No matter what type of website you run, your About page is one of the most important pages that you will have on the entire site. In some cases it’s your first and last chance to make a good impression, the place where the rubber meets the road. While you can show off your skills, success, experience and more using other pages, the About Me page needs to be your focal point for showing a visitor who you are and what you’re about. To get your everything in order, here are 9 of the most effective About page tips I’ve come across:
Don’t Be Shy, Add Personality
A good About page is all about pre-selling through personality. No matter what type of vertical you’re in, e-commerce, lead generation, local, you’re still in the business of selling yourself. The personality that you’re able to portray (or not able to portray) is how personable and trusting your visitors will see you. If they can relate to you in areas of their own personal life (hobbies, family, etc) they are going to be a lot more open to listening to what you have to say.
Include Links
Including links on your About page to work you’ve done, similar sites you run, sites that showcase own personal hobbies, is not only a great way to bring exposure to your business and your style, but it’s also great for navigation. Whether you’re linking internally or externally, putting your visitors only one click away from getting to know you better is definitely a win-win situation!
Make Sure Your Page is Seen
Unfortunately, I see this scenario far too often: a webmaster buries their About page in their site somewhere, doesn’t have one at all, or names it something unusual that the user isn’t looking for. I can’t help you choosing a better name (what’s wrong with “About”?), but by giving the page a prominent position in the navigation bar, or pairing it with an exposed “Contact Us” page, you can avoid the “buried” dilemma. Whatever your solution, make sure that users can find it quickly and easily…because they will be looking.
Throw in Some Social Media
You’re target audience, no matter what industry you’re in, is going to want to see what kind of social channels you are involved in. This is great because it gives you a more casual forum to engage in dialogue with your target market. However, to start that dialogue you have make sure that you have these channels on your About page where users can see them. This goes along with showing off your personality and letting your visitors “in” to see who you are.
Keep It Current
As your site or company grows and changes, so should your About page. You’ll want to check in often to ensure that you don’t have outdated information on the page, as well as to update the page with current info. This will likely include things like job status, roles and responsibilities, or if you have a close relationship with you visitors you can even family information.
Basic SEO
Just like the other pages on your site, you’ll want to ensure that basic SEO exists. Whether you’re optimizing for a business name or your own name, you’ll likely want to put these in your title, the URI, etc. In many cases, especially if you’re optimizing for a personal name, this is the page that you will want to show up in the SERPs. If this is the case, it’s important to treat the name like a keyword and make sure it’s in the “usual” places.
Take Videos On A Test Drive
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million. Instead of simply having some text describing your site (which is good, don’t get me wrong), you can also include a video that can be used to personally tell people about your site. Offering a video on your About page is a way to not only engage your audience, but engage them on a personal level and expose the real you. You never know, you may even get them to convert.
Always Include a Call to Action
The fact is, you’re running a site…whether it’s for business or pleasure, you’re putting in your time to make it happen, so isn’t it worth it to get visitors to act? You may be interested in making money, or you may simply want to promote an idea, but in the end, where does the visitor turn? Always include a call to action somewhere in your About page to ensure repeat customers, visitors and word-of-mouth advertising.
Photos Are A Must
Let’s be honest, your writing is only going to get the user so far. To go from “good writing” to the “wow I really like what this person has to say” realm you need bridge that gap with things like videos (see #7) and images. This helps the user put a face with the name, and furthers the “relationship” in general. People are much more likely to give you a link, mention you on Twitter, or fill out a conversion form if they feel like they know you.
Finally, no matter how you setup your About page, always remember that it is one of the main methods of outreach that you have to offer. Visitors, customers, potential customers and more will use your About page as a virtual (although one-way) conversation, so always make sure that it speaks to the audience.
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