How to Write an About Page That STANDS OUT
5 Easy and AWESOME Ways You Can Write that Perfect About Page today!
Today I’ll be walking you through 5 tried and true ways to improve your About Page so you can build that business of your dreams and leave a wonderful impression in the minds of your new website visitors.
Your About Page is one of the first places that new visitors find when they land on your site. They may first start at your home page — (which is the top viewed homepage on your site btw), look around a little, and then hop off next to the About Page.
The About Page is the page that gives your new reader an idea of the person as well as the service they may be looking to find more about.
But did you know that your About Page is also the page with the highest bounce rate? This means that if your visitors aren’t impressed with what’s on your About Page, they’ll just leave your site from there, never to return ever again.
And we don’t want that now, do we? No, we don’t.
Also, here’s a little thing to remember; your about page isn’t about you, primarily. It’s about what YOU CAN DO FOR OTHERS.
When new visitors come to your webpage here are the questions they’re asking themselves:
- Why should I care about this website?
- What’s in it for me or WIIFM — a little but very important something I learned from a very good teacher?
- What will I be getting out of this experience?
- Can this person help me?
So let’s dive right in;
1. Have a Kickass Value Proposition
A value proposition (or prop) is just another way of conveying to your audience who you are and what you offer. This could be like your mission statement or a tagline even.
But make it an Attention-Grabbing Headline.
Something that’s supposed to let your reader know who is speaking to them and why this product is something they need but also why they should care about it or you.
Ideally, you should be saying: At (your business name here), we help (your target audience here) to achieve (the desired result here). This tagline then sets the stage for you to give a brief origin story about your business, where you can share the why of what it is you do best! We’ll get more into that in the next points coming up.
Your audience is always thinking about WIIFM or “What’s in it for me?” whenever they’re looking around the great wide web. So having something that answers that question, while also providing them the value they need to achieve their goal is what will make them stick around to find out more.
2. Position Yourself as an Expert
You must do this. And it does not matter how new you are to the game. You must position yourself as an expert to the people you are trying to serve.
To do this, you need to have a professional bio but it doesn’t have to be something long and boring. You don’t have to write it in the third person either. Instead, show your flair and personality but also let your new visitor know what it is that you can do for them (remember WIIFM?).
If you’re worried or unsure about calling yourself an expert, let me throw this at you.
Imagine it’s your first day at university, who do you want to give you a tour of the campus? Not the Dean since they’re too authoritative. Also probably not some serious-looking Professor either because same reason. You would much rather want a tour from a fellow student who just so happens to be a senior. Someone who’s a little ahead of you and already walked the path you’re now threading.
As the Chinese proverb goes, “To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.”
So here are a few tips and questions to ask yourself so you can spice up what you should put into your bio but also in order to show your credibility:
- Give people a little context into why you’re doing what you do by answering this question; “how did you get into this work?”
- Share a couple of soundbites from your personal journey but limit them to sentences, not paragraphs.
- Make sure to share any formal education, training, and certifications that you have or anywhere you’ve been featured on or whatever you know will build your credibility to your new visitor.
- Mention any notable achievements in your field or chosen career path. It’s okay if those things are not exactly the work that you are doing right now, as long as they are in alignment with the work you currently do!
- Make sure your personality shows! Add your own personal flair, since this is all about branding and using your voice at the end of the day. Read the words you write out loud while making sure it sounds like the way you would speak to a friend. And not in a way that you would write a boring, stuffy corporate bio.
- Show your face on your website. You have to include your picture. It’s important! So make it a high-quality headshot of you. You want people to be able to put a face to the words they’re reading.
3. Add a Customer Story
This is where you get to write a story about how your product or service is going to change the life of your customer or client. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t served that person yet.
It illustrates to your new reader that you already managed to help someone else but if you haven’t yet then this is a neat little tactic to use called future pacing.
What’s great about future pacing is being able to say things like “imagine” or “picture” gives your new reader the opportunity to put themselves in that scenario so that they could better understand the way your service works. But also imagining themself using your service — which tells them what it’s like to sit at your feet and let you be the expert that guides them through what it is they want.
What do you actually do for your clients? Paint that picture as vividly as you could possibly make it. This is super important and often a missed point on About Pages.
This is also great since now the client who used your awesome thing has raving words to say about it which you can share on your site aka testimonial. Bonus: this testimonial can be used as social proof to attract more clients and customers to you.
You know social proof is pretty darn important, right?
Testimonials, recommendations, and endorsements. Those are absolutely a must-have when it comes to building trust with your prospects.
4. Show them who you REALLY are
Now that you painted a picture of what you can do for your new prospect, client, visitor, reader… I’ve honestly given up on what I’ve been using thus far — Your new person on your About Page! Now it’s time to give them a sneak peek into the person, not the expert.
This is where you can write fun little facts about yourself. What do you like to do? What do you love? Where you’ve gone? Why do you like chocolate so much? Show them the human behind the expert. People are curious and they often would like to know what this person is like, what they eat, what they enjoy.
It’s kinda like when you go visit someone’s house and you ask to go to the bathroom but end up wandering around to their room and snooping around. Nothing malicious mind you, you just want to see what they’re into. What’s hanging on their walls? What’s on their nightstand? Or maybe when you’re into their living room you look around to see what books they like to read or what music they enjoy. Those little things tell you so much about a person, right?
This is why this part is important. Sharing some facts about you. Your life. Your family. Your craft. But you also want to do it in a way that reveals your personality and your values. At the same time, don’t be afraid to poke fun at yourself or your quirks and vices and show some humour.
This helps to cultivate trust with your new and current readers. Demonstrate your authority here and give them yet another reason why they should work with you!
5. Prompt people to Take Action!
It’s highly recommended that you encourage your new reader to take part in your community and become a part of your tribe. Otherwise, they just visit your site once and vamoose forever.
When that new person stops by and knows what you offer, you would want to make sure that we offer them something as a means to continue to build a relationship with you and to join your tribe.
You want to end with a strong call-to-action or two or three even.
Give your new reader a reason to be stay. Let them know why you can be the most awesome thing that they stumbled upon since sliced bread!
But most importantly never, ever fail to consistently give them value. Because it’s only then, that they will realise why they are so lucky to have found you in the first place. Give them an opportunity to join your email list.
Here are some more ideas you could use:
- Get this free awesome resource
- Get inspiration on the blog here
- Listen to the podcast or watch my channel.
- Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
- Check out these services or hit the shop.
- Get my calendar or get a free trial here.
And we’re done with the list.
Good job if I haven’t lost you yet and you’re still here! Go ahead and give yourself a little pat on the shoulder there. ^.^
In conclusion, your About Page needs to answer these two questions, why should I listen to you? And why should I want to work with you?
When all else fails, you can always go and look at examples of other people’s About Pages to get inspired.
Keep in mind though, most people’s About Pages are boring. They barely follow all of the things mentioned above so definitely do not compare yourself to the mediocre About Pages out there on the wide web.
Instead, use this formula and your About Page should be something super stellar.
Until next time, friends.
Have an awesome day!
