An about page that does work, rather than telling a story

Aug 29
3 min read

Updated: 4 days ago

Introduction

The about page describes a journey that began with a passion for the industry, a commitment to putting customers first, and a belief that quality speaks for itself. It contains no names, no dates, no numbers and no photographs.

It is also one of the most visited pages on the site. People go there when they are seriously considering an enquiry and want to know who they would be dealing with. Answering that with a page of sentiment wastes the highest-intent visit most small business websites receive, and it happens on the majority of them.

1. An about page that does work answers a specific question

Know what the visitor came for.

They are asking who these people are and whether they can be trusted with this. The page should answer that, rather than narrating the company's emotional history.

2. Name the people and show them

The core of the page.

Who runs the business, who does the work, what they have done before, and real photographs of them. This alone separates a credible small business from an anonymous website, and it costs an afternoon with a camera and half an hour of writing.

3. Include facts that can be checked

Specifics carry the weight.

Years in operation, number of customers, qualifications, registrations, locations covered. Concrete details are believable in a way that adjectives are not, and they give a cautious reader something they can actually verify elsewhere if they choose to.

4. Explain what you do and do not do

Useful and rare.

Being clear about the work you take on, and the work you turn down, reads as confidence rather than limitation. It also saves both sides from enquiries that were never going to fit, which is time recovered on every week of the year rather than a one-off gain.

5. Say why the business exists in concrete terms

Purpose is fine when it is specific.

A real reason the company was started, tied to something that actually happened, is worth including. A generic statement about passion for excellence is not, and it dilutes everything around it.

6. Show the work rather than describing the values

Evidence over assertion.

Photographs of projects, premises, equipment or the team working. Everybody claims to care about quality; showing what you produced is a different kind of statement altogether.

7. Keep it readable

Long histories lose people.

A structured page with headings and short sections is read; a thousand-word narrative is skimmed and abandoned. Put the most important facts first, because most readers will not reach the end and the ones who do were already persuaded by the top.

8. Include a next step

The page frequently forgets it has a job.

Somebody reading this page is close to acting. A clear route to the services, to contact, or to examples of work should be present rather than leaving them to return to the menu.

9. Update it when the business changes

Stale detail undermines the whole page.

Team members who left, awards from a decade ago and outdated descriptions of what you offer all cost credibility. A yearly review is enough for most businesses and takes twenty minutes.

Look at the page as a customer about to spend a significant amount. The question in their mind is whether these people can be relied on, and every sentence that does not contribute to answering it is taking up space that could.

Conclusion

Treat the page as an answer to whether you can be trusted, not as a company narrative.

Name the people and show real photographs, include checkable facts like years operating and qualifications, state clearly what you do and do not take on, give a specific reason the business exists rather than a generic one, show the work instead of asserting values, structure the page so it can be skimmed, provide an obvious next step for readers who are nearly convinced, and review it yearly so nothing on it has quietly become untrue.