About Essentials: 10 ways to optimise your ‘About us’ page to build your brand and drive your business
This forms Part 3 of our Anatomy of a Good Website series. Catch up by reading Part 1, covering website essentials and Part 2, honing in on what makes an amazing homepage.
Let’s talk about the page that customers love but business owners often leave neglected – the ‘About us’ page. 52% of respondents in a KoMarketing study said the About page was the first place they headed after arriving on a website. That’s why for most websites, the About page is often second only to the homepage for overall pageviews.
So, why is this particular page so important for your visitors and your business?
3 ways an ‘About us’ page helps your business
Builds trust
The About page is key to building trust with your customers. This is the place where you can tell them who you are, what you stand for and how you can help them. Taking the time to be open with your readers is a crucial first step in building trust and getting them to stick around a bit longer on your site.
Humanises your brand
Unlike every other page on your site which is focused on your product or service, the About page gives you the chance to indulge a little as you tell your story. Being clear on your why, sharing your values and showing who works for you reminds your customers there is a real human behind the site (and the screen).
Creates connection
People buy from people so it’s important to give them the chance to connect with you on a human level. If they happen to share your values and beliefs, there’s a greater chance they will come to trust you. Being yourself and not trying to hide behind your brand is a crucial step in cultivating loyal brand advocates.
It’s clear that About pages matter – so why is it so hard to get them right?
The tricky thing about ‘About us’ pages
It doesn’t help that the About page plays different roles for your business – all at the same time.
Yes, it’s your chance to talk about yourself, why you started the business and why people should choose you over your competitors. But you also need to focus on your customers, their needs and how you benefit them. All the while, including relevant keywords, sharing your personality and helping customers navigate your site.
No wonder you may have given up on it – or made any number of these common ‘About us’ page mistakes.
What are the main ‘About us’ page mistakes?
- Adding a brief paragraph that doesn’t give people enough info about you or your brand
- Not including links to other pages or any calls to action (CTAs)
- Leaving out keywords and not optimising for SEO
- Omitting high-quality images about the people behind the brand
- Not indicating where the business is located
- Forgetting to target the customer and how you help them
- Not sharing your story, values or brand personality.
While these mistakes are pretty common, there are several ways you can optimise your ‘About us’ page to build your brand and drive your business.
10 ways to optimise your ‘About us’ page
Focus on your customers
Despite its name, your About page is NOT solely about you or your business. The key purpose of the page is to share your story with your audience and demonstrate WHY you are the best choice to solve their problem. While you do need to talk about yourself, ensure you connect who you are and what you do back to your audience so it’s easy for them to see how they benefit.
Roar Republic’s About page gets this balance right. Straight away you understand what they do, why they do it and how it benefits their customers – and that amazing photo ties it all together!
Include at least 300 words of copy
One of the biggest mistakes we see with About pages is a lack of copy. We get it. It’s awkward talking about yourself. But cutting corners on the length of your content is not doing you any favours with Google. Pages with less than 300 words of copy are less likely to rank well as Google considers them to be thin on content.
Think Savvy with Christine West harnesses the About page to go into more detail about Christine’s story, her background and how this shapes her business and philosophy.
Harness keywords for SEO
If your About page is the second-most visited page on your site, why not optimise it for SEO? The obvious approach is to focus on your business name to build brand awareness – but how does that help people who haven’t discovered you yet? A smarter way is to target keywords your audience will use to find your products or services, helping them find the answer to their needs!
DrugWaste International uses header text and a hero image to showcase relevant keywords upfront, which helps visitors understand what they do and how they help in an instant.
Express your personality
People buy from people and your About page is a unique opportunity to express who you are. Are you drawn to brands that are not afraid to be a little different, like Who Gives a Crap or Go-To Skincare? It’s because they are not afraid to let their personality shine through. You don’t have to be funny or clever to connect with your audience – you just need to be uniquely you! Wild Wattle Photography‘s About page captures Kirrilly’s fun personality through ‘dorky’ photos and fun facts while also allowing her to explain why capturing memories means so much to her.
Share your values
Don’t be afraid to share what you believe and value on your About page. You might worry this will alienate potential clients. But being upfront about what you value is more likely to attract leads who will gravitate to you, creating an instantaneous connection. Remember, you don’t want to attract everyone and convert no one. But you DO want to speak to your ideal client.
As a values-driven business, Butterfly Haven is not afraid to share the beliefs that are key to its philosophy on its ‘About us’ page, through visually interesting blocks of colour for emphasis.
Tell your story
Stories have been used for thousands of years to share knowledge and connect with others. It makes sense that sharing the story of your business helps take your About page to the next level. It doesn’t have to be beautifully written or imaginative. But it does need to be honest and authentic to connect with potential customers and help them see how you can help them. The story of Lumi Night Lights shows the business understands the challenges facing fellow parents and how its solution helps families find a way to all sleep easier at night.
Be clear on your location
One reason that people head to your About page is to find out where you’re located. If you’re an eCommerce owner or sole trader working from home, you might not want to share your exact location. But NOT sharing any location clues will make it hard to build trust – and means you miss out on local SEO opportunities. So, try to include at least a rough idea of where you are.Â
Thrive Wellness Hub shares its physical location on the About page to harness the power of local SEO. It also helps customers understand if they are a good fit for their wellness needs.
Add a Call to Action (CTA)
If you don’t add anything else to your About page, at least include a call to action (CTA). Think about it. If your ‘about us’ page is drawing some traffic, you want to make the most of it. CTAs aren’t always about selling something. CTAs can also be used to help people navigate your site, linking them to your products, services and to other resources to build trust and authority.
MOA Coffee Co.’s About page features several CTAs to guide visitors to learn more about their business, including a link to their shop and an invitation to subscribe to their email list.
Show off your bling
Have you won awards or received any accreditations? Do you have client logos you want to promote or past projects you want to share? Your About page is the perfect place to bring all this together to wow would-be clients. Whether you list your achievements or use visuals to get your point across, don’t miss this chance to demonstrate authority and build more trust.
Inspire Mindful Psychology uses its About page to list the experience and expertise of its psychologists, reassuring clients they are in the safe hands of fully-accredited professionals.
Section up your content
Dividing your About page into sections is a handy way to cover everything you want to share while making it easy for your readers to follow along. Start with an introductory section about your business and then choose the elements that work best for you. This can include tables, graphics, bullet points, images and more. Just don’t forget to focus on your customer!
If you have a look at our About page, you’ll find 9 sections, starting with our ‘why’ and our story before introducing our team, how we work, who we work with, our bling and a CTA.
Where do you start when optimising your ‘About us’ page?
The first step is to review what you already have and check your About page against each of these 10 elements. Work out which element is easiest to include – for many business owners, shooting for 300 words of copy is the logical starting point. You might also find it easier to start over again, using sections to hit each element and creating a more visually appealing page.
Luckily, you don’t have to tackle this process on your own!
How we can help level up your About page (AND your website!)
Experts in WordPress and Shopify website design and development, the team at Naked Digital is ready to level up your ‘About us’ page to build your brand and drive your business. As part of a complete website redesign process, we’ll deliver a beautiful, fast and functional site that ticks off all the boxes and, more importantly, brings your brand to life!
LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR WEBSITE DESIGN SERVICES
Interested in mastering copywriting for your small business? We’re ready to help! Schedule a free 30-minute chat with Desiree from Naked Digital to see how easy it can be to level up your small business with updated website design and optimised content.
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