Tell Your Story: 7 Tips for Your Small Business “About Us” Page

They have been around since the dawn of the web, and they are often taken for granted – instead of used as another great way to connect with potential customers.

When was the last time you really thought about the aims of your ‘About Us’ page, and how well content works toward these goals? Or are you asking yourself how to write an appealing “About Us” page for a new company?

Writing an informative and effective “About Us” page seems like a simple task, but that also means it’s easy to overlook. For small businesses, there are a few specific things to keep in mind: the business ‘About Us’ page is often an important chance to make an impression on a potential customer.

Here are our six tips and examples for how to write a great ‘About Us’ page for your small business that gets your message across – and knows when to stop.

1. Put a face to the name

You can create an instant connection by showing your customers the “real people” behind your brand. Whether you want to use something as simple as team photos with names, roles and some additional info outlined or an introductory video, this is an easy way to get your customers to connect with the brand on a human level.

Take Salesforce’s “Our Story” page, for example. By including photos of the team among the more detailed information on the company, readers get to see the humans behind a largely technical product.

2. Your business ‘About Us’ page is your story

Another important element of your “About Us” page should be your elevator pitch – the short, snappy version of your company story that explains:

• what you do

• what makes you different

• and why customers should care

It is basically the same sales pitch you’ve been busy perfecting for your small business networking events. Indeed, you might decide that this is the only thing your ‘About Us’ page needs.

Remember that the pitch must be relevant to your potential customers. They might quickly get bored if you simply rattle off the chronological story of your company. If you want to include this background information – for example, in a company timeline – make sure it’s relevant to the customer.

Your history is only of interest insofar as it contributes to a compelling story and how it sets you apart from your competitors, so it is important to include:

• Why the business was first founded
• What problem you’re helping to solve
• How you’re contributing to improving your industry
• Your company’s goals
• What people have experienced with your company (testimonials, etc.)

Simply Business understands the importance of using content to connect with customers and have a great “About Us” page example. Alongside their standard “About Us” biography, they include images of their team, awards and even their charity projects. This creates a tangible sense of identity while connecting on an emotional level to potential customers.

3. Tell people what’s in it for them

As you can see, the crucial element of good marketing copy on an “About Us” page is that it is benefit-led: Always remember to speak about what matters to the customer, rather than to yourself.

See each page of your online presence as a chance to let potential buyers know more about your product – and your business’s “About Us” page is no different. By integrating clear details about why you were driven to create such a beneficial product or service and how it helps customers, you’re subtly selling your product by illustrating what it can do for them.

A good example of this is Rituals Cosmetics and their online presence. As Raymond Cloosterman, CEO of Rituals, explains, selling experiences and a story is what really sells a product. Giving the customer a firm vision of what your brand will do for them is a key step in motivating them to make the purchase.

4. Show off your personality

The more personal you are on your “About Us” page, the better. A small business that still reflects the personality of its founders and employees can be a highly attractive option to a customer – they know their business is important to you, and they won’t be treated as just a number or as one income stream among many.

As Taylor & Hart’s team describes on their business “About Us” page, founding a company isn’t a 9 to 5 job and often involves a compelling story. What jobs were the team doing before, and what spurred them on to strike out on their own? Making the company story personal is something that large corporations will struggle to do – giving your small business “About Us” page a clear advantage.

5. Build trust with social proof

Customer testimonials are powerful persuaders. Just think about how much you trust ratings and reviews when buying a new phone or looking for a restaurant. The experiences shared by others are an incredibly valuable marketing tool that shouldn’t be skipped over.

The effectiveness of this “social proof” has been repeatedly demonstrated. In fact, according to Salesforce research, around 79% of potential customers take reviews into consideration before an in-store purchase and 85% before an online purchase.

For a small company – where word-of-mouth recommendations are already an important source of new business – testimonials and customer success stories are another important part of how to write an appealing “About us” page.

Just one or two quotes from customers can have a great effect. The more information about the testimonial the better – name, job title and company are ideal. But even if some customers won’t let you quote them by name, they might be happy with a more general attribution such as “Sales Manager” and the company name.

6. Keep it simple on your “About Us” Page

“About Us” information has a specific purpose – to provide sufficient reassurance to the reader to fill them with confidence in taking the next step towards becoming a customer. Your business “About Us” page needs to have enough information to have that effect, but be short enough that reading it won’t feel like a chore.

While it’s possible to get a little too concise and leave out important information, the opposite mistake of going into too much detail should also be avoided. Remember that although you’re interested in the details of what you do, your reader isn’t – at least not yet. Once you’ve delivered the elevator pitch and shown the reader what they can do if they’re convinced, it is time to stop writing.

Another tip: a short video about the team or brand is also a great way to engage and humanise your brand. Users will often click on a video over reading a text. So get filming!

7. Turn browsers into buyers

While the “About Us” page is not usually a direct conversion tool (though you might want to check out these lead-generation methods that won’t break the bank), it should move readers one step closer to buying your product. Think of it as an opportunity to remove obstacles in the customer’s mind by answering nagging questions they might not even be aware of having.

One way to approach this is to use an “About Us” page template composed of questions and answers. A few ideas to get you started:

1. Who are you?
2. What makes your brand different?
3. Isn’t that service expensive? (The answer to this question should probably be “no”!)
4. How do I know you’ll deliver? (This is a great place to use customer testimonials)

When customers are comfortable with your pitch and ready to continue, don’t miss the opportunity to act. Keeping them moving through the sales funnel can be as simple as showing two or three suitable calls to action – you’ve put in the hard work of convincing them, and now it’s time to show them the way forward.

As a small business “About Us” page is informative rather than overtly commercial, it is often easy to skip adding a call to action (CTA). Don’t miss an opportunity to motivate readers to engage with your brand and include a clear and direct CTA. Whether it’s a link to a product page or a prompt to subscribe to your newsletter, your “About Us” page is a great place to use informative content to your benefit and draw potential customer deeper into your website or collect their e-mail addresses.

How to write an “About Us” for a new company? Listen to the experts!

Do you want even more tips and ideas for taking your small business to the next level? Check out our expert advice on attracting new prospects and managing existing customers for your small business in our new e-book: Small Business Growth Kit.