Using this About Us page template, you’ll be able to create killer content that shows your target audience why you are the brand for them
What are people looking for?
Probably the most frequently visited page on your website, your About Us page provides a peek behind the scenes and an insight into who you are. Ultimately, it helps people decide whether they should buy whatever it is you’re selling.
There is no room for standard, generic, and unauthentic here. Yes, you need to address the who, what, where, and why of your company and brand, but you need to do it in a way that stands out. Chances are, what you’re selling can be found elsewhere. You need to give those potential customers a reason to cross that conversion line with your company — and nobody else’s.
So, how do you do that? Tell a story. Everyone loves a story. This needs to be your brand story. Who you are, where you’ve come from, what you sell, and why you sell it. And it needs to be personal. If customers can see the humans behind your brand, they are much more likely to connect.
It needs to be a short story though. While it may seem like there’s a lot to cover in an About Us page, it needs to be succinct and easy to read. Use bullets, subheadings, and images. Don’t bore, don’t boast, don’t waffle. Be you — and use this space to show your readers why you are the brand for them.
What to include in your About Us page
When you work closely within your business, it can be hard to know what to include in an About Us page. It all seems so natural to you that you can’t imagine what people will want to know and what the most relevant points are. We’ve put some pointers together to help you along the way:
Introduction sentence: You need to capture attention here. People click away in a matter of seconds, so this needs to be a killer of a sentence. Top tip — do it last, once the rest of your content is in place.
What you solve and how: Yes, this is about the products, services, and expertise that you offer, but it needs to go further than that. What problem do you solve for the reader? This can be a problem in the market, like other companies not meeting a need well, or much more specific. In marketing expert Seth Godin’s book This Is Marketing, he talks about quarter-inch drill bits. Nobody wants a drill bit. They want the shelf that the drill bit will help them put up. More than that, they want the result of their room looking tidier once their stuff is on the shelf. Tell those potential customers what the end solution is for them if they buy into your brand.
Your brand story: Loyal customers buy into brands. To do that, they need to like the brand, and they can’t do that without knowing the brand’s back story. So, tell them why you started, how you evolved, your passion, and your reasons for going to work. Include milestones like when you got your first employee, when you moved into your first office, when you expanded, merged, and franchised. Take a look at the MOZ website for inspiration.
Who you are: This is your big chance to make a personal connection. Faceless organisations are a thing of the past. People want to see people. So while you’ll need to talk about yourselves, make sure you include pictures of you and the team. Apptopia does a great job of this with headshots of their team members, but also through photos of their team out having fun together.
What makes you special/different: Again, customers buy into connections. What are your values, your reasons for creating the company? Do you support a particular charity? Have you won awards? These are all details that could push someone over the conversion line.
Where you are: People are curious and like to know where companies are based, even if it’s an online business. If you have a shop front and want footfall, this is essential to include.
A rousing, passionate final sentence: Go out with a bang. Inspire and build trust in your final sentence, as that’s what creates brand fans.
While this is just a guide, if you cover these points, you’ll be on the way to creating a killer About Us page. Don’t feel that you have to stick to that order though — it’ll depend on your business and your brand story. Above all, it should be punchy, honest, authentic, and interesting. Design and illustration studio Eight Hours communicates their message in less than 70 words. It doesn’t need to be chapter and verse.
Getting across your brand’s personality
A key thing to consider is the tone of your writing. This is a great chance to share your brand’s personality. Avoid a formal monologue but try to get a sense of your style into the wording. You want people to feel like they’re in the room with you.
This is the modern-day version of the face-to-face chat in the greengrocers. In a small town with two grocers selling the same quality produce, why did people choose one over the other? Connection. It’s that simple. Who provided the best conversation? Who entertained more? Who made customers feel the best about themselves? The choice was the brand, not the product. Your voice builds your brand personality, and your About Us page is the place to let that sing through.
Test it, tweak it — readability checks
A great way to test the ‘readability’ of your writing is to read it out loud to yourself, your friends, your granny, or anyone who’ll listen. It should be nippy and captivating, and certainly not boring. If you stumble at any point, then you may need a rewrite to smooth it out. Try the Hemingway App (http://www.hemingwayapp.com/) to check your sentence structures and punctuation. This free app is a neat way to ensure that your text reads well and is correctly put together. Or alternatively, try something like EssayOnTime‘s grammar checker.
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