Your About Page Should Not Read Like a Court Deposition

There is a strange thing that happens when perfectly normal business owners sit down to write an About page. Suddenly, they start sounding like they are giving sworn testimony.

“Founded in 2008, our organization has remained committed to providing exceptional solutions while maintaining the highest standards of customer satisfaction.”

Nobody talks like this.

Not at lunch. Not at a networking event. Not when they are explaining their business to a customer.

Yet the minute we click “About Us,” everybody seems to become a corporate robot in a necktie. Your About page can do better.

Your About Page Has a Job

An About page is not there because every website is supposed to have one.

Its job is to help a potential customer understand:

who you are,

what you do,

why you are qualified to do it,

and whether they feel comfortable doing business with you.

That means your About page needs two things: credibility and personality.

You do not have to choose between sounding professional and sounding human.

You can be both.

Start With What Matters to the Customer

A lot of About pages begin with the year the business was founded and then move forward in chronological order. Sometimes the history matters, but it probably is not the first thing your customer wants to know.

Start with what is relevant to them:

• What do you do?

• Who do you help?

• What makes your approach different?

• Why do customers choose you?

Give people a reason to care before you take them on the historical tour.

Tell the Story, Just Not the Entire Story

Your business story can absolutely belong on your About page.

Maybe the company grew out of a family business.

Maybe you changed careers completely.

Maybe you spent twenty years working in the industry before deciding to open your own company.

Maybe you started at the kitchen table with one client and a filing system held together by optimism.

Those details make a business memorable because they tell people something about the humans behind the logo.

But there is no prize for the longest About page.

A useful question is: Does this information help someone understand why they should work with us?

If the answer is Yes, keep it.

If the answer is No, save it for another day.

Credibility Does Not Require a Parade of Adjectives

Your About page is also one of the best places to establish credibility.

Years of experience, certifications, licenses, professional memberships, specialties, awards, training, and community involvement can all help someone feel more confident about choosing your business.

What you do not need is a paragraph describing yourself as a “premier provider of unparalleled excellence.”

Facts usually make a stronger case.

If you have been doing the work for twenty-five years, say that.

If you are licensed or certified, say that.

If you specialize in something, say that.

Useful information is more convincing than polished adjectives.

Please Sound Like Yourself

One of the biggest mistakes businesses make is removing every bit of personality because they think “professional” means formal.

It does not.

If your business is warm and conversational, your About page can be warm and conversational.

If your work is highly technical, precision may be part of your personality.

If humor is part of your brand, a little humor belongs there too.

Your website should feel like the same business someone encounters when they call you, email you, walk through your door, or meet you at an event.

If the website sounds like a multinational corporation but the actual business is you, your dog, a laptop, and a heroic amount of coffee, something has gotten lost in translation.

Give People Something to Remember

People remember details.

A second-generation business owner is memorable.

A company that has been in the same community for decades is memorable.

A business that started because the owner was frustrated with the way an industry handled a particular problem is memorable.

“Quality and excellent customer service” is not memorable.

Every business says that.

Give people something real!

Do Not Leave Them Standing in the Hallway

Your About page is still part of your website.

Once someone has learned who you are and why they might trust you, give them somewhere to go next.

Invite them to explore your services, look at your work, schedule a consultation, request an estimate, or contact you.

They came to the page because they wanted to know who was behind the business.

Give them a real answer, then help them take the next step.

Professional Does Not Mean Personality-Free

A strong About page does not need to be stiff, painfully long, or polished until every trace of personality has been removed.

It should help people understand your business, trust your experience, and get a sense of the person or people they would actually be working with.

So go read your About page. If it sounds like an attorney is about to ask whether you understand that you are under oath, it might be time for a rewrite.

Your customers are not looking for testimony.

They are trying to decide whether they want to do business with you.