Fundamental Tips for Creating an Outstanding “About Us” Page in Your Website
When setting up a website, the “About Us” page is the fundamental supporting page you’ll most probably have to design, regardless of the business you’re in. When you’re selling to your clients, they want to know what they are buying into. That’s why storytelling is key to every “About Us’ page, to establish your values and experience.
They may go by distinct labels — “About” / “Story” / “Our Mission” — but these categories of pages mostly serve the same purpose: to be the go-to page for a business to say, “who we really are”.
When a user wishes to learn more about you or your brand, the “About Page” is the place they’ll look for. About Us pages are usually treated as an opportunity to establish trust, tell your story, and share what makes your business so exceptional. So, you better make it engaging and convincing!
An exceptional “About Us'' page will achieve the goal of communicating the story about your brand to users in an engaging manner.
Every story requires a hero, and so does your “About Us” page. In some instances, that might be you or your founding team. For some others, you might look upon your business as its own character with a unique story.
Either way, stories are all about showing change — beginning in one place and ending up in another. That's what your “About Us” page should convey to your visitors as they scroll through it.
You can create a narrative for your business’ “About Us” page by using the following methods:
- Establish the scene: Bring in the characters or setting, and build the status quo or “the way things were” for you, your target users, or your business
- Present the problem: Explain the issue that called you (the primary character) to act
- Step up to the challenge: Describe how you set out to identify a solution (i.e., start your business or create a solution) and the difficulties you faced along the journey
- Show up a solution: Share details of how your brand is going after its purpose and the landmarks you have hit
- Envision the next move: illustrate the future for your business or state its goals, and how it can help your target audience
Here are some other factors you might want to consolidate into your About Us page. You should use it to define your business and convey your company’s reason for being to clients.
Business Model
For some organisations, their business model is their exclusive value proposition and can be a trading point that’s worth adding to their “About Us” page.
For example:
- How do you remove the middleman and deliver the savings to clients?
- How are you sourcing the materials for your brand? (e.g., producing in a specific country or by catering jobs to a certain community)
- You may have a part of your revenue that contributes to a charity
If transparency might consolidate your brand, your “About Us'' page is a great opportunity to sum up your supply chain, how your business works, and ascribe that back to the mission that inspires you.
This is usually carried out with an illustration or infographic that cites your business model in an easy-to-digest style.
Use Facts, Not Hype
When setting up your “About Us” page, you don’t need to convey the same things that are already on your Homepage. Beware: your content should be engaging, rather than a lengthy, complicated, historical summary that will exhaust readers. You also don’t need to sound like you are advertising. So, it’s a fine line. As in most things, the best solution is to discover a middle ground.
To evade bragging or looking pushy, steer clear of the hype. Talk to your unique selling points, and offer a sincere presentation of the facts and figures. Our advice here is don't use superlatives (especially if you cannot measure it or prove it).
For instance, describe why people should collaborate with you. What perks can you or your brand provide that your prospects will value?
If you can, specify those benefits. Saying your brand boosts productivity by 18% is a lot more convincing than simply saying it enhances productivity.
Explain to them what issue you solve. How do you make their life more effortless and better? Detail your capabilities and why you are uniquely competent to offer the service or product you handle.
State how much experience you have in business and what your main people bring to the table. Mention some of the turning points in your business’s history. Did you advance to bigger facilities, buy another company, or modify your focus at any point?
By adding information about your background, you should be adept to demonstrate to users that you find out what they are exploring, and you are able to offer an exceptional solution.
Value Proposition Above the Fold
Audiences on your About Us page spend most of their time searching for information placed above the fold, corresponding to recent research using heat maps to identify reader interest.
Content located in the upper half of a web page is noticeable without scrolling down, so simply it gets more attention than the lower half of the page (below the fold). Make sure the key points of your “About Us” message are conveyed early on in the page.
Considering that, you need to add your value proposition — the innovation, service or details that make your business attractive to clients and sets you apart from the game.
Include a Timeline
Has your brand been popular for more than a few years? Does it have an exciting track record of growth and achievement? A timeline can be a good inclusion to your “About Us” page. Encompass all the important milestones and details about your brand, and showcase your expertise over time.
Timelines allow you to display an extensive amount of information and detail in an easy-to-scan format, including graphical and visual elements. Hot tip: it’s good to incorporate images of your team as a small business to drive connection to your audience. Logos of clients and accreditations also go a long way, as well as testimonials (if you don’t have a separate page for these).
Use the above ideas to hand out great impressions to your audience though the “About Us” page, and remember to focus on how your traffic and conversions expand with each of your updates. A better “About Us” page could even help you to make more conversions overall!
