Many businesses are at an utter loss when it comes to their About Us page. They don’t know what to write, so they don’t write anything of substance at all.
Instead, they fill the page with empty blather about how passionate and committed they are, and how they strive to do this and that.
It’s the equivalent of going to a conference full of potential clients and standing behind a booth, looking bored and handing out leaflets. Instead, you should be out there mingling at the canapé table, and engaging people by revealing who you are and what you believe in.
Because when you show your personality and reveal yourself, people will believe in you and buy from you.
In this post, we’ll take you step by step through the process of how to write a good About Us page. You can follow it exactly, or pick the bits that work for you. Either way, it’s going to prevent your readers from dying a slow death reading corporate blah.
You should also take a look at our How to Write a Business Website Homepage post to get an idea of how these two different pages complement each other.
In brief:
Before the specific points, a couple of general observations:
A survey from Hubspot revealed some interesting facts related to About Us pages.
85% of consumers said they’ll only consider buying if they trust a brand.
Also, consumers rated About Us the second most important element on a website (above case studies, product images or live chat).
Takeaway: people really care about who they are buying from, so when you’re considering how to write a good About Us page, make sure you reveal yourself in a way that convinces them to choose you.
In the bad old days, businesses wrote in the style of those Victorian chaps in stovepipe hats. The content was formal, pompous and insincere. Perhaps they thought this icy style of writing was the equivalent of a tall, glittering building and projected authority? In any case, it was bloody awful.
These days, the leading providers are loosening up their copy and winning more engagement. Be like them by doing this: write your About Us page as if talking to a single person you know. Not a ‘group’, or an ‘audience’. Focus on that one person – perhaps a valued client you’d share a drink or meal with.
It’s going to warm up your copy no end.
Now onto the various elements you can use.
The above the fold (ATF) is the part of your website people can read without scrolling. It’s hugely important, because up to 80% of users will ONLY read this section.
Use it to write a strong mission statement. This tells people what you are here to do. It reveals your aspirations for making the world a better place in your chosen field.
Here’s some examples:
The common ingredient, you’ll notice, is a spirit of service and generosity. It’s not about ‘dominating the market’ but about making people’s lives better.
Why put these elements front and centre? Because research suggests that people are more and more frequently buying as a reflection of their personality, values and beliefs. Your mission/vision is a strong statement that puts the beliefs and ‘why’ of your company to the fore. (There’s much more on this point in the values section below.)
Here's two examples of mission statements at the top of About Us pages:
Forbes:
Google:
This is where things get tricky for a lot of businesses. They don’t know what to write in this potentially chunky section, so resort to platitudes. Or, worse, feed a few prompts into ChatGPT for some plausible-sounding but ultimately meaningless nonsense.
Don’t do that. Do this instead.
A) Tell your story. How did your business start? If it was a ‘humble origins’ story, give it to them – they’ll love this. Even better, if you started with a core ethos and followed it through all the way until now, reveal that.
You’ll want to list your milestones along the way – the things that reveal you developed and improved your offer until you became the business you are today. Here’s some prompts:
B) Tell your story in numbers
Point A above was intended to get you thinking, but here’s the killer tip that will make telling your story easy.
Use numbers throughout.
Numbers are the antidote to all that corporate nonsense we are forced to ingest. Why? Because numbers are compact packages for bona fide facts. And facts convince people because they are… well, true. (Breaking news: People Love Truth.)
Get these numbers in front of you before writing your story:
Here’s an example from Hubspot’s About Us page, although you may want to integrate a similar approach in running copy (paragraphs).
Potential clients are always looking for social proof. Include at least one testimonial from a client on your About Us page, preferably with a headshot. Here’s how we format ours at Coast Copywriting.
Forbes conducted some interesting research that suggested many people buy based on their personality, beliefs and values. Broadly speaking, they will purchase from brands that show strong values and responsibility to the world around them. This is particularly true among Gen-Z, with 68% aligning buying habits with values.
This goes a long way towards explaining why businesses feature their values on their About Us page. In fact, you may decide they are even more important than your story and should appear directly below the above the fold section.
So what are values?
Remember the mission from your above the fold section?
Values reveal how you will behave and conduct yourself in your pursuit of your mission.
Typically, they are several distinct points each described in a short paragraph that shows your ethical outlook. It will describe your way of working with customers and can also be a place to talk about your employees, or your sustainability credentials.
Here’s an example, from the Coast Copywriting website.
People want to see your people, to check they are real and don’t bite. Team bios can either be utterly boring, or a brilliant way to humanise your company and connect with people.
Here’s how to do the latter.
First, write something about the person’s position at the company.
Second, write something about their personal life away from work.
Generally speaking, keep it short and – it appropriate for your industry – introduce a light or humorous touch.
Here’s a great example from Sennen Surfing Centre in Cornwall.
Note that many websites dedicate a separate page to this Team section. If you have a lot of employees, you’ll want to do the same.
When working out how to write a good About Us page, many people fall at the very last hurdle by failing to include a call to action. This is the part where you ask people to do something like visit your contact page to get in touch, or call you.
It’s crucial you include one here because, if they’ve liked what they have read, the last thing you want them to do is drop off. You want to keep this conversation going and make that sale.
Here’s ours at the bottom of the image – a simple prompt that leads to our contact page.
Coast Copywriting helps businesses get more leads and customers through content marketing strategies and copywriting. Find out about our website content writer services. You can also see content marketing case studies revealing how we’ve helped clients like you. Or get in touch now.
Further reading
See the following related posts:
‘How to Write a Business Website Homepage: a Step-by-Step Guide’ provides everything you need to know to get this crucial page written. Use it alongside this About Us guide and you’re most of the way there.
‘B2B Businesses: This is How to Write Content for Websites That Actually Wins Leads and Sales’ provides an overview on writing website content, looking at general principles.