If you’ve been around the digital marketing space for a while, then you may have heard this cliché at least once – people buy from those they “know, like, and trust.”
And of all your web pages, your about us page is one of the best pages for making your audience to know you, like you, and trust you enough to buy your product. This makes your about us page a crucial conversion asset that you shouldn’t treat as an afterthought like some brands do.
Hurriedly writing some words, dumping them on a page, and naming the page an about us page isn’t ideal. Your about us page should contain well thought information that’s suitable for your audience.
Many of your customers aren’t looking to only purchase your product. They also want to connect with the people behind the brand. Your audience like to know:
- The owner/owners of your brand
- Your brand values, like diversity and inclusion
- Your brand’s location
- How long you’ve been in operation
- Why they should work with you instead of your sea of competitors
This is why a KoMarketing study highlights 2 vital points:
- Your about us page is the third most visited page after your homepage
- 52% of your website visitors want to see your about page.
Asides these stats which show the importance of about us pages, this page is also a melting pot for turning “just looking prospects into buyers.” And if you’re stuck on how to write your about page, this post provides everything you need for writing an effective about us page.
Too busy to write your about us page? Hire a website copywriter.
What is an About Us Page?
An about us page is a web page that describes what your brand does with the intent of building customer trust.
While this definition sounds straightforward, it isn’t. To gain your customer trust, you need more than words. And this is where trust signals come in.
When you use trust signals on your about page, you reduce your buyers’ objections and position your product as the preferred solution. Some trust signals you can use are social proof, credentials, customer testimonials, videos, and so on.
Why “About Us Pages” are Important
1. About us pages further explain what your brand does
Have you ever visited a website, read a page, and still, you had no clue about what the brand does? Such situations aren’t helpful to users and it prompts them to visit the about page to get more info.
But is this the reason for writing an about us page?
Certainly not. About us pages aren’t for rescuing other poorly-written website pages.
And even when prospects visit about us pages to further understand what a brand does, chances are, some won’t covert because of the previous poorly-written page.
2. Improve brand familiarity with new prospects
Every new prospect visiting your company website won’t buy immediately.
Some will take their time to feed their curiosity by learning everything about your brand. And where will they look? – your about page.
You don’t want to disappoint these new prospects. Hence, you need to put yourself in your customers’ shoes and write what these prospects want to read.
3. About us pages communicate your brand uniqueness
Why did you choose to work in your industry? What motivated you to start your business? What problems did you identify? What results have you achieved?
Questions like these communicate your brand uniqueness. They also tell your customers the exact problem you solve.
Now that you know the importance of about us pages, let’s highlight how you can effectively write yours.
How to Write an About Us Page
There are several tips that will help you write an effective about us page. And depending on your brand, you won’t need to apply all of these tips. But one about page writing tip is crucial – storytelling.
The best about us pages always use storytelling to communicate brand uniqueness. And stories are told by people, not a faceless brand or team. HubSpot is one brand that effectively use storytelling.
So, whether you/your cofounders are tasked with telling your story is inconsequential. The goal of your brand should be to tell a story that resonates with your audience.
8 Tips for Writing About Us Pages
1. Plan What You’ll include on Your About Us Page
Creating an about us page without a clear plan is tricky. If you want to write and design one that flows from one section to the next, a plan should be your first step.
Think about the different sections you could include in your about us page, like:
- Your UVP (Unique Value Proposition): A brand’s UVP is the most vital element of its marketing message. Your UVP instantly tell a prospect why they should work with you instead of your competitor. It also shows the benefit of your product like Vimeo.
- Your core values: Sharing your core values is important for building trust. Your brand values also provide your audience with insights into your company’s culture.
Image source – CoSchedule.com
- Your mission statement: You about page needs to answer your “why.” Why are you in this business? Take Asana for example, their mission is “To help humanity thrive by enabling all teams to work together effortlessly.”
As said earlier, storytelling is vital for about pages. Telling your story gives you the creative freedom to engage with your audience. And how you share your brand story will differ depending on how long you’ve been operating.
For instance, if you’ve been in business for several years and you’ve had significant achievements, you could simplify your story with a timeline like Grammarly does:
Here’s how to create a similar timeline:
- Write your company’s historical milestones. Interviews could be set up with the company’s founders, executives, and CMOs if the about page writing is outsourced
- Now, list the milestones in a chronological order
- Summarize each milestone to create a punchy and visual flow
- Create the timeline with your in-house designer, get inspired by creately, or hire a professional graphic designer
By mapping out your company’s history in a short, attention-grabbing timeline, your customers won’t have to read a super-detailed about page. And if you are unsure of what to include in your about page timeline, these are excellent starting points:
- Include how you started. Whether its from a small room, in the kitchen, or in pyjamas, talk about it. Have pictures? That’s even better
- Did someone mock your idea? Talk about it. Of course, without mentioning names
- When did you move into your first real office?
- If your company rebranded or changed its name, include it in your about us timeline
- When did you get the first livable wage from your product?
- Did you company move to a bigger space? How frequent? Include these in the timeline
3. Publish a CEO/Team Video
Publishing a CEO/team video is becoming a staple in SaaS about us pages. And there’s a good reason why this works – video humanizes your brand and helps you connect with your audience.
Take Keap for example, their CEO/team video is 101% on point that it attracts comments like this from its audience.
You guys have the best (most authentic, relatable and believable) “we love small business” brand on the planet…
Here’re some tips that can help you publish an excellent video:
- Decide on the video format
Is the CEO/team comfortable with an interviewer? Do they prefer talking to the camera without the regular questions and answers? How about responding to someone off screen?
- Don’t lose your audience
You should stick to your message and always call out your audience – are they small business owners, enterprise brands? Use your video to call them out so they know you’re in business to help them.
- No jargon
Buzzwords aren’t helpful for your about us video. It’s helpful to use simple words that everyone can understand.
- A good dose of humor helps
Your audience wants to relate with you. And adding humor to different sections of your video is an excellent way to get them hooked.
4. Introduce Your Team
Putting up the faces of the bright minds who make your brand work is always a brilliant idea. A single or group team photo helps to further humanize your company and add credibility to your business.
By letting your team shine through, you can create an impactful story and experience that shows how you and your company serve your market.
5. Social Proof – Credentials, Case Studies, Awards
Adding social proof to your about page helps in eliminating your buyers’ objections. And many of your prospects would love to try your product if they can see overwhelming evidence that your product is excellent.
Take Get Response for example. Their about us page has lots of awards dating from 2012 to 2021. If your brand has been around for a while and it gets several awards, it’s an excellent idea to add them to your about page.
How about customer testimonials? Adding customer testimonials to your about page helps your prospects to visualize their problem and see the solution in front of them – your product. But you know what’s better? – a case study. Case studies dig deeper into your customers’ challenges and explains how your product solved them.
6. Include a CTA
You should include a CTA on your about page to guide your visitors on the next steps they should take.
You need to help them gain a sense of direction to either contact your support team, schedule a product demo, try your product for free, join your social media community, or buy your product. Here’s an example of an about us CTA from CoSchedule:
7. Update Your About Us Page
Since your business changes over time, it means your about page is only a work in progress.
If you reach any key milestones and accomplishments, you need to add it to your about page. Did you add more people to your team, target new markets, and develop a different product line that expands your philosophy? Your about page should reflect them.
8. Edit and Wrapping Up Your About Page
When you finish writing your about page content, you’ll need to edit it for errors. You could do this by hiring an expert editor.
Your could also ask your social media connections on platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook to check out your new about us page. You will be amazed at the number of people willing to offer constructive feedback that can help you tweak your page in the right direction.
Conclusion
Now that you know why about pages are important and what you can write, your next step is writing the content and designing the page. And if you need help, get assistance from a website copywriter.
Precious Oboidhe is a B2B SaaS content strategist and writer for hire. If you need help with strategizing and creating assets for the different stages of your content marketing funnel, get in touch.
Very practical piece as always.
Thank you Jubilee. I’m glad it helped.