It’s hard. Very hard. I’ve asked you to write an About page and you have no idea where to begin. Take a deep breath and let’s get this done. Follow these tips and get an About page draft written. You can always go back and tweak it to your liking. Follow these tips, get the basics written and then make it perfect later.
Must I have an About page?
Yes! This is most important if you are providing a service, but important for everyone. When I land on your website I want to know about you. I want to know this person I’m about to contact and your About page is the first place I’m going to check. Don’t make me search for it. Call it what it is- About, Meet Stephanie, The Photographer. It just needs to be obvious that when I click this page I’m going to read about YOU.
It must include your name! “Hi, my name is Stephanie Pleasants.” is a perfectly acceptable first line. I want to know who you are before I send a message to you. If I’m going to call you, I want to know how to address you. Get your name on that page and let’s use your first and last name.
I don’t want my photo there.
Yeah, me neither. But, having a visual of you as I type out that contact message helps a lot. Picturing you when I make that call makes the conversation a little easier. Many people remember images. It’s the first step in the know-like-trust factor. Let me get to know you.
Do you like creating videos? Go for it! Talk to me. But, don’t make the video auto-play and do put content there for those of us who aren’t video watchers.
What am I supposed to write?
Write about you and what you do. Keep it short, but not too short. Don’t over inflate it. I don’t need every detail of your life story, just the details that will affect me. A lot of text is going to turn me off, too much isn’t going to be read. I suggest 1 long paragraph or up to 3 shorter ones. Be natural. If you like to make jokes, put them in. Talk to me. Tell me a little about you, what you do, why I should listen to or hire you. Your About page is one more little hook to land that client.
One tip I read was to have a someone who knows you well write your about page. That could work. At the very least that might give you something to get started with that you can then tweak to your liking. Toss in some key words and phrases and you’ve got a something to start with.
Go now. Read your about page and decide if it needs a tweak.
