Every website needs an About Us page. It gives your business credibility, builds trust and helps customers know they are working with real, genuine people.

But for many people, writing a great About Us page is one of the hardest things to do. Why? Well, for starters, many people don’t like talking about themselves. Talking about the products or services offered is one thing, but talking about themselves is another.

Getting the balance of your page right can also be tricky. In general, website copy should be focused on your customers – the problems they have and how to solve them. Your About Us page needs to focus on the customer while also conveying your story. It has to be about you and your customers at the same time.

So how do you do this?

4 tips for Writing a Great About Us Page:

1. Tell your story (but only the relevant bits)

Telling your story gives your website visitors the chance to know more about you and relate to you. But there’s no need to tell your entire life story or list all of your qualifications and experience. Pick the parts that will interest the readers and relate to the services you are offering. Focus on parts that make you or your business unique and stand out from the crowd.

What you include will depend on your clients’ needs. Does your prospective client need to know your pet’s name? Well, it depends on your brand. If your business is pet sitting or you run a pet shop, then including that detail on your About Us page is a great idea. If your business is selling commercial insurance to other businesses, then maybe not.

This section is also a great place to explore your company’s values and why you do what you do.

2. Use the right language

Try to write in a way that reflects your business values and tone and the type of customers you work with. If you are writing for a law firm or a large corporation that deals with corporate clients you might want to adopt a formal tone. If you are a one-man-band lawn mowing company or a marketer you might write more conversationally.

Writing in the third person is ok, especially if you are a large company. But if you are a small business or a sole contractor, writing in the first person can make you more approachable.

3. Include a section on your services so people can easily navigate to other pages on your website.

Your About Us page should be a gateway to the rest of your website. So make sure to include details about your products and services and link to them. Use this page to briefly explain the services you have on offer and tie it in with your brand story. Include clear calls to action too.

4. Use social proof to showcase your abilities

Your About Us page is a great place to back up your claims and show how you’ve helped people. Add testimonials or a case study from happy clients or link to your Google or Facebook reviews. You can also add any awards you’ve won here. But make sure they are relevant. Awards that are outdated or irrelevant to your business won’t necessarily add anything to your story.

Bonus tip: Don’t forget to add images

The old saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words, and that can be true when it comes to your About Us page. Having an image of yourself or your team members if you are featuring them backs up your story and shows the website visitor that you are a real person. It also helps customers put faces to the names of your staff, which can help to build connections when the time comes for client interactions.

Your website images don’t have to be front-on head and shoulders shots. If you don’t want to be featured up close, get some action shots of yourself at work or your team carrying out their roles. Or mix it up by using photos of the team in their natural environment that showcase what they do outside of work.

Avoid using stock images if you can, and avoid using images featuring people who don’t work for your business. Most people these days can spot a stock photo, and it can put people off.

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