About Us page copywriter

Your About Us page is one of the most important on your website. It's also one of the most neglected pages on many websites. That's a shame, when a professional About Us page writer can transform yours from one long yawn to a power-packed, engaging selling page.

If you want to know how to improve your website, this is a great place to start and an easy win to differentiate your organisation. And if you don't have the time, the specialist writing skills or the inclination to make more of your About Us page, I can help. We should have a chat...

Please call 01242 520 573 or email me
 

More on writing an effective About Us page

Too often, when I set out to rewrite a website, I find an About Us page that lacks personality, originality and flow. You've probably seen them too, the ones that begin with something like ' At XYZ Co we specialise in...' What follows is often a mass of random information (maybe copied and pasted from the company brochure or profile). Have you ever noticed how easily one could exchange the name and location for any one of thousands of different organisations that are 'passionate about customer service', 'committed to offering value' and 'operating at the leading edge of such and such a technology'?
 

Words are important on your About Us page

Alternatively, someone has had the bright idea of dispensing with copy and has dropped in a video. Yes, videos are important (increasingly so with Google's recent changes), but remember that your site visitors will almost certainly look for words to learn about you and decide whether they like you. Is that important? I think so, given that for all of my working life, 'people buy people' has been a constant. And if you've got a spacial claim to credibility, like SEO book author Andrew Mason, of Mowbray SEO, words are a great way to get the message over.

Be warm, friendly and human

As with so much website writing, About Us pages typically miss the opportunity to be warm, friendly and human and show some personality. Look at a few web page examples and see how many say 'ACME Corporation does this', 'our clients do this' or something similar?

The web is changing and so is website writing. Nowadays, instead of being aloof, cold and corporate, even B2B writing is more conversational, more akin to the way you would speak to that buyer or director if you were sitting across the table from them in the pub. Try using 'we' and 'you' (with more of the latter, given that 'You' is one of the five most persuasive words in the world). Use sentence fragments for punchiness too. And forget what you were told about not starting sentences with and or but. That's old hat. And it makes better reading if you break the old 'rule'.
 

As long as it needs to be

How long should your About Us page be? That's simple and it's the same as pretty much any piece of online or hard-copy writing. When writing an About Us page it should be as long (or as short) as it needs to be to tell your story properly. As direct mail and landing page copywriters have always known, it's amazing what someone will read if it catches their interest. And if it consists of short sentences (aim for an average of 15 words per sentence) and short paragraphs with engaging subheads and pull quotes. Bite-sized rocks on your About Us page as everywhere else on the web.

Everyone loves an engaging story

Speaking of storytelling, here's another communication tool that's been around for a few million years or more – since the first humans sat around the campfire at night and exchanged tribal tales, laws and mores. We love stories: as humans they're a key tool for making sense of our world and our experiences. From infancy to old age, great stories are guaranteed to engage and persuade. Try telling one on your About Us page. Share the story behind your business, its name, its motivation and its customers' expectations. Everyone loves a story.
 

Show us who you are

Show yourself, your team, your business premises, your vehicle fleet or the managing director's dog! Make the pictures interesting, however, and use a skilled commercial photographer. Makes sure you also state your name, the name of your business and how to get in touch clearly on your About Us page. You're not replacing your Contact Us page, but complementing it. And remember to tell your reader what you do.

How about repeating your elevator pitch? Here's mine:

'I'm Al Hidden, Gloucestershire Copywriter, and I craft the words you don't have the time, the specialist skills or the inclination to write yourself. I work mainly for businesses and individuals in Gloucestershire and surrounding counties, specialising in marketing, website/SEO and technical copywriting, as well as PR writing and client case studies. Whatever I write, I get business copywriting off to-do lists and out in the market where it can work hard for my clients.'

Your About Us page: it's not primarily about you

And finally, to what is probably the commonest mistake we see when we look at About Us page samples. As well as making it very obvious where on your website it is, please remember that, ultimately, your About Us page isn't about you. It's about your site visitor, your prospective customer. It's only About Us in so much as it explains what that means for your reader.

Want a hand? Let's talk

If this all sounds like a lot to remember or put into practice, I can help you. Your About Us page is too important to leave to any old about us page generator. If you're stuck for About Us page ideas, or you don't have the time, specialist skills or inclination to write, I'll help you create a page with all the attributes we've discussed.

Call me on 01242 520 573 or email me