If you are like me, the About Page on your site is a particularly hard one to write. You are probably struggling with a few different elements all at once.
Some big decisions you might be struggling with include:
- What To Say
- What Not To Say
- Tone of Voice – Formal or Conversational
- Attitude
- Design
The good news is you are not alone – the truth is we all struggle with our About Page and the reason why is because the About Page is really important. It’s important for a few reasons – some of which might not leap out at you.
Your About Page is one of the big areas that people will head to when making a purchasing decision.
Needless to say, the stakes are high. What I’ve also observed both in creating my own About Page and also working with many clients on their About Pages, is not only are the stakes high for the reader, but About Pages also happen to be among the hardest pages to write for a website – as the author/owner we tend to put so much weight and value into this process.
And let’s face it – as the name of the page would reason, your About Page says a great deal about your business. It’s not something you want to get wrong, but as you are likely figuring out, running a business and being able to effectively communicate what you and that business are all about is not the same thing.
One last thing to consider – when it comes your About Page… writing an About Page is hard. Re-writing an About Page is even harder.
The truth is I’m currently on my third (or fifth pass) with my my current About Page. Some of the inspiration for coming back to it was from this article on Copy Blogger which I encourage you to read – Are You Making These 7 Mistakes with Your About Page?
The first version was very formal. I figured I’d impress the hell out of potential clients with some fancy words and impressive credentials (it’s true, I’d like to think I’m “accomplished”).
The second version was also pretty formal. But I started to broaden out a bit and to try and address some of the emotional aspects of why people get into business with me.
The third version was probably when I initially read that Copy Blogger article I alluded to above. This version was more personal, but still with a formal approach – think CEO bio – Gadarian did this. Gadarian went on to do that. One big piece that changed in this version was I started to talk about my own approach and passion for story telling. This felt like a big break through for my About Page.
The fourth version was based of my partially addressing a comment I made on that very Copy Blogger post that one of the big shots over at Copy Blogger was kind enough to provide.
The fifth version is where I’m at now. Feel free to head back and read my current About Page – it’s okay – I’ll wait. In this version, which I did a few months after version four, I’ve gone ahead and fully invested in the advice that the original Copy Blogger big shot suggested. Why didn’t I just do this for version four? Well I’m hard headed, and by the way did I mention that writing an About Page is very emotional – both for the reader and for the writer. In this case, I’ve gone ahead and led with the most emotional piece of my business proposition and I’ve revised the tone to move from “Gadarian” to “I” – I’ve done this. I like doing that. I have a family….
In addition, over the past few years I’ve gone back into this page at times and done a few mini re-writes and perhaps I’ve even skipped over a major re-write or two – my memory on these things is always kind of shaky!
Your About Page is also one of the most emotional pages of an entire site.
The bigger point being, writing an About Page is hard work – but just because its hard work does not mean you should feel it’s okay to settle. The About Page really is that important so, wherever you land in terms of addressing the big bullets I mentioned at the top of this post, you should also take the time to come back and to visit your own About Page on occasion. Things changes. Businesses grow. You as a business owner change too. Also… the way people read changes too – audiences evolve and so should your About Page.