Writing Your About Page In A Way That Feels Comfortable
How do you write an About page that sounds natural, and doesn’t make you come across as a super sales-y robot? A common obstacle for entrepreneurs is how to write the About page of a website, without sounding fake, sales-y, or too self-promotional. It can be difficult to find the right words to accurately describe you and the work you do. Adding to the challenge is that the About page is often considered the most frequently viewed page on a website. Fortunately, by following some simple guidelines, the task of crafting your About page doesn’t have to be so daunting.
I encourage you to think of your About page as the comfortable living room of your website. It’s a friendly place to welcome online visitors to your business.
These people aren’t just any visitors, though; they’re your potential customers. You have an opportunity to welcome them warmly and graciously, and you’ll want to make them feel comfortable.
How would you greet a welcomed visitor to your home? What would you say? What would you offer them? As you read the rest of the post, I invite you to envision yourself welcoming your ideal customer to your house, and consider how you would engage with them. Consider this simple visualization as you read the following tips and suggestions of how to draft your About page.
1. Offer a warm welcome.
Start by greeting your visitor. It sounds obvious, but so many websites neglect to include a greeting, which usually results in their business coming across as generic, and the language transactional or sterile. This is your opening statement. Make sure it’s welcoming and that draws in your visitor. It can be clean and simple or fun and quirky. The important thing is to make sure it sounds genuine.
2. Introduce yourself, and let your personality shine.
Don’t be afraid to be personal. You’ve probably heard that “people like to buy from people” and they like to buy from people they like. They want to know that investment is worth their while, and if you can make them feel comfortable, heard, and understood the chances of them purchasing your product or hiring you for your service greatly increases.
3. Know your audience.
How can you really draw in your visitor without having a better idea of who they are and what they need? To do this effectively, think about what your customer is seeking. Consider your ideal customer. Who are they? How do they spend their day? What is their greatest challenge? What sparks joy for them? What problem or issue do they need to be solved? (By the way, in two weeks, I’ll be sharing a blog post about how to identify your ideal customer, so stay tuned!)
4. Establish a connection with your reader.
Once you have identified who you’re addressing, you can think about how you want to connect with them. What do you think is important for them to know about you? How can you engage them? What questions does your visitor have? How can you answer their questions and address their concerns? By doing this you can build trust, establish a rapport, and make your customer feel heard and understood. Simply put: you have them in a place that feels comfortable.
5. Share more of your story.
Your About page is another opportunity to share more about what makes you unique. Consider adding a personal anecdote. Share a story of how you got to where you are. Were you in a grueling corporate job that left you feeling numb and exhausted? Were you traveling overseas and inspired by the craftsmanship of Indian artisans? Did your grandmother’s cooking inspire you to start a cafe? Did witnessing a friend’s health challenge motivate you to work in the wellness field? Spend some time reflecting on how it is you got to where you are, and then share some of that on your About page. For instance, our client, Laura, who owns Kelea Surf Spa, a retreat for adventurous women, included a letter to her customer on her About page. In it she expresses how she first learned to surf later in her adult life; she wanted to inspire other women to try surfing and to remind them that it’s never too late to try something new.
By including more of your story and your inspiration, you show your reader that you are passionate about your business, you may have shared values with your customer, and, most importantly, that you’re a real person. Your visitor then becomes more invested in your story and interested in your brand.
6. Write like you speak, and just be yourself.
Clients often ask me, “How do I write about my work without sounding sales-y and fake?”. One way to avoid sounding like a used car dealer is to just be yourself. Talk to your reader as if you’ve just met them at a friend’s dinner party and you’ve started to naturally hit it off. Use language and terms you frequently use. How do you describe your work, product, or services to your best friend? Do you use a specific word or phrase a lot in conversation? Do you say ciao or cheers when waving goodbye? Write like you speak (while, of course, checking grammar) and you’ll instantly sound more like you and less like a car dealer.
7. Give them a direction.
Lastly, wrap up your About page with a clearly defined directive. If you had a visitor to your home you wouldn’t just offer them a glass of water and then leave them in the living room, would you? The same principle applies to a visitor to your website. What’s the call to action? Tell them what to do--- Shop Now, Sign-Up for a Free Consultation, Download the Ebook, Get a Coupon Code. Don’t leave your visitor hanging. Pat them on the back and show them around your house, or send them on their merry way.
If you’re feeling tongue-tied, and short on ideas of how to craft your about page, try reflecting on these questions before you begin writing:
What do I really want to get across to my customer?
Why am I saying what I’m saying?
What is the point of my message?
Why is this important to me?
Why is this important to my customer?
How would I describe my work I do to a friend?
What kinds of experiences (challenging, rewarding, inspiring) have lead me to do this work, providing these services, or creating this product?
What keeps me motivated to do the work I do?
What do I want my customer to do once they’re done reading this page?
How do I want my customer to feel after reading this page?
Are you writing your About page? Do you already have an About page? If so, what can you change, if anything, to make it more comfortable and genuine for your brand?
I’d love to hear from you!
Share your thoughts, feedback, questions, or a link to your About page in the comments below.
PS. If you found something about this post interesting, or helpful, please share it with a colleague or a friend. Thanks in advance!