Web design trends come and go. Some website layout and structures are popular for a while and then others are invented. But something will never change: the need to create a great About Us page. This article will explain what exactly makes an exceptional page describing your business and will include examples that we believe are truly inspirational.
What Is the Role of the About Us Page?
Before you learn how to create a great About Us page, let us understand what it is about. This is your introduction to potential clients. It is just like meeting someone for the first time and telling them the salient facts about you.
An About Us page should tell users:
- Why you founded your business
- When you opened it
- What milestones you have achieved
- What motivates you to stay in business.
In other words, the About Us page tells your brand story. It should sound authentic and inspirational. It should give users confidence to interact with you from signing up to your newsletter to making the first purchase.
What You Must Avoid Putting in the About Us Page
The first thing you must strive to avoid in the About Us page is boasting about your business and using a salesy language. You do not win clients and close sales on this page. You are building relationships through this page. You tell people why they should trust you with their money.
If they are reading this page, they are already considering you as a potential source for a product or service they need. The reason why they are reading about your business is the fact that they need to be sure that you are:
- Reliable
- Professional
- A good match for their interests and needs.
How to Create a Great About Us Page
So, let us now move to the helpful tips for creating an About Us page that lives up to your brand image. Here they are:
1. Write in Simple Words
The best way of attracting customers is making them identify with your brand image. How do you do that? By speaking like them, in a way they understand. If you address a tired stay at home mom with academic language, she will not have the time or make the effort to understand you. She will navigate to another website.
2. Be Honest and Transparent
Honesty is the basic prerequisite if you want to create a great About Us page. Most brands started out as really small businesses. There is no need to hide that or to distort it. On the contrary – consumers will identify more with a story of starting small, struggling and then finding the path to success than a bombastic “we started big” story, which is difficult to believe.
3. Showcase Your Team
Add photos of your team on the About Us page. While reading your brand story, consumers need to know that they are ultimately interacting with other people. Photos of the managing team and key employees add a lot of trust and authenticity to the About Us page.
People will read the story, then look at the photos and say “so, this is the guy who will come to fix my broken boiler” or “these are the people making those beautiful shoes I saw in the Facebook ad”. This is a powerful way of building rapport with potential clients.
4. Include Contact Details
Yes, we know that you also have a Contact Us page on your website. However, if you want to create a great About Us page, add at least a phone number and email address. You never know when someone may feel sufficiently persuaded by what they read to send you an email or make a call to inquire about a product.
Moreover, consistent contact details on the About Us page will help Google determine your NAP details for the Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business).
5. Add a Few Customer Testimonials
The About Us page is a great place to show potential customer what your happy clients say about working with you. It is a very persuasive and reliable reinforcement of your brand story.
In any reader’s mind the entire page reads as “this is what they say about their company and this is what customers say about them”. The conclusion is that you are a trustworthy business.
6. Add a CTA
Without pushing for a sale, you can and should add a call to action button. Remember the basic rule – people usually do what you tell them to, if you are persuasive. If you don’t tell them to take action, they will rarely do it at their own initiative.
Inspirational About Us Pages We Love
If you need a little inspiration to create a great About Us page, here are some examples that stand out:
1. Nike
Do you believe that Nike is such a big brand that your company cannot possibly have anything in common with it? Take a look at their simple, informational and effective About Us page. The background shows a film of various people practicing sports – some are professional athletes, others are regular people like you and I and others have various disabilities.
Thus, Nike reinforces their tag line – “If you have a body, you are an athlete”. Nothing can be simpler and more effective than this simple statement that defines the company’s business mission.
2. IconiQ Creative
Do you want to create a great About Us page with a nearly perfect structure? Then be inspired by this creative agency. The first section tells potential clients what the company do and includes a simple and direct call to action: “Work with us”.
The second section summarises the company’s business mission in a short and powerful statement. Instead of testimonials, the third section includes a list of corporate clients. Finally, the page ends with links to CSR actions the company is involved in.
3. Mailchimp
Mailchimp is a great example of connecting with potential clients through human touch. Everyone knows Mailchimp – one of the biggest email marketing purposes. Yet, they are still talking about their early beginnings and their founders’ story, as if it were still a small business.
It continues by detailing the company’s values and CSR efforts – a great way of winning the readers’ goodwill.
4. Bulldog Skincare
We have to admit, it is difficult not to love an About Us page that starts with an adorable dog photo. After all, who doesn’t love dogs? With this clever trick, half of the reader’s goodwill is won. But it’s not just a cheap marketing trick.
The brand story feels authentic and relatable – the two key values you must keep in mind when you create a great About Us page. It starts with the founder’s personal problem, which he managed to solve by opening the business and creating products he’d love to use.
5. Big Cartel
Big Cartel is a platform that helps artists build websites to sell their art. The focus on art is very obvious – there is a lot of creative imagery at the top of the page. The text is sparse and to the point.
And, to justify the brand name, the company showcases their entire team – more than 30 people – on the About Us page.
We hope that you found these examples inspirational and you are now already working to create a great About Us page for your website. Good luck!