We’ve heard it a thousand times. People don’t like to listen to people talk about themselves. This is far from true. People don’t like to listen to boring people talk about themselves.
The same rule applies to brands.
People, or customers rather, like to (scratch that, love to) listen to brands talk about themselves… if the brand is interesting. And, better yet, if the brand has an interesting story to tell.
While a brand’s story about themselves should be baked into all of their marketing, where it should be most obvious is the “About Us” page on their website.
The About Us page?
You might be wondering.
Do folks even read that?
Yes. Yes, they do.
After the Home page, the About Us page is the most visited page on your website. This makes sense when you think about it.
Web browser lands on your site and likes what she sees. Naturally, she wants to learn more. So, she clicks the words reading “About Us” on your site’s navigation.
From there, she begins to read about your brand and decides whether your brand and story resonate enough with her to cough up her hard-earned money in exchange for whatever it is you’re selling.
Yet, while the About Us page is the second most viewed page on just about every website (and a massive opportunity to convince visitors to hit the buy button), it ironically is the page brands f*** up the most
Here’s why…
Raise your hand if you’ve ever stumbled upon an About Us page that reads as follows…
“Since 1976, the Willis Brothers have been crafting the world’s greatest gloves for America’s hard-working blue-collared workers and we’re proud…”
Who farted?
Excruciatingly terrible, god-awful, boring About Us pages like the one above litter millions of sites on the web and it’s an injustice to both the brand (that’s surely more interesting than they’re shitty little “Since 1976” story) and to the site visitor who has to read the monstrosity.
How to write an about us page in 5 short easy steps.
All that said, when we approach the About Us page with a level of seriousness, we can create magic. Or, perhaps something close. Instantaneously we can create a stronger connection between our brand and the prospective customer. We can make an almost physical connecting, something nearly impossible in a world so heavily dominated by screens.
Below, you’ll find some steps on how to write an About Us page that’ll make your customer’s fall in love with your brand.
1. Never, ever, use the words “About Us”.
The first step in writing an about us page that doesn’t suck is writing a damn good headline. To write a damn good headline, you should never use the words “About Us”. If you do, you’re setting yourself up for failure before you even start.
The headline I’ve used for Honey Copy, my creative writing shop that works with startups on writing words that people actually want to read, is…
The only objective of the headline for your About Us page is to get the visitor to read the first sentence. If you can get them to read the first sentence, you have a shot at getting them to read the second and third and maybe the whole damn thing. So, make your headline interesting, make it different and make it relevant.
I’ve looked at some of my favorite brands and have found the following headlines on their About Us pages…
- RXBAR: It’s 2013, and we called B.S. on protein bars.
- Allbirds: Mother Nature Made Us Do it.
- Medium: Welcome to Medium, where words matter.
While I can’t necessarily vouch for the rest of their About Us page copy, I feel very confident saying the above three headlines are strong.
A few things to keep in mind as you write your headline for your about us page…
- If you can, keep it short and sweet.
- Write twenty-five, keep one.
- Again, never use “About Us”, “Our Story”, “Who We Are”, etc.
- Be interesting, write something people don’t see every day.
Once you’ve written twenty-five headlines and have chosen one, you’re ready to move on to step two. If you’re getting stuck on your headline or writing your About Us page for that matter, set up a copy audit with me and we can’t talk things through.
2. Open with the problem your brand is solving.
Let’s revisit the fictional Willis Brothers About Us page I mentioned earlier. Instead of leading with “Since 1976…”, the Willis Brothers should have kicked things off with the problem their brand is solving.
Something along the lines of…
“Your hands matter. They matter a great deal. You use them to play pitch & catch with your son in the front yard. You use them to run your fingers through your wife’s hair. You use them to paint your daughter’s finger nails… just like you’ll one day use them to hold her hand when you walk her down the aisle…”
Hell yes. Now we’re getting somewhere. This About Us introduction establishes an emotional connection between your brand and the visitor, while highlighting a very obvious problem… protecting workman’s hands.
As you write your problem, here are a few things to think about…
- Keep the first sentence very short.
- Make the reader feel something.
- Speak directly to the reader, use “you” and “your”.
Once you’ve written the problem you’re solving, now you must write how you’re solving it. That begins in step three.
3. Describe your solution (your product or service).
Okay, so you’ve written a killer headline and you’ve mentioned your customer’s problem, now it’s time to talk about yourself. This is where the solution comes in.
The next bit of copy I would write for the fictional Willis Brothers would read as follows…
“The Willis Brothers make quality leather gloves to protect the hands of the hard-working men and women here in the United States. While we believe deeply in the value of hard work, we believe in family, too. And, anything that risks enjoying your family to the fullest is simply unacceptable in our books. That’s why we make gloves and damn good ones if we do say so ourselves.”
As you write your solution, here are a few things to think about…
- Be confident, tell the customer why your brand is the shit.
- Avoid About Us buzzwords like proud and world-class.
- Make a clear connection between the problem and the solution.
After you’ve written the solution for you About Us page, you’re ready to explain to the customer why you’re different.
4. Make it obvious how your brand is different.
Once you’ve written your solution, you must go deeper. In today’s world where the customer has hundreds of options to choose from, it’s not enough to be a “solution” you have to be a different and hopefully “better” solution.
For the fictional Willis Brothers, here’s how their gloves are different from every other pair out there…
“Here, gloves are religion. We craft them with the same attention to detail as an engineer would build a plane or a surgeon would operate on a heart. Every stitch is hand-stitched with Kevlar sewing thread, thread so strong you could yank a grizzly out of the woods with it (though we wouldn’t recommend trying it). And, instead of traditional leather, we use Kangaroo leather… it’s lighter with 10x the tensile strength of cowhide.”
Okay, as you can see, the Willis Brothers are offering a damn good pair of gloves. Something that is made very obvious to us as readers through their differentiators.
As you write your differentiators, here are a few things to think about…
- Be original, great customer service is no longer a differentiator.
- Be descriptive, help the customer feel and see your product.
Once you’ve explained to the reader why you’re different, it’s time to close.
5. Craft one stellar call-to-action.
An About Us page isn’t just a story about who you are, it’s a sales page. Your goal with your About Us page should be to make your customers fall in love with you and your brand and to love you enough to buy from you.
At this point, if you’ve written your About Us page well, you’ve got a chance at making a sale. But, to make a sale you have to ask your customer to do something.
They aren’t telepathic. If you want them to call you, ask them to call you. if you want them to give you their email, ask them to give you their email. If you want them to buy your product, ask them to buy your product.
Make an ask. And, make your ask compelling. Make it emotional. make it obvious.
Here’s the call-to-action I would write for the fictional Willis brothers…
“The bottom line is that you demand a lot of those hands of yours and they demand a lot of you. Protect them with a pair of Willis Brother’s Kangaroo leather workman’s gloves. Grab a pair, here. Because pitch and catch with your son and one day walking your daughter down the aisle is something worth protecting.”
Now, we have a chance at making the sale.
As you write your call-to-action, here are a few things to think about…
- Make it obvious, the customer should know exactly what to do.
- Make it emotional, if you can, pull at their heartstrings.
- Keep it short, it shouldn’t riff on for sixteen sentences.
Final thoughts on how to write an about us page.
As you can see, if you’re just a little more thoughtful about writing your About Us page, it can easily become the most valuable page on your entire site.
Over the course of an article look at how much we improved the Willis Brother’s About Us page…
Before…
“Since 1976, the Willis Brothers have been crafting the world’s greatest gloves for America’s hard-working blue-collared workers and we’re proud…”
After…
“To us, gloves are religion.
Your hands matter. They matter a great deal. You use them to play pitch & catch with your son in the front yard. You use them to run your fingers through your wife’s hair. You use them to paint your daughter’s fingernails… just like you’ll one day use them to hold her hand when you walk her down the aisle…
The Willis Brothers make quality leather gloves to protect the hands of the hard-working men and women here in the United States. While we believe deeply in the value of hard work, we believe in family, too. And, anything that risks enjoying your family to the fullest is simply unacceptable in our books. That’s why we make gloves and damn good ones if we do say so ourselves.
Here, gloves are religion. We craft them with the same attention to detail as an engineer would build a plane or a surgeon would operate on a heart. Every stitch is hand-stitched with Kevlar sewing thread, thread so strong you could yank a grizzly out of the woods with it (though we wouldn’t recommend trying it). And, instead of traditional leather, we use Kangaroo leather… it’s lighter with 10x the tensile strength of cowhide.
The bottom line is that you demand a lot of those hands of yours and they demand a lot of you. Protect them with a pair of Willis Brother’s Kangaroo leather workman’s gloves. Grab a pair, here. Because pitch and catch with your son and one day walking your daughter down the aisle is something worth protecting.”
Best of luck writing your About Us page. If you find yourself in a pickle and need some help, give me a shout, here.
By Cole Schafer.