How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
When visitors go to your website and/or social media profiles, the first place they go is your landing page. If they have an interest past your landing page, they will probably go to your “About Us” page to learn more.
There are numerous websites with all kinds of information and all kinds of looks and feels. When a website visitor decides to go to the “About Us” page, he or she is on a fact-finding mission, as well as looking for the “story” of your business. If your website merely speaks about your products and/or services, you are selling it short. People are interested in learning a great deal more than just that about you and your business.
Of course, different visitors are interested in different types of information. One of the first and most elementary pieces of information that your visitors are looking for is who you are and how you came to be where you are at this point. Your “About Us” page is an excellent way to communicate to your visitors who you are and to give them the confidence to understand that you and your business possess the skills and experience that they need to be able to solve their particular problems. Your “About Us” page should answer the following questions:
- Who are we?
- Why should you choose us over someone else (WIIFM – What’s In It For Me)?
- What do we do?
- When did we start?
- How do we do it?
When you are speaking about who you are, it is a good idea to include photos of you and your key staff members as well as biographical sketches for each of you. The sketches should highlight educational background and work experience. That information is of great comfort to someone who might be on the fence regarding whether to buy your products and/or services.
When faced with the concept of why someone should choose to work with you instead of choosing someone else, you need to state a flawless case of what’s in it for them. How wonderful your products and services are and how nice everything that you offer looks is of little importance. All your readers are concerned about is what they will get out of a business relationship with you. They need to understand what you can do to help them solve their problems.
The page should have a description of your business, which answers the “What do we do?” question. It should also have a mission statement, which will explain they you do what you do. Of equal importance is to explain your business team, so that people can relate to you and your staff on a humanistic level.
If they see that you have serious training and work experience in the area about which they are interested, they will feel comfortable. Another good thing to communicate is how you came to where you are now, particularly if you have a unique and compelling story to tell.
The content on your “About Us” page must address all of the important points regarding your business; however, it is a great idea to throw in some tidbits that are not necessarily connected to what you are doing now but which add another dimension to your presence. Your content on that page needs to really communicate what is different about your business and should have a clear message as to why people should buy from you instead of from someone else.
You should communicate in a clear and concise manner. The information on that page says a great deal in terms of how it represents your business and what it stands for. You can’t separate what you are as a business from how you are represented online.
Your information should give the right amount and type of information and you shouldn’t worry so much about giving too much away. If your visitors are truly interested in going further in your relationship together, they will. Always remember to include a call to action, which enables your visitors to get a hold of you, either by phone or by Email.
Your online presence is all about relationships and interactions with people. The more you interact on a personal level, the easier it will be to build relationships with your readers and eventually, they will become your customers.
Conclusion
There are many different types of visitor who check out your “About Us” page. There are first-time visitors, regular visitors, people who want to share a relationship with you and work with you and potential customers. With every type of visitor to your website, you want to be able to offer enough informative and useful information to persuade them to establish a much stronger connection with you and your business (such as becoming a fan, user, or customer).
Although not everyone who visits your website will end up visiting your “About Us” page, you need to make sure to entice those people who do click on the page. You will accomplish this by having content that is insightful, interesting and eventually makes your visitors believe that they can’t live without what you are offering.
We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. For a complimentary assessment of your online presence, let’s have coffee.
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: On Startups – The Community For Entrepreneurs
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
Make sure to call it "About *Company Name*" for better SEO. E.g. About WidgetCorp
Posted by Kosta Kondratenko
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Group: Social Media Marketing
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
It depends on what problem you are trying to solve. Say if you want to open a ideation platform for your customers you need to tell "clearly" that your website is not a complaints forum and that you represent the "INNOVATION" team within the company only.
It depends pretty much on the purpose of your website, and its impact on the business. It is better to have one always, though.
Arvind,
Posted by Arvind Nigam
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Group: Consultants Network
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
I understand the "about us" page of a web site is the second most read page on a web site. It is where you establish credibility with the reader.
Posted by Floyd Saunders
Yes the about Us page does have a lot of importance, especially when push comes to shove and a customer wants to know just a bit more before hiring / buying from you.
In our own case, we have noticed that traffic from home to about us page (we have termed it as 'Why Choose Us') is more in case of visits that tend to materialize into a lead.
I really appreciate this article. Recently I reviewed my About Us page and knew that it needed to be revised but I had no clue of how to start. Thank you.
Via LinkedIn Groups
Group: Direct Marketing Association "Official"
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
Michael, you bring up an interesting point. Most "about" pages are terrible, almost like an afterthought. How important these pages are depends to a degree how your landing page is structured. Does the landing page encourage further exploration … or is it trying "to go for the slam dunk."
Your discussion has me re-evaluating both blog and company site and the flow I'm trying to achieve. Thanks … for another agenda item 😉
Posted by Clay Forsberg
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Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
I'm glad you raised this. As part of my health copywriting services I offer site content audits. When I look at the analytics, the numbers of clicks on my clients' sites are always relatively high for About Us page. It's certainly been one of the more popular pages on my site and I click on this page frequently when I visit sites.
And I agree with Clay, most "About Us" pages are really bad.
Two key functions of this page: 1. To distinguish your company and 2. To boost credibility.
People click on this to learn more about the people behind the company and learn more about what makes you special. So this should not be a rudimentary mission statement but something that really connects you to your prospects and makes them feel more comfortable about doing business with you. It should have some character, some history and some meaty Big Promises about the benefits they'll experience from doing business with you.
Posted by Sarah Clachar
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Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
Dear Mr. Cohn,
Very good posting.
When any visitors go to our website . they have only one question in their mind and that is whether your organization is trustworthy and have such capabilities which can justify the business and their requirements ? that all they can find in About us page..
We can present more clear information here like establishment, management, experience etc.
About us is nothing but the mirror of your orgnization what I believe.
Any more suggestions / comments are welcome.
Regards,
Mrunal
Posted by Mrunal Kadia
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Group: Writing and Editing Professionals
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
I love your articles! This is is a good business case for sharing with clients. I would venture to say the About Us page is probably the most important of an entire website.
Posted by Lindsey McCaffrey
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Group: Creative Designers and Writers
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
As long as the client is serious about their business, they would want to know the people they are getting associated with.
Posted by Mohammed Ansar Parayil
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Group: Freelance Editing Network
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
It's essential to show visitors that you are a three-dimensional, well-rounded person! So this page is where you get personal.
I believe it adds credibility to all the biz-talk and sincerity to all the biz-claims. I even consider it a nice touch to provide some background to your business and your abilities.
Then, too, it's preferable that a potential client be given the opportunity to call or contact you by name, thus bringing in the one-on-one aspect.
Posted by Fitz Townsend
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Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
Depends on the user. On an agency site there are those who want to be blown away by the creative and then there is a group that wants to know they can place their entire brand in your hands and need the background for reassurance.
Posted by Chris Bishop S.
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Group: Medical Marketing & Communications Group
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
I can't say for sure, but my guess is that most people never go to the "About Us" page. They're in too much of a hurry to read the story of how great your business is. But I, personally, go there fairly frequently when I'm looking for more information before doing business with an unknown vendor. So I think it's not only important to have, but it's also important to write it well.
Posted by John Fineberg
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Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
One way to quantify how important that page or any other page might be on your web site would be to add google analytics. Then you can see how many people actually click on that page. Like John I read the "About Us" page to gain a clearer understanding of the organization.
Posted by Dr. Cande Tschetter
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Group: Business Writers of America
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
I think it's puts the human face on your business. It builds credibility and creates a fuller picture of you and your products and services.
Posted by Julie Miller
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Group: A Solo Business – Solopreneurs And Business Owners
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
Excellent article. I always check the "About us" page out and if there's a picture it's even better. I like to "see" who I am doing business with. Although many of us are virtual – people like to know who they are going to do business with. Thanks.
Posted by CarolAnn Quibell
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Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
I agree–the "About Us" section warrants serious thought because you not only want communicate clearly what the company is about, but also to pique the reader's interest in exploring further. That can be made easier by including links within the text, or adding different verticals to the "About Us" section.
Posted by Kate Norton
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Group: Direct Marketing Association "Official"
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
About us pages are important for gaining publicity, too. As an industry analyst and columnist, I look at these pages to find names of key officers, company descriptions, contact titles, and other information for columns. I might be writing an article and need a brief half-sentence description of a company's focus, so that's where I'll go. If I'm quoting someone and don't know their title, that's where I'll go. Or if I'm trying to determine whether a company is appropriate for inclusion in an article, that's where I'll go.
It's disappointing when these pages don't provide what I'm looking for — description of the company's key strengths and areas of focus, key vertical markets, names/titles of key execs or a link to them, things like that.
Posted by Heidi Tolliver-Nigro
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Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
It depends on how they are being driven to the page. If they are responding to marketing piece, they may be more of a motivated buyer and less likely to be in "gathering information mode". If it's an organic search, then you may be right, but using analytical tools to understand visitor behavior it the best way to understand where traffic is coming from and going to and which pages are getting the most attention or not enough. We have been using Google Analytics, but we are now testing HubSpot Software. Has anyone used them? What's your thoughts about their service?
Posted by Andrew Begnoche`
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Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
I agree with you, Fitz. I write a lot of copy for websites, and strongly suggest to my clients that they use an About page to send a more intimate message about themselves to the reader. It's a great opportunity to establish a relationship with potential customers.
Posted by Frances Fahey
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Group: A Solo Business – Solopreneurs And Business Owners
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
The About Us page is interesting in that, if I look at the stats, folks stay on this page for a long time. I assume they read most of the material whereas on other pages the time spent is a fraction. Once they get to the About Us page, they're thinking on doing some type of business with you, so really make it stand out. I use a timeline on my page which gives the reader a huge insight into my world. And quite a few have commented on it, so something must be good about it 🙂
Posted by Ivan Walsh
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Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
It is often one of the first pages I go to to figure out who's ideas and information I am reading.
Posted by Virginia Duffy PhD, Psychiatric NP
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Group: AssociationofWriters.com
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
The "Abous Us" page is important as with the other pages on your website. People want to know details, especially if they are paying a fee to get the job done. In this technology age, there are so many scams as well as truthful people. Yet, the "About Us" page and the website in whole should give the viewer information that may make them guess less and make them want to use the service that is offered on the website.
For writers who just want to add their publish materials for editors to see, the "About Us" page give a more general understanding of how a writer's style of writing came to be. Generally, knowing more about the website with easy details can be interesting for the reader. I think websites are similar to a resume and a business card.
Posted by Lillian Melendez
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Group: Direct Marketing Association "Official"
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
Your website's ‘About’ page is where your visitors go to size you up. What you say is important; how you say it is just as critical. You want to describe your self/company in a way that is relevant and interesting to the client, but also reveals your character, personality, and culture.
Get to the point without being dry. If they don’t feel that they know you after a couple paragraphs, they’ll move on to another site. Have fun!
Posted by Eric Wolf
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Group: Linked-N Bergen County NJ
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
I feel the "about us" page is one of the most important. There the site contains valuable insight to the company, i.e, company history, maybe some information on the key employees of a company, what they do, etc. Your landing page can be great, but if your about us page is not informative enough, I feel like it will resonate negatively with a user.
Posted by John Ferrughelli
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Group: A Solo Business – Solopreneurs And Business Owners
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
The About Us page is extremely important to your business and it can help you close more sales online — but only if you stop making your About Us pages boring cul-de-sacs with no call-to-actions and with no reason to go beyond your About page.
Posted by Article Expert Eric Gruber
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Group: A Solo Business – Solopreneurs And Business Owners
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
I agree – the About Us page is definitely important. The number one thing I see website developers and owners do that hurts their website is not spend enough time on this element. I've seen webpages where the home page is the exact same content as the about us page – which entirely defeats the purpose of having one!
Posted by Charity Van Vleet
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Group: A Solo Business – Solopreneurs And Business Owners
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
I think the "About Us" page is very important, and it's true that the stats show a lot of people view this page. But I really don't like it when businesses have a generic "About Us" page, which includes "We are a professional company that believes in customer service…" blah blah blah.
I really appreciate reading unique things, and actually seeing who's behind the business and learning more genuine things about them.
Posted by Fiona Bosticky
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Group: A Solo Business – Solopreneurs And Business Owners
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
Hi
as a small business owner this is very good information.
We will certainly review our " about us" page and test the content against the recommendations in this article.
thank you for sharing this with us.
Posted by Derek Wilson
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Group: A Solo Business – Solopreneurs And Business Owners
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
I advise my clients on constructing their About Page differently depending on several factors. A service business where the owner IS the business – such as an independent financial advisor, an interior designer, a professional consultant, a speaker, etc. – should consider a highly personal About Page with a photo of themselves and/or their staff.
A product business, however, should focus more on the business itself and use the About page as part of their public relations campaign. Storefront/Physical Office? Include a photo of the storefront, interior and/or your friendly staff.
And, like any good promotional piece, the About Us copy should be written by a professional marketing copywriter.
My .02!
Posted by Suzanne Engels
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Group: A Solo Business – Solopreneurs And Business Owners
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
Just got this from Seth Godin's Blog>>>> Five rules for your About page
When someone comes to your site for the first time, they're likely to hit 'about' or 'bio'. Why? Because they want a human, a story and reassurance.
Here are some helpful guidelines (okay, they're actually imperatives):
1. Don't use meaningless jargon:
… is a recognized provider of result-based online and mobile advertising solutions. Dedicated to complete value chain optimization and maximization of ROI for its clients, … is committed to the ongoing mastery of the latest online platforms – and to providing continuously enhanced aggregation and optimization options.
2. Don't use a stock photo of someone who isn't you (if there is a stock photo of you, congratulations). The more photos of you and your team, the better.
3. Make it easy to contact you. Don't give a contact address or number that doesn't work.
4. Be human. Write like you talk and put your name on it. Tell a story, a true one, one that resonates.
5. Use third party comments and testimonials to establish credibility. Use a lot of them. Make sure they're both interesting and true.
I like his stuff! ENJOY! Vito http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
Posted by Vito Mazza
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Group: A Solo Business – Solopreneurs And Business Owners
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
@Vito and see how he always includes some Call To Action. That helps keep the reader moving along the sales funnel, albeit in a very low key way.
Posted by Ivan Walsh
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Group: A Solo Business – Solopreneurs And Business Owners
Discussion: How Important is the “About Us” Page for Your Business?
I really hate when I go to a site and it has an incomplete about us page or none at all. I always tell my clients to be sure that the "about us" page is complete and as Ivan says above, a call to action is a must.
Posted by Adam Donkus