When you visit a website for the first time where does your instinct take you? If you’re anything like me it’ll be the ‘About Us’ page. Okay, I admit it, I’m nosey – but wanting to know a bit more about who you might soon be doing business with is human nature. You want to know whether you feel you can trust them enough to spend money with them, entrust them with your credit card details or give them your email address. Let’s face it, there’s plenty of unscrupulous companies out there, and we all need reassurance when weighing up whether a website is legitimate or not.
Not convinced? Take a look at your website analytics – I can virtually guarantee that your About Us page (assuming you have one) receives a high percentage of your overall site traffic. Which is why it always amazes me that so many people just don’t bother about the content on that particular page.
Your About Us page has an important part to play in converting visitors into interested and engaged prospects. Apply the AIDA marketing model (Attention / Interest / Desire / Action) to your website and you’ll realise just how much your site needs to support this natural process that all clients/customers go through (be it conscious or unconscious).
People like to do business with people they know – even if they’re never going to meet you, they will want to feel some kind of affinity or familiarity with you. Allow your customers to take a good look at who you are, give them the chance to like and trust you and give them a reason to choose your company over any other.
So how can you make your About Us page work to maximum effect?
Show them what you look like
This is not the time to be shy. Whilst you might not be running a face-to-face business, people still like to see who they are dealing with. So give them the opportunity to see if they like the look of you – do you look friendly, approachable, professional, trustworthy? And if you have staff who will have contact with customers you should feature their photographs and names too. And if you have a ‘talking head’ style video, even better because that’s almost real life!
Tell your story
Give people a glimpse of why you started your business and what motivates you. You might be communicating in a virtual environment but we all still need to know and understand the humans behind the website.
Share your experience
If telling your story gets across the passion you have for your business, then sharing your experience has to be the solid credentials pitch to give a sense of balance. Explain how long you’ve been in your business, relevant qualifications, previous positions, any awards you might have received and so on. It all helps to build a picture in people’s minds.
Communicate your brand personality
The About Us page is not about overtly selling. But the picture you are creating is key to making your company different to the competition. In that sense you need to also consider what your business represents and ensure it is conveyed within this page. So think about how this might tie in with your company values so that you start to convey a consistent message. And don’t forget to consider the overall tone of voice – do the words express the right personality?
Encourage your visitors to get to know you better
Tell them where else they can have contact with you – LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, FlickR, Slideshare, whatever social media you use. If you’re using any of these tools, you’ll be connecting with people on many different levels and it all helps in building meaningful relationships and making you their first port of call when they need your service or product.
Have you hit on a good approach to your About Us page? Or what’s the best About Us page you have seen?