Six Ways to Dilute the Value of Your 'About Us' Page

By C Jenkinson

It seems like one of the simplest and least consequential pages of any website. However, research has shown that a substandard 'About Us' page never fails to send prospects in the wrong direction.

The simple fact of the matter is this is the one page that gives you the opportunity to tell your target audience everything there is to know about your company. Or at least, everything you want them to know, in order for them to formulate a positive opinion of who you are and what you do.

Still, evidence would seem to suggest that many businesses are still making any number of common mistakes. Fall into any of the following traps and you could be doing your own business and website a severe disservice:

1. Me, me, me

First and foremost, it's not all about you. Don't be fooled by the title - an 'About Us' page is all about demonstrating to customers how they can benefit from knowing you. Which means strategically telling them about your business in a manner that focuses on their needs, their expectations and what makes them tick. As opposed to simply showing off and bragging about how great you are.

2. No indication of your purpose

Chances are they already know what it is you sell and/or do. But what about the purpose of your business? As in why it is you do what you do and what makes you different from everyone else? Focus on justification and communicating why it is your business exists - aside from its obvious role as a money-maker.

3. No right to reply

In many instances, those who would like to get in touch with you on a whim won't bother to copy your e-mail address, head over to their account and pen an e-mail. By contrast, if it is as easy as simply hammering a few words into a couple of boxes on your 'About Us' page, they are far more likely to get in touch.

4. All text, no visuals

Given the fact that the importance of these pages is often overlooked, many businesses don't give their overall appearance much consideration. The rest of the website gets lavished with striking visuals - this page features nothing but boring and unbroken text. Considering the critical importance of your 'About Us' page, it really is in your best interests to get serious with its visual presentation.

5. Lack of links

If the content of the page does a good job convincing readers that you really are the real deal, chances are they'll want to take a look at your most popular products and pages. As such, you might want to think about including at least a handful of links accordingly.

6. TMI

Last but not least, if you have a lot to say about your business and can't bear to leave anything out, think about spreading your story across multiple pages. One of the worst things you can do is cram far too much information into your 'About Us' page - doing so is almost guaranteed to scare your readers off at a glance.

If you are unsure about this you may find that your web developer or agency may not be the best resource to use, try finding an online marketing consultant who has experience of marketing websites.

Chris Jenkinson is a business and marketing consultant undertaking guaranteed marketing to build sales and profits for businesses throughout the UK. Jenkinson & Associates Ltd is a business and marketing consultancy offering marketing and business advice to new, small and medium sized companies.

Article Source:  Six Ways to Dilute the Value of Your 'About Us' Page