Fun fact: The About Page on your website is the most frequently visited, second to your Home Page. Especially in the e-commerce space, it is fairly often that I’ll visit a small businesses’ website and 1) don’t see any About Page on their site or 2) They have an About Page, but it’s one or two lines of very generic messaging. Sometimes there’s a headshot, a few team photos, or some type of stock photo, but overall, there’s not the amount of information or personality that motivates me to take the next action to either book a service or buy a product from that business.

So what’s the issue with being generic and straightforward? Well for starters, it won’t set you apart and help you/your business to stand out. People hire you or buy from you because they get to know you, what you believe in, and what you’re all about. From the top to the bottom of the page, we’re outlining the key components that every small business needs to include on their About Page.

Essentials for “Above the Fold”

When you land on any page of a website, you only have a few seconds to capture your potential client or customer’s attention. The “above the fold” as it's called, is the portion of the website that you see right when it loads before you scroll down any further. Typically, you’ll want a catchy headline and subheadline right at the top of the page. This is sometimes also referred to as the “hook” or the message that is intended to capture a visitor’s attention.

Here are a few examples that utilize imagery and headlines and messaging that captures the attention of the visitor:

As you can see, the headline is large and visible and lets you know exactly who this person is and what they offer, before scrolling any further.

Another great use of an attention-grabbing headline is used here. In this instance, it’s introducing a team. They even include their core values so that you know what they stand for and believe in, right off the bat.

I love the storytelling element in this example. Rather than saying who you are, she starts with the origin of how her business was born.

For a product-based business, here’s a great example of an About Page that we designed for Keeper’s Collective that utilizes the heading and messaging above the fold to build our SEO (search engine optimization). In short, SEO helps search engines like Google help more people find your website from the specific keywords that they are searching for. For more tips on SEO, I highly recommend checking out the blog from our go-to SEO expert, Sweet Sea Digital.

Tell Us Your Story, in Your Words

Building off of the messaging that’s included in the above-the-fold section, you’ll want to continue to build trust with your audience. After all, if they’ve landed on your website and are now clicking around to different pages, you’ve already done something right! Now, it’s time to keep the momentum going.

Now I’ll be the first to admit, writing a bio or story about yourself can be hard. Here are some prompts that I recommend using to get you started:

When you were a child, did you have a hobby that you enjoyed doing that’s now similar to what you sell/do in your business? In detail, tell us a story about how much joy it brought you and how it made you feel.
Was there a pivotal moment in your life or career when you realized that you were meant to do something else? What did you do to make the first step of that transition?
Tell us about one of you/your team’s core values and what it means to you. How do you/your team live this value through the work that you do on a daily basis? Get specific here with some examples.
What does your mission statement mean to you/your team? To make things more interesting, ask each team member in an interview style and include their answer to this question as their bio instead of a generic intro.

Remember, a website is always a work in progress. You can edit, lengthen, or hire a copywriter to help you finesse your words in your bio, but in the land of About Pages trust me on this…done is better than perfect. You’ve got this!

Include Photography that Showcases Your Personality

This one is applicable to all team sizes and types of businesses–including photography is a must! Branding photography is an investment, which is why it’s so important to find the right photographer that not only fits your budget but also has specific experience in this type of photoshoot. To make it easier to get started in this arena, below is a quick set of tips for preparing for a brand photoshoot.

Research Your Branding Photographer

It is so important to find a photographer that matches your style and brand aesthetic. When choosing a photographer, look at their past work and make sure their style of photography, lighting, and editing matches your brand. Be sure to ask for reviews and perhaps a consultation, if you’ve never worked with them before. Remember this is an investment so do your homework and make sure you feel they will be able to capture and bring your vision to life.

Collect Inspiration From Other Brands And Photoshoots

Utilize Pinterest or Google to find photos that match your brand and style - choose photos that showcase your personality and you think will trigger a positive emotion in your audience.

Have The Photographer Shoot A Mix Of Portrait And Landscape

Most of the time, websites utilize landscape (horizontal) shots for banner images (across the top of each page). Please make sure you have the photographer capture 1/2 of the photos captured in this orientation.
Portrait (vertical) photos work well on About Me pages, so make sure to have a variety of different shots to choose from this library as well.

Choose an Environment That Speaks To You And Your Clients or Customers

Your inspiration for this will come from your brand board, but be sure to choose a location that is totally in line with your style and the audience that you want to reach. Research different locations near you, or perhaps you make a small trip to a city nearby - your photographer should also be able to suggest some locations.
A few of my favorites include a coffee shop, home office, garden, high-rise building, a cute Airbnb, park, woods, the beach, or your favorite cafe. Choose the location based on where your ideal clients or customers would hang out.
Get In The Zone - Exude Confidence
Mentally prepare for the photoshoot. You need to be as relaxed as possible, and taking some time leading up to the shoot is essential.
Have your wardrobe, makeup, and hair details flushed out at least a week before the shoot is scheduled to take place.
Spend the next week focusing on your inner beauty and brand coming out. You want to seem natural, approachable, confident, and on top of your sh*t with your photos, so spend some time getting into that mindset, so your photos showcase your most authentic self.

Include Your “Sparklers”

First off, I must credit my copywriting partner, Whitney of Popa & Associates, who first brought this term to my attention. She is a magician with words, so I’ll quote her Instagram reel directly:

“They are your fun facts. Your freak flags. The things people made fun of you for in high school.”

Sparklers are a step above the fun facts. They may seem too obscure to include, especially if you are a solo business owner. Here are some quick examples of sparklers that I’ve included on our About Page:

I came up with my elementary school’s slogan at age 7…“Be a Beaumont Bear, where the students care.” Once a marketer, always a marketer.
Multiple times, I dressed up as an ear of corn for a college public speaking assignment and advocated against GMOs at our local farmer’s market.
I know they are good for you, but I despise carrots in all forms.

The best way to come up with these sparklers is to get out a blank piece of notebook paper and set a time for 10-20 minutes. Let your mind wander and write down everything that comes to mind. Once you give yourself the time and space to write freely and have a solid list, ask yourself: Which of these do you think would attract or gain a positive response from an ideal client or customer? Once you have a handful of them, you can list them as bullet points on your About Page, like we’ve done here.

Social Proof is Your Best Friend

This next one actually deserves to be shown on every page of your website and not just the About Page.

Humans are skeptics by nature. It is essential to provide testimonials or case studies to continue to build trust with your audience. If you haven’t gathered any testimonials yet or aren’t sure what to ask past clients or customers, here are some prompts:

Describe your favorite part about working with us
What was your biggest challenge before working with our team?
What changed in your business after working with us?

If your clients or customers are open to it, sprinkle in a video testimonial or two on your About Page as well. Videos allow us to see, hear, and feel the emotion behind an outcome or experience.

Always Include Call-to-Actions

After you've shared your story, your core values, and the fun little tidbits about you or your team, you’ll need to tell them what to do next. Whether it's signing up for your newsletter, exploring your product or service offerings, or getting in touch with you for a consultation, guide them toward that CTA or “call-to-action.”

As a quick example, you’ll see the dark green button below. This links directly to our Contact Form, directly after the visitor reads through our team’s core values.

As a general rule of thumb, include 2-3 call-to-action buttons on each page of your website. Potential clients or customers will decide to take the next step at different points in their journey through your website.

Conclusion

Your About Page is your chance to showcase what sets your business apart. Though many businesses may offer similar products or services, this is the space where you can. Share your journey, your struggles, and your triumphs. Be genuine, relatable, and most importantly, be yourself. Remember, people connect with people, not faceless entities.

If you’re stuck on how to structure your website, feeling overwhelmed on where to get started or would rather have a team to get it done for you, we’re here to help! You can get in touch with us here.