Personally I find the “About Me” page an over valued resource of business sites. I haven’t found any statistics to either prove or disprove my opinion. From a SEO and branding stand point, it is a necessary evil to adding quality content to your website. It also is a great way to explain your mission statement and give yourself a face in the your visitor’s minds.
…I also decided to add an “About Me” page to this blog. It only seemed appropriate to make it into a post.
What goes into an About Me Page?
There is no silver bullet for tackling this subject. The overall goal is to make your business/blog have a tone or personality. A visitor that reads the About Me section is searching for a connection between them and the site. A business “About Us” page will want to give employee viewpoints, business ideologies, and mission statements. Many businesses tend to put their charitable causes on this page which I find distasteful, but it does look nice.
There are about 5 things a good “About me” or “About Us” page requires. To make it entertaining, I made them all “C” words. May I present you the five Cs to Successful About Me/Us.
Character
You need a spearhead or a figurehead. I define a spearhead as a visually-known figure that maintains a degree of control over the operations of the website or business. This typically is the CEO or well-known employee of the business. I define a figurehead as a visually-known figure that maintains no control over the operations of the business. A good example of this is Jared Fogle, a spokesman for Subway. His image is plastered on Subway’s About Us page. This gives the customer a face representation of the business.
Confirm
The viewer of your About Us/Me page has a purpose for visiting. You need to know what they are looking for and answer it to their satisfaction. This might sound pretty rudimentary, but many websites miss out here. Visitors typically are searching for expertise and current business focus. The customer wants to know what you are an expert at what you are doing. The current business focus is a project you are working on or a new goal that is driving you. Displaying that you are currently active makes you more reliable in the customer’s eye. It is horrible when the entire About me/us page is in the past tense.
Converge
After visiting, a person should remember your character. Essentially the About Me/Us page needs to make a lasting impression. This is where a few personal touches can make a great difference. I call this the converge because you are building a relationship between your character and your viewership. After successfully confirming yourself to the visitor, they will seek a reason to build a relationship with you. Make your character enjoyable and engaging. One of my converge actions will be a silly character picture of myself.
Crisp
Your content must be interesting. Remember to represent yourself as you would in person. The About Us/Me page should not be synonymous to listening to a story in monotone. I label this content as “Wall-of-Text” or Gray Fluff. To avoid a “Wall-of-Text” have no paragraph that covers more than half the length of the visible page. Gray Fluff is prevented by adding color to your content. Liven up your content with descriptive, fancy, or subjective wording.
Contact
Don’t forget the overall purpose of the About Me/Us page is to connect with your viewership. If you successfully converged a customer they will be looking to build a line of communication. On a business site this is an opportunity to have a call-to-action. Empower the visitor with the means to become a prospect for your services.
Further Research
Some other great posts on About Me/Us Pages.
