How to Write an About Page for a Website

Businesses used to regard the About page as an afterthought, but this often-overlooked page is becoming increasingly important in SEO. It’s no longer enough to draft a short paragraph about yourself or your business and call it a day—your About page is a great chance to market yourself to new visitors, and it’s also one of the ways in which Google determines whether a business is legitimate. These tips will help you write a killer About page that communicates the right messaging to your customers and proves your bona fides to Google.

1. Use the Right Tone and Voice

The tone and voice you use does a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to communicating who you are and what people can expect from your business. For a more buttoned-up, formal business, you might want to write your About page in third-person. In contrast, if you run a business as a solo entrepreneur, using third person or the “royal we” can sound awkward and pretentious.

If you’re a creative, using your natural voice can help your potential clients connect with you, but doing the same as a doctor or attorney can make people feel too familiar with you, making it difficult for them to see you as a professional.

In choosing your tone and voice, also think about the clients or customers you want to attract to your business and why they need your services. A pediatric dentist can use a more casual tone, but someone looking for an oral surgeon won’t have much confidence after reading an About page full of slang words or jokes.

2. Include Photos

Your About page isn’t the place for stock photos. Include photos of yourself, your team, your location, etc. These days, it’s easy to set up fly-by-night businesses on inexpensive website platforms like Squarespace and Wix, and having a generic About page with stock photos makes it difficult for potential customers to differentiate between your legitimate business and one that’s not on the up-and-up.

Photos also give your customers the opportunity to see the person behind the business. People are more likely to support businesses when they feel as if they “know” the owners.

3. State Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

What makes your business unique and sets it apart from your competition? What problem does your product or service solve? Your About page should answer these questions.

When thinking about these questions, it’s important to dig deep. Too many small business owners approach their UVP from their own perspective, rather than the perspective of their customers. You might pride yourself on offering exceptional customer service, but all of your competitors probably say the same thing about themselves on their websites—what, specifically, do you do differently?

If you’re having trouble identifying your UVP, you might get some ideas by looking at 5-star reviews your customers have left for you online. If you have enough reviews, you should be able to notice a pattern in the positive qualities people mention when relaying their experiences with your business.

4. Use Bullet Points, Short Paragraphs, and Headings

People read websites differently than how they read books. They’re more likely to skim the page on a website instead of reading and pondering each sentence, and this is especially true when they’re faced with a wall of text. People don’t have the attention span for that!

When writing for websites, use short paragraphs and skimmable bullet points for important information that you don’t want potential customers to miss. Lists of services, benefits, awards, and milestones are all well-suited for bullet point formatting. Headings are another great way to break up the text on a page and help people find what they’re looking for. They also allow you the opportunity to incorporate keywords about your business.

5. Tell Your Story

Some business owners feel timid about sharing the story of why they started their business, but this is the kind of information people are looking for on an About page. They already know from the rest of your website what services you offer or what products you sell—the About page is where they go to learn the why behind your services and products.

You don’t have to tell your life story here, but you should talk about why you started your business and what your qualifications are. If you wish, you can share a little bit about your family and your background, but if you’re a private person, don’t feel like you have to—it’s the story of your business that’s most important here.

If you don’t run a solo business, you may want to include short bios for either all of your employees, or a few key employees who interface with your customers. These should be no more than a paragraph or so, and pair some brief background information with qualifications or work experience in the industry. These bios are less about telling the stories of each of your employees, and more about demonstrating that your business has a solid, knowledgeable team behind it.

6. Share Your Achievements

Your awards and achievements should be mentioned on your homepage, but they should also be included on your About page. This doesn’t necessarily need to be text, either—you can use badges or other images that represent awards, memberships, and other ways your business has been recognized by your peers and customers.

Think of your achievements as another component of your unique value proposition. They differentiate you from your competition, and they’re also valuable social proof that demonstrates your business’s popularity and esteem within the community.

7. Don’t Forget Your Contact Information!

When Google Quality Raters assess a website, they’re told to look for clear contact information. You should have a separate contact page, of course, but you should also include this information on your About page.

If your About page features a few different team members, include email addresses and/or direct phone numbers for each of them. Often, people look for contact information for specific employees on About pages.