Last Updated on February 22, 2023 by Alex Birkett
In the second decade of the 21st century, where all your competitors are doing whatever they can to capture the market, building an online presence is more than getting a company website and leaving it there.
I know, I know, postmodernism and its woes!
But it’s not all that bad.
You can use your online presence to build your brand and connect with your customers on a personal level.
One of the most important aspects of showing who you are is the about page. An about page helps introduce your company’s core values, the company’s history, and the brand story to website visitors.
However, there’s a lot that goes into an About Us page. What should be included? How long should it be? How can you add personality to your page?
This guide will answer these questions and more (along with examples) as we discuss how to write an about page.
How to Write an About Us Page (Tips And Tricks With Examples)
The About Us page is one of the most critical pages on your website. It’s an opportunity to show potential customers who you are and why they should buy from you.
If you’re looking for some guidance on how to write an About Us page that converts, read on.
1. Throw in Some Personality
As a business owner, you know all too well that there are hundreds of other companies out there just like yours. So how do you stand out?
By throwing in some personality.
The best way to do this is by sharing a story about your company’s beginnings or why it was started in the first place. These stories can grab the attention of potential customers who may be on the fence about purchasing from you.
Let’s say, you’re an online shoe store and started selling shoes because you were looking for new ones yourself and couldn’t find anything that fit right, then share that story. It shows readers that you understand their pain points and why they should buy from you instead of going elsewhere for their shoe needs.
Just remember: don’t bore them with facts or statistics (unless they’re relevant), but try to keep things lighthearted and fun.
For example, look at this About Us page by Articulate Marketing. They’ve injected their personality using friendly, casual language:
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“We are a free-range, artisanal, award-winning team, full of geeky, quirky, lovely, diverse, funny good eggs.” That’s the opener, and it says a lot about who they are, what they value, and their personality.
That should be the focus of the About Us – giving people a reason to want to get to know you, whether from a client’s side or even as an employer.
Matthew Stibbe, CEO of Articulate Marketing, says,
“The rest of your website can be all about products and solutions. The About Us is your opportunity to be yourself, so throw in some fizz and ginger—some personality, in other words.”
The company is also making its brand stand out by adding personal touches, including photos of the team, along with their likes, expertise, and experience.
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It shows potential clients that there are real people working behind the scenes and gives them a sense of familiarity with the business.
Not only does this make for an exciting read, but it also helps build trust between you and your audience.
2. Deliver an Elevator Pitch
An elevator pitch is a brief summary of your business and what it does. It gives your target customer or potential client a quick snapshot of your brand positioning in the time it takes to ride an elevator (hence the name).
It’s also called an “elevator speech” because it’s something that you can recite on the fly when you’re stuck in an elevator with someone who wants to talk about something other than the weather. (Hopefully.)
We can use this same concept for about us pages. It doesn’t have to be long, but it should be concise enough to give potential customers a good idea of what your company does, who it serves, and how it solves problems.
As Aiden Higgins, Senior Editor and Writer of The Broke Backpacker, says,
“By quickly selling yourself, people can grasp what you do before they read on.
When reading an “About Us” page, most people want to know what your business does. With many websites, though, they don’t find out until they have read through a full paragraph of backstory. While this is great, it doesn’t grab their interest as easily. You can elaborate and go into detail about why your business exists and who the staff is, but primarily, you want to grab their attention.”
So how do you write an effective elevator pitch? Here are some tips:
- Keep it short: You don’t need to write a book; just mention the most important element or give them enough company information, so they want to learn more.
- Make it personal: Show people why they should care about your founding story and what makes you different from other companies.
- Use strong keywords: Use keywords that potential customers are searching for when looking for solutions to their problems.
Check out Omniscient Digital’s about page, where they immediately introduce themselves and explain the value they provide.
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The first thing that strikes me is that the company name is included in the page’s title. It makes sense since it helps people find your website easily. It also helps with SEO by creating a clear link between your business and its website URL.
The next thing I notice is how well-written this page is – there’s no fluff or filler here – just well-thought-out content relevant to their target audience. This makes for a great user experience for anyone reading it, whether it be someone researching them before hiring them or someone who has already hired them and wants more information on what they offer.
Gucci’s “About Us” page is another great example of how to write an about us page consistently that provides information about the company and its products.
Their “About Us” page describes who they are and what they offer. It has a simple layout with an eye-catching background image. The header is clear and concise, making it easy for people to read.
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The Italian high-end luxury fashion house immediately describes itself and what it offers when it says, “The House has redefined luxury for the 21st century, further reinforcing its position as one of the world’s most desirable fashion houses.”
They also mention that the brand is part of the Kering Group, an international Luxury group that manages the development of a series of well-known houses in fashion, leather goods, jewelry, and watches.
This is a great way to give background information about your company and what it stands for. It gives the visitor a chance to find out more about you before they make any type of purchase decision.
3. Talk About Your History
Talking about your company history can be as simple as saying that you’ve been in business for 20 years or as detailed as explaining how the company started and what makes it unique today.
This provides your target audience with some insight into who you are, what makes you unique, and what drives you forward every day. It also helps them understand if they want to work with you and why they should choose your company over others like yours.
If you’re well-established, it may be worth going into more detail about how things progressed over time and why certain decisions were made.
Luxury brands do it the best by offering a sense of history and tradition that helps justify their high price points.
For example, Burberry’s website gives a year-by-year breakdown of the company’s legacy, which makes customers feel like they’re buying something that’s a part of history (and not just an overpriced piece of clothing).
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Why else do you think their statement trench coat is so sought after?
However, if you’re just starting, this doesn’t have to be too detailed.
Just give readers an overview of how you got started and what happened along the way.
For instance, the MVMT story uses sections to tell different parts of the brand’s story.
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The story focuses on the two co-founders of the company, who are college dropouts. They added photos of themselves to put a face to their names. The story then goes into detail about their product promise and what they hope to accomplish with their business venture.
Or, let’s say you’re running an online store for vintage clothing.
You could talk about how your grandmother’s closet inspired this collection or how your grandfather used to bring home old typewriters from his office job and show them off at dinner parties. The most important thing here is authenticity – don’t try too hard to be cool or funny or edgy; just write down whatever comes naturally.
There are many ways to talk about your history on an about us page without sounding like a braggy salesperson trying too hard to sell his or her product or service.
Here are some tips:
- Talk about what makes you different from other companies in your industry.
- Talk about how you started and grew as a company. Talk about why you decided to become an entrepreneur in the first place and what problem(s) did you want to solve?
- Talk about your values: What’s essential for you? Is customer service paramount for you? Is quality more important than price? Or maybe both?
- Don’t be afraid to brag a little bit (just a little, though). Tell people why they should buy from your company instead of another one in your industry. If you have any awards or recognitions, make sure to mention them here. But don’t just list them – explain what they mean for your business and why they matter to customers too.
- Talk about how long you’ve been in business and how much experience you have with what you do (if applicable).
4. Brand Your About Us Page With Your Fonts and Colors
If you already have an About Us page, it’s important that it matches the rest of your website, including fonts.
Another way to ensure everything looks cohesive is by sticking with the same color scheme from one page to another. This can be easy if you already have a branded color scheme for your business or blog.
If your brand has a unique design element (such as an icon), then make sure it’s included here too.
This will help maintain consistency throughout your site and make it easier for visitors to navigate. Plus, if you’re trying to get in front of new customers, they’ll know exactly who you are when they see your site.
Here’s a great about us page example:
HubSpot’s about page features their brand color scheme and font, which are also used on the rest of their website, marketing campaigns, content, and more.
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This makes their brand feel cohesive and consistent across all mediums.
Another good example is the coffee chain Starbucks. Their about page has a consistent font and color scheme, along with pictures of their team and the place their coffee comes from.
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In addition to choosing fonts for your about page, you also need to make sure that the color contrast between your text and background is high enough. This allows people to read everything easily without straining their eyesight or squinting at anything.
5. Include Impressive Client Logos on Your About Us Page
Client logos are a great way to prove that you’ve worked with big companies and brands. This can help build trust with potential customers by showing that you’re an expert in your field.
This is because it shows potential customers that other companies have successfully used your services before. It also gives credibility to your business and builds trust between you and potential customers.
Here’s an example from Udemy:
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When including logos, it’s essential that they are big enough for visitors to see. If you use smaller images, then visitors will have a hard time identifying them as client logos (which defeats the purpose of having them there in the first place).
If you don’t have any client logos, it’s okay.
Aside from client logos, you can also include social proof in the form of:
- Past Success Stories on Your About Page
It’s always good to show off what you’ve achieved in the past, but don’t just stop there. Showing off past success stories is a great way to prove that your company has experience and knowledge in doing what it does.
- Testimonials on Your About Page
Testimonials can be included anywhere on your website, but it’s best to include them on your about page, so potential clients can get a sense of what others have said about your services.
6. Connect With an Anecdote
If you have a good story to tell, use it to connect your About Us page with your clients.
You can do that by telling an anecdote in the first person.
An anecdote is a short story that illustrates a point or idea. It can be something that happened to you or someone else, but it is always relevant and interesting.
The anecdote can be about your personal brand, your team, or your business.
Here are some examples:
“I started this company as a side project while traveling around the world.”
“When we first started working together, none of us knew anything about design.”
“We were working from home when we got our first client.”
If you have any unique story, just share it.
Here are some tips to help you build an anecdote that will resonate with your audience:
- Consider how long the story should be. If you’re unsure how long it should be, ask yourself this question: “If the most important thing about this company were distilled into one sentence, how would I say it?”
- Start with an introduction that lets people know if you’re talking about yourself or someone else (e.g., “When I was growing up” vs. “When my brother…”).
- Use clear language and simple sentences.
- Personalize the anecdote as much as possible by using specific details about people and events that happened in the past (e.g., dates, names, and descriptions of people’s clothing). Try not to use generalizations like “everyone” or “they all.”
Pravin Walunjkar, Content Manager, Swapnil Pate SEO also suggests,
“Including an anecdote as an opening paragraph of your “About Us” page helps to establish an emotional connection with the reader and bring your brand to life. This may be an excellent method to show the company’s principles, mission, and personality in an approachable and engaging manner.
Instead of just listing your products and services, concentrate on their advantages for the readers and how your organization can easily address their difficulties. This will help the readers to understand the value of what is on offer for them and will increase the likelihood of them doing business with you.”
7. Include a Video
We’ve all heard the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” but when you add a video to that equation, it becomes priceless.
Video can be an effective way to introduce your company and its products or services. A good video can help you not only explain what you do but also why you do it and how much passion you have for it.
And if you’re still not convinced, here are some statistics that may change your mind:
- 83% of marketers say video has boosted the average time their visitors spend on their page.
- 73% of people would rather watch short videos to learn about a product or service.
- 80% of video marketers say using video has increased their sales.
Now that you’re convinced, how do you go about it?
The first thing to do is make sure that the video is relevant to the topic of your website. If it doesn’t fit in with the rest of the content on your website, people are not going to watch it.
If you have a service-based business or a product-based business, then showing people how your company can help them is a great way to engage them in your business. This can be done by showing testimonials or even just talking about how you can help customers solve problems or accomplish tasks.
Another option is to talk about how long you’ve been in operation and how many customers you’ve helped over the years. This helps build trust with potential customers and will increase their interest in working with you if they feel like they are getting personalized service from an experienced professional who has been around for a while.
Or, you could simply talk about your company’s story and the philosophy behind your product, like this two-minute video about HubSpot’s history on HubSpot’s About Us page.
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The video offers an excellent way to tell your story without having to write it all out.
Here are some more tips for creating a video for your “About” page:
- Include your team members, office space, and other things that help you build trust with the visitor.
- Use storytelling techniques. This will make it more interesting for viewers to watch and remember later on down the road when they need help with their own business.
- Keep it short and simple – viewers have short attention spans.
8. Always Include a CTA and Opt-in
Your About page is the perfect place for a CTA (call-to-action). You want your site visitors to know who you are, what you’re about, and why they should care – and then ask them to subscribe so you can keep in touch with them.
As Maximilian Wühr, CGO and Co-Founder of FINN, shared,
“The “About Us” page shouldn’t directly sell your products or services (there are other pages for that), but it should market your business and story to your visitors. And while it’s not a sales-oriented page, it should never stop at a dead end.
Once you’ve effectively told users who you are and convinced them to keep reading, your “About Us” page should flow into an opt-in form. Rather than directly converting users to buy a product or service, ask these readers to subscribe to your email list to hear more from you.”
For example, this blog’s “About” page compels you to sign up for a monthly newsletter with the promise of sharing “lots of good tips and tricks and exclusive ramblings” (keeping it casual) – combined with the CTA, “Get Sweet Emails.”
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It works great because it allows you to provide value without being too salesy or pushy.
This contact form from Blake Fili Suarez, a graphic designer, is another great example:
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Suarez included it on his About page to make it easy for visitors to get in touch.
9. Build Trust by Communicating Your “Why.”
The most important thing you can do to build trust and credibility with your customers is to communicate the “why” behind everything you do and say.
This includes your mission statement, the reason for starting your business, the value you provide for customers, and the results you want to see from doing business with you.
To make things simple, you have to focus on communicating three things:
- Why you exist
- What makes you different
- How much value this difference provides
Here’s an example:
Reggie’s a dog supplements brand, “Why” statement reads, “We’re bridging the gap between you and your dog’s everyday wellness regimens.”
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They reinforce this statement by talking about how their ingredients are packed with good nutrients, segmented by mealtime, and color-coded, among others. And they even mention how their products are made in the USA.
The brand’s About Us page is straightforward, yet it effectively builds trust with its customers.
As Josh Weiss, Founder and CEO of Reggie, says,
“Including the “why” of your business on your “About Us” page is essential, as this differentiates it from the competition. Consumers want to discover brands beyond their products. And defining your purpose inspires folks to not only buy your products but also, to quote author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek—”buy why you do it.”
It tells them why you formed your company and what drives your team to bring their A-game daily. It also lets people know you’re committed to something more than turning a profit, which builds customer trust and encourages them to join you on your mission.”
10. Share All the Content On One Page
Sharing your content on one entire page makes it easier for your customers to find all the information they need without having to click through multiple pages. It also makes it easier for you by providing a single page where all your content is in one place.
For instance, Cook Collective, a shared kitchen service, allows businesses in the food industry to rent a space for preparation and storage.
They communicate all this information on a single page:
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The top of the page has a menu that takes you to different sections on the site. You can learn more about the company and its services, as well as the brands they have partnered with:
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Finally, there’s a booking and information request form at the end of the page that provides a way for visitors to get in touch with the company.
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You get everything you need to know about them (with a contact form thrown in) on one single page.
Pro TIP: If you have a lot of content you want to share, you can simply link to different pages from a single about page rather than creating a separate page.
Use AI Tools to Create Your “About Us” Page
Despite these tips, I’m sure the thought, “Where do I start?” still lingers.
It’s not surprising.
Writing about yourself can be hard.
It’s even harder when you’re trying to write about your business, which is likely much bigger than just yourself.
And the next thing you know, you are opening ChatGPT to do the work for you.
And since the market is now brimming with AI writing tools, I don’t blame you.
To create realistic dialogue, some programs use natural language processing techniques and deep learning algorithms to analyze human speech patterns and generate sentences from scratch.
I have two favorite tools: Copy.ai and Jasper.
I mostly use them to write the introduction to my blog posts, but let’s see how we can use them to write the copy for an About Us page.
Both tools help create written content for your pages that looks like it was written by a human, not a computer program. And I haven’t ever encountered any significant plagiarism or even grammatical errors in the copy, so that’s a plus.
Let’s see how Jasper can help you write your About page:
With Jasper, you’ll get access to over 50 templates, out of which the “Company Bio” template would be the most suitable here. Or, if you’re creating the “About Us” page for your personal blog, you might also like the “Personal Bio” template.
Jasper has over 50 templates, many of which could be helpful for your about us page. The “Company Bio” template is a good choice if you’re writing about your business; the “Personal Bio” template might work well if you’re writing for your personal blog.
Here’s an example of a bio written with Jasper’s “Personal Bio” template:
To get the best results from your AI tool, make sure to include detailed descriptions in the “information” section.
You can also choose which style of writing you want (e.g., personal, professional, etc.) to make it as professional or conversational as you want.
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The first few results may seem a bit robotic, but there are ways to sprinkle this content with some personality.
You can mix and match content from two or more of Jasper’s outputs or even different templates.
Aside from the company bio, Jasper gives you access to other templates like:
- Content Improver
- Perfect Headline
- Persuasive Bullet Points
- Company Bio
- Feature to Benefit
- Unique Value Proposition
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For example, first, you might use the “Unique Value Proposition” template to create an engaging proposition that differentiates your business from others.
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Then you could use the “Company Bio” template and mix and match content, modifying specific sections as needed.
And if you don’t like any one of the sentences, you can change it using the “Content Improver” tool.
The options are limitless, and it’s up to you how you play around with the tool to get the best possible results.
Copy.ai works similarly and is actually one of the most popular Jasper alternatives.
Copy.ai has an “About Us Page” tool that prompts you to tell every little detail about your brand.
After adding all the information (for my hypothetical company), here are some of the results:
While I wouldn’t pick this AI content verbatim, there are some interesting words and phrases that you could incorporate into your own About page.
For instance, if I were really generating content for my skincare business, I wouldn’t mind taking phrases like “Skincare is serious business” from here, along with the paragraph I outlined.
And like Jasper, Copy.ai also offers a variety of templates that can help you spruce up your copy further.
And I have a hack for you (it will be our little secret 🤝).
Start by writing about your company. Pen down whatever comes to mind on your own without worrying about the prose or how it may sound to the reader for now. Finally, you can use these AI tools to rewrite some sentences whose phrasing doesn’t seem quite right at first glance.
For example, I was starting this section with the sentence, “Despite these tips, I’m sure the thought “Where do I start?” is still prevalent.”
However, I wondered if the sentence could sound better and chose to use AI to rephrase it for me and finally replaced it with “Despite these tips, I’m sure the thought “Where do I start?” still lingers.”
However, I had to do some tweaking myself rather than simply lifting the sentence from the tool.
You can also use different tones to make that particular sentence funny, witty, professional, etc. The possibilities are endless.
While these tools are great and can help you generate ideas, I also believe that AI-created content on its own isn’t very effective.
If you want your “About Us” page to be truly unique and stand out from the crowd, then you need to put your own spin on whatever AI tool you are using. The best way to do this is by adding a bit of humor or personalization into the mix.
For the most part, it’s going to be your vision for your company, combined with great copywriting and a dash of artificial intelligence.
Now It’s Time to Introduce Yourselves And Your Business!
Whether you’re a freelance writer, a small business, or working on creative projects, these tips will help you create an effective About Us page that will get results!
All in all, writing a great about page to talk about your company values and show where your brand stands don’t have to be complicated.
Some planning and thoughtful writing will help get your point across and paint a clearer picture of the company culture or personal story you are trying to present to your users.
Just remember to keep your content and page design relevant and concise. Don’t hesitate to get assistance from an AI story-writing tool either – as long as you’re just getting some assistance and not using them to do the entire heavy lifting for you.