How you can optimize your About page, dump the vanity and shatter the boredom

You have met that guy. I know you have. All he does is talk about himself. In fact, he might, metaphorically, beat his chest to tell you how good he is. Maybe he’s trying to convince himself.

These days he may refer to himself as a guru.

I think Sara Bareilles wrote about him in her song King of Anything. If you aren’t familiar with the song, you can read the lyrics here and you can watch the video here.

Well, that is how some About pages end up being, just like that guy. He is the guy Bareilles writes about in the song, the guy who calls himself a guru and tells you how great he is.

But you can be better. You can create a better About page. No, I’m not talking about how it is designed, I am talking about how it is written.

Today we are going to talk about how to optimize your About page, dump the vanity and shatter the boredom.

Ready to get started?

Show that you are human

We are all human. We have likes and dislikes. We have strengths and weaknesses. We relate to humans better than people who have everything in life and never make mistakes. The other word you might use is authenticity. Henneke Duistermaat explains,

This doesn’t undermine your brand, but turns you into a human being. Someone who’s approachable and real. Someone who your favorite kind of clients would love to hire.

If you take a look at her About page, you will see her talk about her alter-ego Henrietta. Tell your story. Share what is important to you and your team. Share your values. This shows that you are a human being.

Make sure you include a picture of you and your team. This will show the faces belonging to the business. Check out this section of Brainstorm Force’s About page. Can you tell they are humans? Yeah, me too.

Pictures are pretty important. As Amy Lynn Andrews explains,

Before we talk about what you should say, let’s talk about a picture. You should definitely have a picture on your About page. You want people to know, like and trust you. One of the hindrances to this is to remain a mystery.

Makes sure that you have a professional headshot or branding photo. You may also want to include a picture or pictures of your team and a picture of you doing something you enjoy.

Use Call to Actions

People don’t think about it, but a call to action can go anywhere. Think about it, if you have persuaded readers that you are worth the price, why not ask them to do something? There are a couple ways you can do this.

In an article at the Kopywriting Kourse blog, Marian Schembari talks about using two calls to action (CTA), although she only refers to one as a CTA. First, she says to make an offering.

She counsels us to consider the primary offer,

Before you get overwhelmed, ask yourself: “What ONE thing do you want readers to do after reading your About page?” (Take “grow my list” off the table for a minute, because we’ll go into that later.)

For my company, I want people to check out my signature offering because it’s a good entry point for retainer clients.

The next thing she says is to have a CTA for readers to sign up for your email list. She explains,

Why?

Because these are super warmed-up leads who I’ve just convinced I’m worth listening to.

So if you have a list, here’s the place to promote it.

Make sure you have a good offer and provide an opportunity for readers to sign up for your email list.

Don’t make it all about you

It is really easy to think that an about page is going to be all about you, your business, and your team. And while you want to introduce readers to your business, you don’t want to make it all about you. Keep in mind you do have a reader who is trying to decide if you are worth hiring. They need help making that decision.

Sonia Simone explains that an About page is not about you, but your audience,

Mistake #7: I bet you think your About Page is about you

This is perfectly natural, even if you aren’t so vain.

What most site owners miss is that your About Page is actually about the person who clicks the link to see it.

There is no reason to give Carly Simon a reason to sing about you. Don’t be vain.

Prove your credibility

Are you credible? I mean, if you get the project, are you going to get it done, get it done right, and get it done on time? Of course, you will! Why not let your audience know this.

When I say let them know, I don’t mean beat on your chest and tell others how good you are (we’ve been over this already). So, what you do is get others to say it for you!

There are a couple ways you can do this. The first way is the age-old use of testimonials. They establish you as an authority, giving you more credibility.

The second say to do this is to highlight places you have been on the internet. Have you been on a podcast? Have you been featured in a video or an article? Those are great things to highlight to improve credibility.

Wrapping it up

Take a look at your website analytics. Most likely, your About page is the second most visited page behind your homepage. It is important to optimize it so you have conversions. Take advantage of that traffic.

What does your About page look like?