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#1 Reason the About Us page is the most important page on your website.

It is the most visited page on your website.  If you look at your analytics like I do, you would see this it the most visited.  Sure the home page or landing page gets the most views, but what is the next page they go to?  Your About Us page.  Hands down every website I have done analysis on, the About Us page has the most hits.

So what does this mean for you?  Well, if you see you are getting traffic to your site, but not much else is happening, then it’s obvious that after your About Us page, they exit your site.  Not good and most likely the number one reason your website isn’t getting the results you want.  Your About Us page has no value to the potential customer in taking the next step.

Below are the stats for this site taken at 6am on a Sunday morning.  What this shows me is in a 6 hour time frame, I had 50 visits to my About Us page.  5 times as many that looked at my Service Page and 7 times the amount that looked at the Contact page.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford to lose that many customers.  I’m sure people are nosey and it could be some competitors looking at my site.  But the numbers don’t lie and I had to do something about, the About Us page.

It was a bit humbling, being a marketing consultant and realizing this on my own About Us page.  So it was time to develop a plan to make changes.  I needed to research more into my client’s persona.  I need just like you for this page to convert, viewers into clients.

How to make your About Us page better.

For a page with no clear ROI, it doesn’t make sense that you’d put a lot of time into an “About Us” page.  That is what I thought too.  Until it hit me after looking over a ton of website insights for my clients.

This is why most “About Us” pages suck and turn off potential customers.

You know the ones… I have 20 years experience, I have this or that award, been in business for so many years, I am a family man, etc.   “YAWN”

Your story is what will stay in a reader’s head long after they’ve clicked “exit”

Here are the steps to create the best “About Us” page to convert traffic into customers.

Understand your “About Page” is often the 2nd-highest visited page behind your homepage.

Since I put very little effort into the page, I missed some crucial opportunities to gain customers or take an action.

Understand your “About Page” is often the highest “bounce rate” of any page.

Bounce Rate = The percentage of visitors to a website leave after viewing only one page.  They were there, but they found little value or interest and left.  You attracted, but did not keep their interest.    

Think about it this way…

Whether it was a Facebook ad, Google search, business card or truck lettering, a new visitor has landed on your site. Congratulations!

Now, these new readers either leave or they click “About” in your navigation.

“I like what I see… Tell me more!”

You’ve got their interest, and it’s your About page’s job to reel them in.
The problem is, most people put up a third-person copy/pasted bio and call it a day.

The result? You’ve just told that new customer: “Sorry, nothing for you here.”

And instead of that new customer seeing everything on your website, they click that terrifying “x” and go to a competitor’s website.

Shit! Lost another customer.  How many is that now?

Your About Page’s job to steer the visitor somewhere:

Think about your “About Us” page as an airport, each person has a different place to go and a schedule.

These visitors want to get somewhere!

It’s your About Page’s job to show and tell them how:    Is your “About Us” page telling visitors they’re in the wrong place?

A great “About Us” page can be the difference between a quick visit to your website and a new customer.

So how do we turn your awkward third-person text into a kick ass page that leads to more opportunities, more customers and more business? By knowing the composition of a good “About Us” page.

Understand the Composition of a good About Page.

Your About page has two jobs:

(1.) Get new customers excited to have found you.
(2.) Send them to the right place.

There are a lot of creative ways to format your About page, but there are a few sections I consider for each page I write:

• A Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
• A Dream
• A Difference (What makes you different than your competitors)
• A Story (Your story)
• An Offering (What you have to offer your customers)
• A Call to Action CTA

PART 1.)  The Unique Selling Proposition (USP):

A USP is just a fancy way of answering the question: What is unique and desirable about you?

That’s it.

It’s usually just a sentence or two, and is an introductory headline. ”

Your headline doesn’t have to be catchy or clever. It just has to tell what you do, how you’re different and why people should keep reading.

Here are some example USP’s:

“A marketplace where people connect to make, sell and buy unique goods” (Etsy)

“Tools to grow your website’s traffic” (Sumome)

House cleaner? Your differentiator might be your homemade cleaning products.

HVAC contractor? Yours could be an extensive product knowledge.

“Nothing but HEAVY DUTY” (Milwaukee Tools)

For every “About Us” page I write, I brainstorm a lot of headlines. I do this last.

It’s easier to come up with something clear, concise and unique after writing the rest of the page.

PART 2.) The Dream:

How will your reader’s life be different after they work with you? What does that perfect life look like?

Use this “Imagine if…”

For example:

Imagine if you felt more comfortable in your home with a new heater.
Imagine if you went to work and came home to a new bathroom.
Imagine if your windows opened and closed easy.
These stories don’t need to start with the word “imagine”.. You can cut the first few words, when you’re done:

Now write a short paragraph, including pain points, to really make that big idea resonate.

An example:

“Imagine if” 

When you first bought your home, you envisioned being able to open the windows to let in a cool breeze.   You would sit in the living room with the family watching TV in the winter months.  You’d take a nice bath or shower after a long day’s work…..  But instead, you can’t open the windows, the heater is inefficient and the shower faucet leaks.

Isn’t that so much better than starting your page off with, I’m a contractor with 20 years experience and I care about my work.  Call me today, please.

PART 3.) The Differentiator:

This is what makes you stand out from the crowd, also known as your competition.

I once had a client who, when I asked what made him different from every other contractor, said, “Well, I started business to be like other contractors and make more money”

Instead of backhanding him, I asked, “Did you really?  Why start a business that is already saturated and most don’t last.”

“Well, I love to build things. And a lot of these other contractors say they treat the customers home like their own, but they don’t. Turns out, most of them cut corners, use cheaper products then quoted.”

Now we’re getting somewhere.

This tactic works in every industry.

House cleaner? Your differentiator might be your homemade cleaning products.

HVAC contractor? Yours could be an extensive product knowledge.

We ALL have experiences that make us uniquely qualified to do what we do. Your “About Us” page is the place to share that.

Draft this section by asking yourself: “What pisses you off about your trade/industry?”

A tile-setter might say, “I hate how everyone thinks their handy brother in-law can tile a bathroom. It takes a ton of expensive equipment and years of training to develop an eye to know when to use this or that for the job, so it lasts.”

Now that’s a compelling message. Why not write something like…

Here are a few other questions to help you brainstorm:

• How is your warranty different?
• What do you offer that competitors don’t?
• What drives you nuts about your industry?
• What part of your industry do you want to see changed?
• Why did you start your own business instead of getting a job with someone else?

PART 4.) A Story:

NOW—is when we include your story. Talk about your mission, your work history, your awards or your personal story.

I’m big on getting human and personal here.  Yeah, I know, “No one cares about you, they only care about themselves,”.  As humans, we constantly hunt for connections to our own lives.

Let’s say you want to get back into shape, but you’ve taken “movie night and chill” to a whole new level. You decide to hire a personal trainer, you Google trainers in your area.

1.) One is a body builder who’s been obsessed with the “Incredible Hulk” his whole life.

2.) The second who could barely get off the couch for years until finally losing 60 pounds and competing in his first bodybuilding competition. He talks about his own struggles and how he conquered them using goal setting and 30-minute after work routine.

I haven’t told you anything about their skills, just their stories. But you already have a first choice, don’t you?

If you get personal, you will retain more visitors and attract more of your perfect customer.  Don’t be a robot.

To help you write your story, use these thoughts:

• Why do you want to help?
• How did you get involved in this industry?
• What is your experience with this problem?
• What questions do customers ask you?

NOTE: Do not write this as a third person. Use “I” or “we” only.  If you can’t use first person throughout the page, try writing a letter as if from the owner.

PART 5.) An Offering:

Think back to the last time you discovered someone new online….

Maybe you Googled “business insurance” and you found someone who provided an evening schedule, and breaks down the types of coverage you need and don’t need.

His “About Us” page talked about his story and experience, followed by an easy way to start his services. He linked to his most popular business insurance videos, a free consultation on what you need to be covered for and a quick overview of how the coverage works.

Your page should make your readers feel like they’ve just stumbled across the internet’s best-kept secret.

The offerings section is a table of contents that helps new customers learn about you and also tackles their problems.

You could include:

• A button to your top 3-5 services.
• A list of happy customers.
• Image links to your sales page.
• Upcoming events

Ask yourself: “What ONE thing do you want readers to do after reading your About page?” It’s okay to have a few offerings listed.  Unlike a sales page, you can have a few different links to other pages for customers. If you do this right, they’ll visit them all.

PART 6.) A Call To Action:

Outside of your bigger service offerings, you should end with a final call to action. Ideally, this would be a phone call or email for an estimate or service.

I have an email form on all my pages.  BUT, my  “About Us” page converts at a higher rate.  These are super warm leads who I’ve just convinced I’m worth listening to.

The End!

If your About Page is complete, you will have an About Page that will be grabbing customers by the hand, pointing them where you want, and saving that valuable traffic!

This post is meant to “inspire” you.  It takes some time to write a good “About Us” page.  Sit down with pencil and pad and get cracking.  You can’t afford to lose the amount of traffic/customers I’m sure your page is losing you.

Need me to write your “About Us” page? Email me at RJCooper@ContactorMarketingNetwork.com