I just finished helping a client with his about page, and it reminded me how tough it is to craft this part of your website on your own. I mean heck, who really wants to write about themselves? It’s hard enough to toot your own horn without worrying about the nuances that can capture a client (or drive them away).
If you’re struggling with your about page (or just feel like it doesn’t have any mojo) there may be some easy fixes you can implement. Here are three mistakes you may be making with your about page, and what to do about them.
You’re Not Telling People What You Do
What’s your title? (Hint: this is one of those instances where “blogger” just won’t cut it.) Now’s the time to really assess what it is you’re giving to your audience. For example, the second sentence of my hire me page (which is for all intents and purposes my about page) says “I’m a professional copywriter who specializes in writing for the web, editorial work and content management.” Right off the bat visitors know what I am and what I can do for them. What are you offering?
It’s Not Personal Enough
Are you writing about yourself in the third person? Stop. Just stop. Your audience (and potential clients) want to know there’s an actual person sitting behind that laptop. And besides, there’s nothing more pretentious than referring to yourself as “she”. Take this as an opportunity to tell your readers a little bit about yourself. It’s not the right platform to recite your biography, of course, but some personal information here and there can work wonders. My most recent client mentioned the “hole in one” he got at the age of sixteen in our initial conversation — it was something unique that could be summed up in one sentence and a great addition to his page.
There’s No Call-to-Action
It’s time to ask yourself what you want your readers to do with the information they’ve just collected. Do you want them to email you? Sign up for your newsletter? Follow you on Facebook? Twitter? Pinterest? This is your call to action; the logical next step you’ve planned for your audience. At the end of my hire me page I direct visitors to a contact form embedded in the page — I want to capture their information and start a conversation about the services I can provide.
The key here is you need to tell your audience what you want them to do. “Sign up for my newsletter,” “follow me on Twitter,” or “sign up for my e-course” are perfectly acceptable solutions. For this particular client I decided to weave the golf theme and wrote “let me help you score a hole in one with your business” directly above his contact form.
It’s Badly Written
Grammar and spelling mistakes happen, but you should put your best effort into making sure your about page is as perfect as possible — it’s probably one of the first places potential readers and clients will land. If you’re not sure how things sound, enlist a friend to give it a once over. Better yet, find someone who’s a great writer and swap services. Ask them to craft a few paragraphs for you in exchange for something you’re good at — social promotion, a mention in a blog post — you get the idea. The internet’s a big place, and it’s all about helping each other out.
Leave a Reply