“About Us” – Key elements of the About Us section of your website
April 9, 2013
Deborah O’Connor
April 8, 2013
Just about every website has an “About Us” page. This is where potential customers learn about you and your site. Readers visit this section for various reasons, so it is your responsibility to convert a visitor to a user.
So what should be in your “About Us” section? When I first moved to a small southern town to start my business, I took a speech class to improve my speaking skills. I went in prepared for my first speech. I was organized, I had practiced, and I was ready to convince this group why they absolutely needed to hire me. As I started speaking, someone raised their hand and asked me how a California girl got to Birmingham, Alabama. I was rather stunned, but proceeded to tell them my story and answered all of their questions. My time was up but I learned a valuable lesson. Potential customers want to know your history, especially in the South. By the way, I won best speech that day and repeated my speech many times.
Who visits your site? First time users, regular customers, and people who may want to work with you. First time users may have been referred by a friend, or perhaps they stumbled upon your site using a search engine. They like what they see and have to decide if they want to come back. This is your opportunity to convert them to a customer. Your regular users want to know more about your site and your “About Us” page is a way for you to keep them coming back. Potential customers want to know if your site is right for them so they need to know your history. They also want to know if your site covers the demographics they are targeting.
All three groups are interested in one thing. They are evaluating your website through your “About Us” page to decide if they are in the right place. Regardless of which group is viewing your site, you need to answer these basic questions:
• Who are you?
• What do you do?
• When did you start doing it?
• Where are you located?
• How are you accomplishing what you set out to do?
Answer these questions in a paragraph or two at the top of your “About Us” page so that viewers can get a quick overview without reading through a lot of text. Try to let visitors know if you are a fun and creative company or a serious and more professional one. Give them an idea what they can expect if they work with you. Also, post a photo of you or your team to add the human factor. It is basic good manners to say who you are and what you do, and in business it is how you establish credibility and respect. The Web is very depersonalized; therefore users like getting a sense of the people behind the site. They really just want to know where you came from and who your people are.
Deborah O’Connor is a social strategist and founder and president of Successful Image LLC with offices in Columbia and Atlanta. She offers training and seminars on image management, workplace etiquette, and social skills necessary to succeed in life professionally and personally. Contact at: [email protected] www.successfulimage.biz
