Your About Page is one, if not the most, important page on your website. It’s where your readers go to make sure a legit person and see if you can do all the things you say you can. It’s like the modern CV, but with way more personality.
A lot of my clients struggle to write their About Page. And most of the time it’s because they hate writing about themselves and think they have nothing interesting to say (so they end up saying everything). But I’m going to share a little secret: Your About Page isn’t actually about you. I know, crazy right?
Your About Page is all about your reader. The purpose is to answer your readers’ questions about you, your business, and more importantly to confirm you understand their problem and have a solution.
This means you don’t need to spend time and effort trying to craft a witty backstory about the city you were born in, how many cats you have, where you buy your clothes and every job you’ve ever had. This is where most About Pages fall down. They turn into an autobiography. And let’s be honest, no one has time for that.
Remember your About Page is your online CV, so only share relevant information that sells who you are right now and what you can offer. But unlike a CV you should always include a picture, or two. It helps if people can put a face to the name.
Here are my five tips for writing a readworthy About Page
- Identify your reader
Let your readers know you get who they are, what they’re struggling with right now, and where they could be in the future. If you’ve been in their shoes (which you probably have) tell them.
- Position your business
Explain to your readers what your business is about and how you can help them get to where they want to be. Use this opportunity to describe how you work. Layout your processes, timelines and resources you use. And don’t forget to mention what you don’t do – like accept payment plans.
- Tell your backstory
This is the place where you can let your personality really shine! Don’t be afraid to add fun facts about yourself alongside sharing any certifications you have (university degrees, professional training, portfolio, and so on) and the short version of how you got to where you are now.
The idea here is to build credibility and trust with your reader. They want to know you’re a real person who they can speak with and has the expertise they need. Don’t go overboard on the random facts (we don’t care what you ate for breakfast) or the credentials (you’re not Einstein). Think about what would be relevant to your reader and how you can stand out from the crowd.
- Show you have street cred
It never hurts to splash testimonials around the page. The best testimonials are the ones that talk about you as a person, your process and how you helped your client solve their problem.
Also, choose testimonials that showcase your ‘ideal’ client. That way new readers will either be able to identify themselves as a perfect fit or self-select out – which is what you want! You don’t want to be spending time on people that aren’t that into you.
- Tell your reader what to do next
Do you want them to call you? Email you? Sign up for your newsletter? Make it really clear and easy for your reader to take the next step. You can also point to your social media accounts, previous writing examples, and so on.
You want your reader to make a deeper connection with you then and there. Because chances are, if they click away without signing up for your updates they will forget about you and you don’t want this to happen.
What do you struggle with the most when writing About Pages or bios for your social media accounts?
P.S. want help writing your About Page? Get in touch.
Featured image from Unsplash.
