Website text

In this post, I will give you three tips for an effective About page.

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

For prospective clients or customers who already know you, your About page may not matter that much.

However, for prospective clients or customers who do not know you, or who do not know you very well, that is one of the first places they will look for information.

As we do more and more of our business online, we interact more with prospective clients and customers who do not know us in the offline world, and who have only come across us through online channels. Perhaps they found you through a Google search, or through an advert you had placed somewhere on the internet.

So right now, your would-be client or customer is on your website, and several questions are running through her mind. These could be:

• Who are you?
• What do you really do?
• Can I trust you with my money?
• Can I trust you to deliver the products or services?

Ideally, she will want all the answers in one place, to save her going up and down your website, looking for answers.

And that’s where your About page comes in.

Here are three tips for an effective About page:

(1) It must spell out who you are, and what exactly you do

Do this in plain, simple language. Don’t be tempted to use high-sounding technical language. This will very likely put off your visitor. Use very clear language.

Keep this part short. Provide enough information so that your would-be client or customer can gets a general idea of your business. If you have a separate page setting out your products and services, you can include a link to that page.

(2) It must inspire confidence

Your About page must show your would-be customer that you know what you are talking about, and that therefore he can trust you with his money, and also to deliver the products and services.

So how do you do that?

You refer to your expertise and experience.

For example, if you have so many years’ experience in your area of business, mention this fact.

Certain professionals are required to become members of a professional supervisory body. For example, membership of a chartered institute. If this is relevant to your business, and you are a member of such a body, mention this fact.

If it is relevant to your business to mention the names of some of the key clients that you have worked with, also mention that. But a word of caution here: this is not helpful every time. Also, depending on your line of business, be mindful about confidentiality.

(3) It must invite further interaction

Don’t stop at providing the above information. Invite your visitor to further interaction with you. You can do this by including a contact form at the bottom of the page.

This is important for at least two reasons.

First, an About page cannot possibly cover everything. Your visitor might still have some questions. Give him the opportunity to enquire further.

Second, some visitors want to see a sign that personal interaction is welcome. Call it a psychological bias, but some visitors prefer to interact with a real human being before ordering something off a website. By including a contact form on your About page (as well as anywhere else it could be relevant), you increase your chances of interacting with your visitors, and, ultimately, earning their trust.

Conclusion

Your About page is one of the most important parts of your website. Pay special attention to it, and make sure it answers the questions that are uppermost in any visitor’s mind.

As a matter of good practice, you should review your About page periodically. Things change very quickly in business, and, chances are, whatever you wrote on your About page several months ago might not be so current today. I would advise reviewing your About page once every six months.

What do you currently have on your About page? Do you have any tips to share for a powerful About page? Let us know in the comments.