Read time: ~13 minutes

I’m not really a forum kinda gal — But I spend a lot of time on Reddit doing SEO and copywriting research. The other day I stumbled upon a forum where I saw someone convince someone else to turn their ‘ “About Us”’ page into a product page/sales page because ‘IMO it’s a waste of space if it’s not actively selling. No one reads them anyway.’ 

My eyebrows nearly left my face when I read that but if you’re here reading this then that means you’re also unsure about whether your website needs an “About Us” page. The answer is: you absolutely do. So let’s talk about it.

Why You Shouldn’t Skip The “About Us” Page

For anyone who has spent time in a sales position (selling your own business/services counts), what is the most important key to being successful in sales? 

*say it with me* relationship building. 

When it comes to your website, the “About Us” page serves as a bridge between your brand and your audience, allowing you to create a meaningful connection & potentially convert your visitors into loyal customers/clients.

  • It helps people see the person/people behind the brand (assurance).
  • It lets people feel out your personality (relatable).
  • It helps them create an emotional connection to you (emotional). 
  • And all of these combined help to create trust — that you’re the best solution for them.

It’s also a great place to add your location (good or SEO) and show off your credentials (builds authority). 

Your “About Us” page is like the meet and greet at a networking event. You’re taking in everything a person is ‘presenting’ to you and analyzing it to see if you want to continue the conversation and the connection. 

Whether you’re a habitual “About Us” page reader or not, to write a good “About Us” page, think about why someone might be visiting it: 

  • To preview the brain behind the brand.
    • “This brand really gets me, I wonder who runs it or how it got started.” 
  • To get to know the team/solopreneur.
    • “Wow, this brand is really cool, I wonder what kind of people work here.”
  • You’re deciding if you like them (based on a variety of factors).
    • “The language of the home page really speaks to me, let me look at the people who run the company/work here. What do their bios say, what is the origin story of the company, does the about page feel the same way the home page feels?”
  • You’re looking for social proof.
    • “This brand is cool, how have I never seen them before? Oh look, they’ve been featured in X, Y, & Z magazines!”
  • You’re checking to see if their story makes sense
    • “Oh they make organic socks — what an interesting niche. I wonder what happened in their lives to lead them to making organic socks…” 
  • You’re fact-checking them.
    • “Their home page says they’re committed to fair wages/sustainable agriculture/insert any other issue here. How did they come to care about that issue? How do they incorporate that into their business?”
  • And ultimately, you’re trying to get to know the brand better. 

Like a first blind date you’re feeling them out to see if they could be the one for you. 

Example: You’re looking for a new pair of socks and find yourself on a website that makes organic, allergy-friendly socks. Everything looks good but… who are they and why do they make allergy-friendly socks? Are they a corporation capitalizing on a market with few choices or was it built by someone who experienced the problem firsthand? You head to the “About Us” page to find out more.

These are the kinds of things you want to think about when you’re creating your “About Us” page. 

  • It’s not a “dear diary” entry
  • It’s not a last-minute page you throw together
  • And it shouldn’t be there “just because you have to.” 

Let’s take all of this *gestures wildly above* and turn it into something we can use to write an “About Us” page. 

Controversial Opinion Moment: Don’t Hold Back

I know you have 10 tabs open right now each giving their own advice about how to write your “About Us” page. My advice? Go with whichever one resonates with you the most. Because at the end of the day it’s your business, your website, your audience. 

I believe in you.

I want to mention a couple of places my thoughts differ from the other advice before we get into writing and SEO tips.

  1. It’s okay if you don’t have a mission/vision statement

I see a lot of advice that tells you if you don’t have a mission/vision statement to make one up because it needs to go on your “About Us” page. I have beef with that. If you don’t have one and you don’t want to write one, don’t.

  1. Don’t hold parts of your story back 

Knowing your audience and writing for your audience is incredibly important. But you shouldn’t have to give up important parts of your character or story. There’s enough boring, stuffy and corporate copy out there. If you can tie your quirkiness and hobbies into the meaning of your business — do it. 

We need more people showing up authentically — especially in the age of AI.

Most of the advice you’ll come across will tell you to tell your story but don’t bore people with irrelevant details. For example, if you’re an accountant, they’ll say:

  • Don’t talk about your birth story
  • Or astrology
  • Or that one time on Spring Break (you’re 40!)
  • or *Insert any other thing you’ve been told to remove here* 
  • **especially by a man**

But I argue those ‘irrelevant details’ are what show off your personality! 

If any of those quirky details are important to how you got here in this business today, are part of the culture you’ve built, or will resonate with the audience you’re trying to attract …. Do it! 

We’re all out here looking for a connection, a spark, something different. 

I specifically chose my accountant because she asked me what my Zodiac sign was on the intake form. 

Storytime: When I inquired about meeting my accountant, I filled out a form that was equal parts accounting and equal parts personality and I loved it. Never in my life had I found an Accountant daring enough to show personality. And I immediately related to her, felt comfortable with her, and knew Accounting could be different than my previous experiences. And that’s exactly what happened! Once I spoke to her, she told me she knows it’s weird. And yes, she’s gotten pushback. But she set up her website language, about page, and intake form because she wanted to attract a certain kind of audience (me) and found she was able to do that by showing some of her quirkiness. 

You’ve got the why, you’ve got a disclaimer, let’s get into how to actually write it. 

6 Things You Should Probably Include On Your About Page

Writing for yourself suuuuuucks but stick with me and we’ll fly through it. If you include 4/6 of these things in your About page I can almost guarantee* it will be awesome. 

*I, in fact, cannot guarantee a damn thing. Don’t come for me.

1. Mission & vision statement

If you have one. If not, don’t worry about it. Pass Go and head to #2. If you do have one put them right up there at the top.

2. What you do, who you do it for, and how

This section needs 2-3 sentences to describe what you do, who you do it for, and how you do it. We’re going to use a little formula to create this section. If these don’t resonate with you, do a quick Google (or Pinterest) search for ‘Unique Selling Point or USP.’ 

  • Start with: I do/work with [WHO] to create [WHAT] because I believe [WHY]. 
  • Turn it into: I solve [X PROBLEM] and deliver [Y BENEFITS] because I believe [WHY]. 

3. Why do you do this?

In 2-3 paragraphs describe your origin story. What happened in your life that brought you here? If this were a book, where would the beginning start?

It could be:

  • A pivotal turning point in your life
  • A slow burn
  • A desire to escape your existence
  • Something you fell into — anything. 

Keep your target audience in mind, keep it relevant, and show off your personality. 

4. Your achievements & credentials

This could be anything:

  • Your college degree
  • A certificate course
  • A life experience
  • An award you won
  • An article you were featured in
  • Previous jobs you’ve had. 

If you have none of that, try to include a snippet from a review. 

5. Who you are outside of this job

Technically this can be included with the origin story but find a way to show off who you are. 

  • What do you love to do
  • What makes you tick
  • Who are you and what are you doing when you’re not doing this job? 

Again, I say the more obscure the better. (We’re all looking for a connection). Everyone loves hiking but… 

  • How quickly can you put together a piece of IKEA furniture? (that you’re going to keep for years and years and years!) 
  • Do you enjoy deep-diving into any topics? 
  • Do you shame read fake novels?
  • Are you a woodworker in your free time?  

For any millennials who have been told to take personality out of business — ignore that.

6. A strong CTA

This is probably one of the most underrated items on your About page. 

Your ideal audience is here, they read it, they like you — now what? What is the call to action, what do you want them to do?

  • Book a call
  • Buy a product
  • Sign up for a newsletter
  • Follow you on social
  • Download an e-book, etc. etc. 

It’s difficult to write about yourself. All your life you’ve been told not to brag (👀) but now you have this business and all you’re supposed to do is brag! 

If you can’t get out of your own head, switch up how you’re brainstorming. 

  • If you’re a TikTok watcher or creator, think about how you would break your story and what you do into a couple of videos. 
  • If you prefer Instagram do the same thing. What are some brands/people you follow that you like the way they’ve told their stories? How can you use them as inspiration? 
  • If you were presenting at a pop-up event for your ideal audience, how would you start your speech, what would you tell them, how would you explain how you got here and what you do now? 
  • More formally, think about a networking event. In the natural flow of conversation, you’re going to tell people what you do, why you do it, and how you got to that point. Go to a networking event and try it out (KIDDING!). Try to have that conversation in your head or with a friend and turn it into an About page. 

Bonus Round! 6 Extra Tips To Keep in Mind When Writing Your About Page

We’ve covered a lot and I hope the wheels are turning. These final points are just a few suggestions from a chronic “About Us” page reader (and copywriter). These tips will elevate your About page and help your audience feel like you made it to connect with them.

1. FOR THE LOVE OF MOTHER EARTH INCLUDE A PHOTO (not optional)

  • DO NOT use a stock photo. 
  • DO NOT use a group photo of people not in your business.
  • DO NOT use a photo that you have to crop someone out of.
  • DO NOT use a photo that is more than 10 years old (unless it’s intentional).

Use a headshot if you have to or if you’re not ready for a brand photographer, grab a friend, a drink, and make a day of it. 

2. Write how you speak

Again, you gotta know your target audience but write like you speak. People can tell when you’re not being authentic. Write like you’re writing a letter to a friend. Yes, a physical letter. 

Here’s your prompt: Your friend in Europe whom you haven’t seen in years is writing you to say she heard you started a business. She wants to know all about it and what made you decide to do it! 

3. You ARE interesting

Just because you don’t find something interesting about yourself doesn’t mean other people also won’t find it interesting. People are always looking for a connection.

  • Do you always have at least 4 cups on your desk? (this is a real one I saw on someone’s Instagram that I thought was funny and so did the comments)
  • Do you prefer to start your day with a Diet Coke?
  • Do you hate coffee? 
  • What was the last rabbit hole you went down? 
  • Are you a reader? What do you like to read? 

If you do nothing in your free time, I bet you could say “When I’m not doing this I like to lay in my bed and stare at the ceiling until the sun has set and it’s finally time to go to bed and start a new day” and people would relate. 

4. Keep it skimmable

I tend to go a little overboard. I want to say all of the things (I’m working on it). Keep your About page skimmable, keep the paragraphs short, and add multiple heads so that it’s structured well for a reader (and the search engine).

5. Read it out loud (to someone)

Preferably not to your business partner or life partner. But read it to a friend, a parent, someone who kind of knows what you do but not really. 

6. Include your credentials, location, and qualifiers

Are you a woman, queer, non-binary, Latine (is that the word we’re using?) Black, Asian? Put it in the About page! These three things are all items the search engine will pick up AND are all things that help connect your audience to you.

Finally, don’t forget to include SEO on your About page. 

The SEO You Need To Include For Your ‘”About Us”’ Page

  • Is not having an About page going to hurt your SEO? Probably not.
  • Is your About page a high SEO priority? Not really.
  • Are there a lot of places you can incorporate SEO on an About page? No more than usual.

Okaaaay, Lauren help me understand! 

Google has said over and over (AND OVER) again that its highest priority when evaluating websites is good content and overall user experience on a website. 

An About page is a perfect opportunity to add more good content.

  1. It keeps people on your page for longer (good for SEO)
  2. It keeps people clicking on your page (good for SEO)
  3. It’s a good place to sprinkle internal links (good for SEO) 
  4. It allows you to naturally add your location (good for SEO)
  5. It’s where you can add your credentials (good for SEO and authority).
  6. It’s where you show off that you’re human and you connect with your audience. 

Even though it’s not an SEO priority, keep the “About Us” page crawlable (don’t no-index it) and don’t make it too make clicks away from the home page. It should be in the menu bar/easy to find. 

Additionally, there are several places we can incorporate your main keywords (and location keywords!) on the page.

H1

  • Optional but a good place to get creative. Also, a good place to add a location-based keyword to show up in those ‘near me’ searches. 

H2 & H3

  • Keep your paragraphs short with multiple heading tags so it’s easy for your visitors to scan (and for Google to scan). Add your keywords and their variations to the heading tags. 

Alt text

  • The alt text of your images should be descriptive and contain keywords (without keyword stuffing). Example: Lauren is a woman, copywriter and SEO specialist sitting on a blue couch holding a drink. 

SEO Title

  • As always your SEO title should be under 60 characters, describe what the page is about, and contain your keywords. Get creative with your keywords! Examples:
    • Meet Lauren | SEO Specialist, Writer, Friend of the Earth
    • Copy By LP & Co | Sustainable Marketing 
    • Meet Lauren | Sustainable Chicago Content Marketer 
    • About Lauren | Clean Copywriting & SEO for Eco Businesses

Meta Description

  • This is the paragraph of text that a searcher sees on the results page. As always, your meta description should be ~155 characters, describe what the page is about and contain your keywords. 

And that’s it! I’m sure this was a lot to read (it was a lot to write!) so thanks for making it through! I hope this takes some of the fear and intimidation away from writing an “About Us” page. An “About Us”/Me page is really important to have on your website. An About Us page is essential for differentiating your brand.

In this great big overly connected world, everyone is looking for a spark of connection that could make them a customer for life. 

If this blog resonated with you and made you think about getting SEO help, I’d love to talk! 

Take a look at my SEO services

You might also be interested in…

Does your website really need to have an “About Us” page?