Ben Duchesney — October 27, 2019 
When building your website, writing your about page shouldn’t feel awkward, as if you’re sharing your life story with someone that doesn’t want to hear it. Instead, you should share your passion and explain why you’re excited about your brand.
Customers read the about page when they’re looking for validation that a business or nonprofit is the right fit for them, before making a purchase, booking an appointment, volunteering or making a donation.
The way you make sure visitors reach that conclusion is by sharing the relevant backstory of your business or nonprofit, relating it to the problem they’re facing, and showing off your brand’s personality so they feel confident when choosing you.
The story of your business or nonprofit
When writing your about page, make sure you tell your story:
- How did you get started?
- What problem did you see that made you step in and solve it?
- What obstacles did you face when creating your business or nonprofit and how did they help you to be successful today?
The about page is your chance to give a face to your brand. And while your homepage may draw in customers, the about page is often the last chance to convince a customer to book an appointment, add a product to their shopping cart, volunteer, or donate to your cause.
Relate it to customers’ problems
Customers and donors are most likely reading your about page to validate that you’re the person they’ve been searching for to solve their problem. Regardless of whether their problem is that they need a new pair of glasses, feel a need to give back to their community by volunteering, or even if they need to donate some money for tax purposes. Use your About page to show how you’ve already solved their problem in the past and have become more successful in the process.
If you’re not sure where you can start, share a story from before your business was successful. How was an obstacle overcome? Why are you better at solving those problems now that you’ve done it for so many people? Help customers realize you’ve got the experience and skill they need to create a good product or perform a great service.
Show off your brand’s personality
Don’t be afraid to let loose a little and enjoy telling the story of your business, or nonprofit, as long as it fits into the same style. Especially if your brand has a sense of humor. This is the space to show it off. If you’re in an industry that prefers to keep it all business, then show your competence and professionalism. If your industry feels a certain way, make sure your about page aligns with that same feeling.
How Do I Know What to say?
Imagine you’re telling someone a story of your business around the campfire or over coffee. You wouldn’t start at the very beginning and include every single detail, but instead would zoom out and share only the most entertaining bits; focusing on a few key details to add depth to your story.
Giving an anecdote and drilling down to just one situation from your past can be a good way to explain the problem, share your background and keep it entertaining, all at the same time. Did you have one particular customer, volunteer, or client that stood out in your past? Can you share the story without giving away any personal details about them? This will help your business relate to your visitor, as they’ll be able to identify with the person in your story that had the same problem.
Focus on one goal
After a website visitor reads your about page, they should feel relief that their problem is about to be solved, and impressed with your background. The story of your business, related to their problem, full of your brand’s personality, should confirm that you’re the right fit for them.
How to get started writing your about page
Before you start writing, take some time to identify the problem that your target customers are facing. If you have a service, it should be fairly straight forward, such as building a porch, fixing a toilet or needing a haircut. If you’re a nonprofit, it may be how to give back to the community; i.e. volunteer, or donate. Start there and try to even go a little deeper. They don’t just want a haircut, they want to look good and feel good.
If you’re selling a product a customer’s problem may not be so obvious, but it does exist. There is a root cause beneath a purchase or donation, even if the customer doesn’t realize it. The better you can identify that problem, the better you can connect with your customers. You’re not selling them a product or service, you’re selling a solution. Nonprofits are not soliciting for donations or volunteers, you’re offering an opportunity for people to do more, and feel better about themselves and their place in the community, environment, and perhaps, world.
Putting it all together
If, during this process, you have come up with a mission statement, place it at the top of your about page, then expand upon it by telling the story of how you got started, why you got started, and why you’re successful (education, contacts, collaborations, trial-and-error, etc.)
Make sure to check your about page does the following:
- Shows how your brand can solve a particular problem
- Explains why your brand would be the best at solving that problem
- Expresses your brand personality
In the end, your about page is the story of your brand. It should be interesting and honest. Succinct, if possible. But most importantly, it should show that your business or nonprofit is the solution your visitor has been looking for.
Here’s an example of a good about page:
This email starts with a problem and then shows how this company can fix that problem, all while demonstrating its brand style and personality.
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