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 asmall southern town to start my business, I took a speech class toimprove my speaking skills. I went in prepared for my first speech. Iwas organized, I had practiced, and I was ready to convince this groupwhy they absolutely needed to hire me. As I started speaking, someoneraised their hand and asked me how a California girl got to Birmingham,Alabama. I was rather stunned, but proceeded to tell them my story andanswered all of their questions. My time was up but I learned a valuable lesson. Potential customers want to know your history, especially inthe 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 peoplewho may want to work with you. First time users may have been referredby a friend, or perhaps they stumbled upon your site using a searchengine. They like what they see and have to decide if they want to comeback. This is your opportunity to convert them to a customer. Yourregular 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 toknow 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 aretargeting.
All three groups are interested in one thing. They are evaluating yourwebsite through your “About Us” page to decide if they are in the rightplace. Regardless of which group is viewing your site, you need toanswer 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 “AboutUs” page so that viewers can get a quick overview without readingthrough a lot of text. Try to let visitors know if you are a fun andcreative company or a serious and more professional one. Give them anidea what they can expect if they work with you. Also, post a photo ofyou or your team to add the human factor. It is basic good manners tosay who you are and what you do, and in business it is how you establish credibility and respect. The Web is very depersonalized; thereforeusers like getting a sense of the people behind the site. They reallyjust 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 offerstraining and seminars on image management, workplace etiquette, andsocial skills necessary to succeed in life professionally andpersonally. Contact at: [email protected] www.successfulimage.biz
