professional headshots is definitely something that’s on my to-do list, because it will really add that professional quality to my business.

Julie from Julie Harris Design has amazing headshots.  They capture her personable personality, are uber professional, and are great quality.  They are also consistent throughout her site, which adds to her very recognizable and memorable branding.

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3. Are You Telling Potential Clients the 5 W’s About You or Your Business?

Readers and clients need to know the who, what, when , where, and why about you and/or your business.  By hitting these five wickets you can create a succinct and detailed blurb about yourself or business.  Using this method also helps when you don’t know where to start when it comes to talking about yourself.  They give you an excellent jumpstart to telling visitors exactly what they should know.  From there, you can choose to add additional details that will add to the value of your About Page content.

Maya from Maya Elious has done a great job of telling you about her and her business.  She tells us what does, why she does it, and the reason for it.  She also has great headshots that show her personality, in a professional way and fun way.

4. Make It About the Visitor

Tell the visitors exactly how and why you want to help them as soon as they land on your page.  This is great if you have a service based business, because visitors immediately learn about what you do in regards to helping them.  When you make it about the visitor, it provides a way to mitigate excessive questions about what you offer, because it gives them a clear idea from the get-go.  Once they do actually contact you, visitors will be more informed and able to ask you more specific questions about your services.  In this case, you inquiries will be more serious and have a higher potential to convert into buyers.

Kiezra from VidaLuxe Studio has done a superb job of making her About Page completely about the client.  Although she discusses her core values, she discusses them in the sense of how they can help you…how she can help you.  She gives you every reason why you should work with her by being detailed, witty, and thorough.

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5. Add Some Fun Facts

Tell your visitors something about you that you feel would help garner a more personal connection.  You don’t have to get into the nitty-gritty, but allow them to learn a few things to get to know you better.  Its important that your visitors see you as a real person, so giving them a few fun or interesting facts about you accomplishes just that.  The important thing is to think through the appropriateness of what you choose to share and if it adds value to the page.

My fun things on my About Page:

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6. Put The Ball In Their Court

Open up the lines of communication on your About Page by leaving visitors with the option to reach out to you.  You want them to know that you want to connect, and that you welcome any communication that they may initiate.  This makes you appear approachable, open, and helps build relationships and community with your visitors.  If they know you’re open to communicating with them, they will be more likely to trust you and want to get to know you.

Here how I’ve done it on my About Page:

I’ve created an easy hyperlink to my contact form at the bottom of my About Page to make it easy for visitors to reach out.  I’m letting them know that I look forward to hearing from them and why.

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I also really love Erika Madden’s verbiage, from Olyvia Media, on her About Page where she invites the visitor to share their story:

She also has a nifty and well placed CTA opt-in area at the bottom of her page, making it easy for visitors to join her mailing list.  This is where I personally signed up for it myself. I haven’t seen many people do this, and I think its an absolutely brilliant idea for where to place an opt-in on your site.

About Pages are always works in progress, because they evolve as you and your brand does.  Personally, my About Page is the one area of my site that I’m always looking to improve.  The important things to consider when it comes to your page is it being professional, telling visitors what you do, letting them know how you can help them, and opening the door for connecting.  Keeping your page updated and fresh is also very important.  As things change with your blog, brand, or business insure your About Page reflects that.  Your About Page is just as important as the front page of your site, if not more.  Use this quality area of real estate on your site to benefit show the benefit you can provide to visitors while allowing them to get to know you.

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Listen to more about this topic on the Branded Bliss Podcast!

What does your About Page say about you? – Do you feel like it accurately depicts you or your business?