The ‘About Us’ page is some of the most important real estate on your site. It is designed to:
- convey key points of information to your target audience
- tell them a little bit about your business, how it was started, and who’s behind it
- explain why your business is better than your competitors’
Yet, many business owners overlook the About page, assuming it offers little-to-no use or is just a brief bio.
Are you investing the necessary time and energy to develop it?
Jump Links
Jump links allow visitors to access parts of your About Us page more easily.
When a visitor clicks a jump link, it takes them to a specific part of the content within the page.
For example, if your About Us page is quite lengthy, jump links can improve navigation and get site visitors the information they want, more quickly. Wikipedia pages are a great example of a site that uses a lot of jump links.
Tell a Story
Include a personal story rather than just a history of your business. What motivated you to start your business? Do you have a funny anecdote or an unexpected experience?
Even a story about a false start or struggle along the way can show the human side to your business. Customers like to learn about the people behind a business.
You might even include organizations of which you are a member, your hobbies, or small details about your family. What you share and how much will depend on the nature of your business.
For example, if you own a family business, the familial aspect of your brand is a key differentiator and can be leveraged by telling a story.
Pure Text for Important Information, Not Images
Don’t make the mistake of using images to display your business’s address, phone number or other information on your about us page. Even if visitors can access and load the images, search engines cannot.
The search engines read only the Alt Text and Image Title text but cannot “read” an image. As a result, your website won’t receive the same SEO value when using images with overlay text.
Stick with pure text for contact information to ensure that both human visitors and search engines bots can access your information.
Visuals
Some ideas of photos to share on your About Us page: key employees; the exterior or interior of your business; events in which your business has participated; or even the faces of happy customers!
Anything that helps a visitor get a feel for who you are, what you do, and how involved you are in supporting your industry and community will form a deeper connection to your brand.
Photos are more memorable than text, so choose them wisely.
Keep It Updated
If you’ve changed offices, have new team members or contact info, be sure to update your About Us.
Visitors will look to your site for how reliable the content is. If your site posts the wrong address or phone number, it will decrease trust in your brand.
FAQs should be updated regularly based on what your customers are asking. If a visitor emails you a question, respond back with an answer but also include the Q&A on your About Us page- especially if it’s a question you’re likely to see again.
Make Your Content “Scannable”
Word walls are blocks of text that are three lines or greater. They are also a surefire way to ensure your reader misses out on your most important content!
Break up your content with headings, sub-headings, bullet lists, etc. so it’s easier to scan. This will improve its readability while lowering your bounce rate in the process.
Let Us Know
Have any other tips that you would like to share with our readers? Let us know in the comments section below!
