Everyone loves a good story. And that’s among one of the top reasons that companies need to make their ‘About Us’ page content compelling. A good story creates an emotional connection that goes deeper than your mission statement or your company history. That bond will keep customers coming back for years!

These days, potential clients want to establish relationships with the businesses they buy from, and there’s nothing better for establishing trust than knowing something about the people behind a company. That’s the reason more companies are jumping on the opportunity to share their corporate story through their ‘About Us’ webpage.

Position Your Company With Your
deal Audience

Positioning your business as a credible leader builds trust and consumer confidence, which in turn helps you connect with your ideal customer or client.

A compelling About Us page can help you position your business and think about your customers, what they like and how they enjoy communicating. Once you’ve established these core facts, it can help you create a more emotional connection with your brand, increasing the likelihood of that person purchasing from you over a competitor.

Whether you’re launching your company or you’re refreshing your existing business presence, here are some frequently asked questions (and answers) about writing a compelling About Us Page.

What Should An About Page Include?

The answer to this isn’t set in stone and can differ from company to company. However, it would be best to ensure that your About Page contains a brief history of your company, a few words about what you do, and your values. It would also be a good idea to provide contact information and, if appropriate, a service or a product overview.

Other important information worth mentioning include:

What Or Who Inspired The Business – Every business begins with a person who has a dream. Sharing the story or the reasons behind the business help visitors understand how much the founders and owners love and believe in what they do and the reasons why.

When The Company Was Founded – The history of your company doesn’t have to be lengthy or complicated. Still, it should include information that will interest potential customers who wonder how long you’ve been around. Remember, every business has the first day – and from there, you can build!

Company Awards Or Recognition – By sharing awards and recognitions, the reader immediately gains a sense of trust in your company. These serve as proof that you are serious about your business and do your job well.

Certifications Or Professional Associations – Sharing information about the certificates or associations your company holds is excellent for helping your customer feel confident that you are credible and reliable, which can increase the likelihood of sales. For instance, trade companies might highlight membership to professional organizations like the Federation of Master Builders.

What Your Company Is Most Known For – This is likely to be different for every company. Still, you should consider this information carefully as it is often the first thing that potential customers will wonder about, showing how important it is. Including a brief description of what makes your company stand out from the competition is worth doing when you have the readers’ attention.

Add Company Staff Photos – Photos humanize your business and show potential customers that you’re real people who care about your customers. Undoubtedly, your words matter, but pictures and video are also quite effective for storytelling. In addition to staff photos, you might consider adding a brief quote or statement from the employee. By doing so, you can add more depth to the page that highlights more reasons why your company strives for excellence!

Special Attributes – If your company is Veteran-Owned/Lead, Minority-Owned/Lead, Women-Owned/Lead, or EmployeeOwned/Lead, these attributes and affinities are worth mentioning your About Us Page. In a time when people are taking care and time to research and “get to know” the companies they choose to patronize, creating these affinities with your potential clients can make a difference.

Is There A Process For Creating About Us Pages?

The About Us Page is among the best locations to showcase your company’s authenticity and trustworthiness. While everyone’s About Us Pages will look a little different, there are a few things that they all have in common:

A Friendly Tone – Your business is ultimately built on people, so make sure your voice reflects that throughout your About Us page. It’s the perfect place to publish your company’s elevator pitch!

Telling The Right Story – Determine who your ideal client is and speak to them directly. Whether you brainstorm or visualize them now, you need to know who you want your perfect audience to be. Then, you need to create your content in a way that speaks directly to them and puts their fears and concerns at ease.

The late famed direct-response copywriter Eugene Schwartz strongly believed in writing for one reader. He referred to it as “one person, one reader, one offer, and one intended action.”

It’s difficult to argue his point!

Persuasive copy is a focused message that inspires the right prospect to take inspired action.

For instance, if you cater to upscale clients, your message would be much different from the one you tailor for price-sensitive shoppers.

Price-sensitive shoppers: “We offer the lowest prices, guaranteed.”

Upscale clients: “We believe that perfection has no price tag. We work with you on a custom basis to provide our very best solutions and we only work with the most experienced staff so we can guarantee your satisfaction.”

The point is, you have to know your target market and write for that specific group.

Let Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Speak Volumes

Every company should have a USP. The Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of a business is its unique selling proposition. This direct and clear statement communicates what the company does, who it serves, why it’s distinct from competitors, and how that difference benefits the ideal prospect.

Ideally, the About Us page should start with a headline that meets the criteria above. Your aim is for a prospect to come along and think to themselves, “I’ve found exactly what I needed!”

Companies that haven’t already established a USP can answer some of these questions to develop the internal and external USP’s they offer to employees, clients, customers, the community, and the public:

• What does the company do to improve the lives of customers/clients?
• Whom do these services best serve?
• What sets the company apart from competitors?
• How do these differences help our clients achieve their goals?

For some companies, the actual work they do will be part of their USP. On the other hand, some companies should include the products or services on the About Us page. Either way, keeping things conversational is always a best practice.

Companies can create a persuasive headline or USP that their targeted audience can recognize, relate to, and make a connection based on these answers.

By creating common connections and associations between your company and a prospect’s desires/goals, you’re crafting a powerful script usable by employees, sales teams, and management in conversations with potential or existing customers.

Share Your Company Culture And Values

Your company culture and values are of the utmost importance, especially today. Consumers are looking to do business with companies that share similar beliefs, corporate culture, and values.

Upholding specific standards can be a large part of your USP. When presenting yourself to new clients, your USP and the everyday business practices you follow directly reflect how the company itself operates.

Company culture and values that nearly everyone can stand behind include:

Eco-Friendly or Green Company Practices – Many people prefer to support companies implementing practices to lessen their environmental impact. If your company recycles, uses recycled supplies, eco-friendly cleaning products, eco-friendly office equipment, or alternative energy sources, you can stress these points on your About Us page.

Active Community Member – Many companies donate to charities or sponsor local causes and events. When the leadership or employees of a company give back to the community, it makes a big statement about how they value their neighbors. Some examples might be sponsoring the little league team in town, participating as a team at charity events such as 5Ks, volunteering, or working behind the scenes as a Secret Santa.

Early Adopters/Innovators – Early adopters of new technology or companies that have been successful for a long time tend to be respected by consumers. Everyone wants in on the latest, most exciting technology – especially if it helps solve business problems.

Inclusion And Diversity Initiatives – It’s becoming more critical for companies to show they value diversity and inclusion within their workforce. Emphasizing how your company is inclusive of race, abilities, education, skills, and life experiences makes it easier for people to relate to the company.

(And don’t forget, another way to uphold your commitment to inclusion is to offer an ADA-compliant website for visitors with disabilities. This website functionality empowers visitors with vision, hearing, cognitive issues, or other physical limitations to adjust their screen settings to resolve their problems independently.)

Company Ethics – Whether you sell cruelty-free products, donate a portion of proceeds to a charitable cause, recycle, give back to the community, or support one of a million other causes, potential clients wish to know that your company is trustworthy. Being transparent on your About Us page reflects your corporate ethics.

The bottom line, what you do has a lot to do with who you are. And if your clients see you being anything less than upstanding and dependable, they’ll think the same thing about your business. So it’s your chance to make sure you look good!

Put Your Story Into Words!

With all of this information and input, it’s time to put your story into words. Every company has a chance to create its narrative on an About Us page, so take advantage of this opportunity!

Briefly describe your company’s history – If you started the business five years ago, say so. If you’ve been around for over 100 years, tell that story! Again, try to be as concise as possible. People are interested in facts about your organization, but why bore readers with a bland statement.? Instead, why not craft a creative and engaging story?

The best stories have arcs. There are people, twists, turns, and obstacles to overcome to build a company from the ground up.

Bringing this real-world experience to your About Us page is valuable. First, it builds rapport with your prospective clients. You’ll want to avoid biasing the narrative, of course, but you have an opportunity to create a compelling About Us page for potential prospects!

Be clear about what makes your company stand out from the competition. But keep in mind that the About Us page isn’t the place to make false claims or promises to potential customers. That isn’t how good business operates!

Sell Your Benefits – Not Features

When using your About Us page as a marketing tool, use this piece of Internet real estate to sell your benefits instead of speaking solely about the features of your product or services.

As a courtesy, consider adding relevant links to other helpful website pages at the end of the About Us page, such as your Contact Page, Products Page, or Customer Reviews.

Kevin McNally
Interactive Palette
Mailing: P.O. Box 1007
Fall River, MA 02722
Physical: 25 Braintree Hill Park
Braintree, MA 02184
interactivepalette.com
(781) 930-3199
sales@interactivepalette.com