Most business owners hate writing their About page. It feels like bragging, or like filling in a form about yourself. But for many customers it is the page they check just before they ring, because they want to know who they are about to let into their home or hand their money to.
Here is a simple way to write one without cringing.
Start with the customer, not your history
The most common mistake is opening with "Founded in 2009, our company was started with a passion for quality." Customers are not reading to learn your history. They are reading to decide whether you are the right person for their problem.
So open with them. Say who you help and what problem you solve, then say who you are. For example, a plumber might start with "If you have a leak at 9pm, you want someone who answers the phone" and move to their name and area from there.
Answer five questions
A good About page quietly answers these, in roughly this order:
- Who are you? Your name, and the names of anyone customers will deal with.
- What do you do? One or two plain sentences, matching what is on your homepage.
- Who do you do it for? Homeowners, cafes, other trades, families, whoever you actually work with.
- Where are you? The suburb or region you are based in and the areas you cover.
- Why should they trust you? Licences, years in the trade, memberships, or a short honest reason you do the work.
If you are not sure what belongs on the homepage and what belongs here, our guide on what to put on your homepage covers the split. The homepage gives the short version and the About page gives the human one.
Write the way you talk
Read your draft out loud. If you would never say a sentence to a customer standing in front of you, change it. Words like "passionate", "dedicated" and "solutions" tend to sneak in, and they say nothing. Replace them with something specific.
- Instead of "we are passionate about quality", try "I re-check every job the next morning before I invoice."
- Instead of "customer service is our priority", try "you will get a call back the same day."
Only write what is true and what you can stand behind. If you say you have fifteen years in the trade, make sure it is fifteen.
Use a real photo
A clear photo of you, or you and your team, does more than a paragraph of text. A stock photo of smiling strangers does the opposite, because customers can usually tell. Our guide on taking website photos with your phone shows how to get a good one with what is already in your pocket.
You do not need a studio shot. A photo of you at work, in daylight, looking like yourself, is plenty.
Add a little personality, in small doses
One or two personal details help people feel they know you. Maybe you grew up in the area, coach a junior team on weekends, or started the business after years working for someone else. Keep it to a sentence or two. The page is still about helping the customer, and a personal touch just makes you easier to choose.
Finish with a next step
Do not end the page on a full stop and leave the visitor stranded. After someone reads about you, they are at their warmest. Tell them what to do next: ring this number, fill in this form, or book a time. Make the phone number tappable on a mobile.
A simple template to start from
If you are staring at a blank page, fill in these blanks and tidy them up:
- "We help [who] with [what] in [where]."
- "I'm [name], and I've been doing this for [how long] because [short honest reason]."
- "When you work with us, you can expect [two or three specific things]."
- "To get started, [ring, fill in the form or book a time]."
That is a finished About page. You can always add to it later.
You do not need to pay anyone for this
Most owners can get a decent draft done in half an hour, and a draft written by you will sound more like you than anything polished by a stranger. Ask a friend or a customer to read it and tell you what is unclear. If they stumble on a sentence, rewrite it.
If you would like help pulling your content together for a new site, our checklist of what to have ready is a good start, or tell us about your business for a free 15 minute call.