How to write your website’s ‘About’ page: it’s not all about you
Stop stroking your ego for just one second.
You should absolutely be proud of how far you’ve come, having quit your 9-5 and started your own business, having spent hours in the library preparing for your degree dissertation to gain the qualification to be where you are today, getting your first high-ticket customer, and/or having created a profitable business after 12 months of hard graft.
But your ‘about’ page shouldn’t be a long list of all your achievements and how wonderful you are.
A potential customer is going to get bored quickly reading about how you think you’re so great.
*disclaimer — confidence is key to gaining the trust of a social media scroller or someone surfing the web who happens upon your website, but save this confidence for the transformations you can help others achieve*
Your whole website should be about your customer, and what they can achieve (by taking advantage of your expertise).
And when it comes to your ‘about’ page, this can really trip you up. I know you’re thinking ‘but how do I write about myself, but not focus on me?’!!!
It is possible, I promise. And if done well, it can reel in those people in need of what you do or have to offer. A great ‘about’ page can convert the sitting-on-the-fence-ers into excited clients and opening wallets.
Too often people see it as an obligation on your website to-do list, instead of seeing it as an opportunity: an opportunity to build trust with your audience, show your expertise and tempt potential customers, win them over, show them how you can help them/give them an unparalleled experience (bigger and better than your competitors).
We’re going to explore what makes you stand head and shoulders above the competition but in a strategic way that speaks directly to the people who need you the most.
Now, let’s break down writing your ‘about’ page for your website into a few key elements…
Overcoming a problem
Giving insight
Standing out from the crowd
1. YOUR WEBSITE ‘ABOUT’ PAGE NEEDS TO OVERCOME A PROBLEM.
Have you & your potential customers ever been in the same situation?
Through the power of story-telling you can trigger an emotional investment in your reader. Can you think of any movie that you even vaguely liked that didn’t have a character trait or predicament you could relate to?!
So think of what pain points your product or service can overcome.
This is what ties your audience together, creating a community of like-minded and similarly-struggling people.
Think back to your old self, before you created your own business.
Is their problem a problem you once had too?
Or do you know what it feels like to be in their shoes? (If not, is there someone close to you who has experienced the same roadblock?)
By highlighting a barrier that you once had that is recognisable to your ideal customer/target market (or barrier that someone you know has experienced), you are immediately grabbing their attention and positioning yourself as an equal.
And if you’ve got something in common with your reader, they will invest trust in you immediately, if you can show you understand their pain points or frustrations.
Then it’s time to show your transformation, how you got past that barrier and made your working life/home life/social life so much better. That emotional investment you triggered in your reader has instantaneously built a memorable connection between you and this potential customer.
As a relatable figure, you’re one step closer to gaining a fan for life.
*top tip* Give your ‘about’ page some extra personality, using similar language to the way your ideal client speaks to make them feel like you’re on the same level. Can you use cultural references, phonetic spelling or colloquialisms to get on their level?
(Here’s where it would be really handy to know exactly what your ideal client is like, so you can mirror their language to boost that relatable-factor: click here to learn more about the importance of understanding the habits and characteristics of your perfect customer.)
2. YOUR WEBSITE’S ‘ABOUT’ PAGE NEEDS TO GIVE INSIGHT.
Show your readers a little taster of what it’s like to work with you.
By letting your readers in to see what’s behind the scenes, past the exterior of the brand and into the inner-workings of the company, this will boost your audience’s perception of your brand as accessible and relatable.
If you show that you trust your audience, letting them be privy to your own expertise and story, this trust will be reciprocated. As a result, you will be building a deeper level of understanding with these people who are now more likely to engage with you.
Can you take this a step further and give insight into why you run your own business or how you got to where you are today, that can bring out a level of empathy in your potential customer?
*top tip* Show your face, a picture of you at work/in your natural environment, and/or interacting with your customers (making sure you look excited and engaged).
Your like-ability factor will start to build and your brand credibility will be heightened if there is a real human that these potential customers can connect with.
This is where big, faceless, corporate companies really fall short of gaining that intimate connection, where there seems to be little heart or soul in what they do (or just none at all).
3. YOUR WEBSITE ABOUT PAGE SHOULD ELEVATE YOU ABOVE THE COMPETITION.
Think of a potential customer like a window shopper - they might not be ready to spend money just yet, but they’re open to different options and opportunities.
Your aim is to lure them in to check out what you have to offer, but then also get them to come back when they are ready to buy.
So you need to be memorable to make sure they return to your shop and not the one next-door.
Your ‘about’ page is a brilliant tool to initiate this. So how can you transpose this into working out how to write about yourself so that you can cash in?
To implement this into the copy, you need to ensure that you’re not talking so much about how you are different and special, but instead how your client’s experience will be different and special, even unparalleled should they want to work with or buy from you.
This is where your “unique-ness factor” comes in.
This is the thing that sets you apart from your competition.
It essentially works as an employee at your digital shopfront, standing with a loud hailer (or they could be dressed as a hot-dog if that’s what you’re into) being that initial hook that grabs the attention of the window-shopper walking down the street.
It works to hook them in, prompting them to backtrack until they’re standing outside your shop window, take a look at what’s on display, realise that what you’re doing is better than the shop next door, then walk on in.
Your “unique-ness factor” should be used repeatedly throughout your online presence. Including it front and centre of your website on your about page is a great way to immediately show you are more than your competition (especially when so many companies’ ‘about’ pages are as dull as pig shit and go on and on about themselves, not their customer).
*top tip* Make sure the client is at the focus of each sentence. For example, instead of saying:
“My expertise in the industry will make sure your experience is like no other” (where you are the focus of the sentence)
…you should put the end-user/potential customer as the prominent article, so you are highlighting the benefit to them. So the more effective sentence structure would be:
“You’ll experience something better than anything you’ve tried before, supported by industry expertise.”
And finally…
FINISH WITH A CALL-TO-ACTION.
Don’t leave your customer hanging at the bottom of the page: maintain their attention, keep them engaged and interested.
This is your opportunity to invite them to learn about your services, to a related blog post that gives them more insight into your story, or a transformation you helped someone else achieve.
You could suggest they jump onto your email list so they can get access to a discount code, a free taster of your products or services that gets them that little bit closer to satisfying that pain point or frustration we talked about earlier.
It could be your opportunity to invite them to a Facebook group you run that will introduce them to join the conversation with other like-minded people, or even to a real life event, where you can continue to build a sustainable and valuable relationship with them (COVID-dependant!).
At the end of the day, it’s a fine line between sounding big headed, but showing the world your unique set of experiences that have led you to where you are today.
Make sure to put your audience first, and their needs, to sound authentic and wanting to help others.
Need some more hints + tips copywriting for your website?
You need The Website Builder’s Blueprint — exactly what to say on each of your key web pages.
