Want an awesome About Us page? Here's how
I met up with a good friend last week who has bought a business and is now facing the challenge of creating an About Us page that genuinely engages his target audience.
About Us pages (aka Our Story / About) are one of the most visited pages on any website, yet few people are as invested as my friend, choosing to just copy and paste a generic description that gives little insight into who you are and why you started the business — two key items that may well be the only distinguishing factor between you and your competition.
As I told my friend, it's all down to understanding who your audience is and what they most want to know.
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Want to create a more engaging About Us page for your business? Here's my five top tips:
1. Tell me something I don't know
In addition to consulting, I've also been a published writer since 2002 (Monocle, The Design Files, Cool Hunting, Russh, The Age, Refinery29, etc). One of the quickest ways I'll investigate whether a brand is worth writing about, is by looking at their About Us page.
When it's all third-person, says nothing new and relays little about the founder/team behind the brand, it's an immediate turn-off.
If I'm coming to your About Us page, chances are I already know what your business is (i.e., products/services offered) — now I want to know who YOU are and WHY the business exists. My wants, as a writer, mirror those of your potential customers. If I'm going to trade my money for what you sell, I want to know more.
2. Think Mickey Mouse ears
I've taken one of the slides I use in many of my workshops and created this PDF for you. These Mickey Mouse ears outline the three main focus areas for your About Us page with the size of the circles equating to their value/importance. Use this diagram as a ratio guide when figuring how to stack information about what your business does, who's behind the business and why you do it.
3. Include a Call to Action
Have you read Don't Make Me Think (the UX bible by Steve Krug)? The crux of Krug's message is to gently guide your audience to whatever you'd like them to do next. On your About Us page you should always include a Call To Action (just as you should on any other page!).
The CTA may be guiding them to your latest collection, to behind-the-scenes blog/video content, to contact you by email or DM on social, to main product categories or to subscribe to your email.
(If you choose the latter ensure you set up a separate list for these email addresses. People who sign up on the About Us page are generally highly engaged with the brand and may well want to hear from you more frequently that other capture avenues (such as opt-ins and event attendees lists).)
4. Don't set and forget
You've ticked 1, 2 and 3 above and now you're done, right?
Sorry, my friend...
As with any online content, you can always improve it. Don't just "set and forget" your About Us page. Instead, consider a quarterly or half-yearly update — whether that's adding new imagery, amending text following SEO research or giving an update on how you feel now the business has been running for X months/years. Add these check-in markers into your marketing calendar/diary and set aside time to review and re-work.
5. Consider new content types
Not great with words? Hate that one #profesh photo you have? Why not consider utilising video for your About Us page or even an interactive infographic? This not only engages your audience but may well be just what YOU need to get inspired about this page again. (Tip: need a videographer? Check out the 90 Seconds platform (thanks KD!).)
As one of the most visited pages on any website, your About Us page deserves attention. Set aside time in your marketing calendar to brainstorm, mood board, create and analyse your About Us page.
Need some more inspo? Check out great examples of About Us pages at Tomboyx, Thank You, Moz, Intelligent Change, Everlane, Warby Parker and Yellow Leaf Hammocks.
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