How to Write an Effective About Page
Your blog’s About page is one of the most visited pages on your website. Because of this, you want your About page to give your reader a good reason to stick around on your site. You also want to take the opportunity to introduce yourself and explain how you can help your reader.
In this blog post, you’ll be learning how to write an effective About page so that you will have the tools you need to write a great About page for your own blog.
Plus, I’ll be sharing five examples of well-written About pages (see below) by some of the successful bloggers that I’ve come to respect.
Getting Started with Your About Page
When bloggers create their About page (sometimes called About Me or About Us), they often make it all about themselves instead of about their readers.
While it’s OK to tell your reader a little bit about yourself, you really want to make it more reader focused.
A quick hack is to try to use the words “you” and “you’ll” in your About page. Doing this will naturally shift the focus to be less on yourself and more on your reader.
By keeping your About page more reader focused, you’ll be sending the message to your reader that you care more about their success than you do about making yourself look good.
Questions Your About Page Should Answer
In my opinion, the perfect About page should answer the following questions:
- What will your blog or website do for your reader?
- Why should they keep coming back?
- What is the value you bring them?
As an example, here’s what I say on my own About page:
“The online business and internet marketing space has become over-saturated, making it difficult to cut through the noise and focus on what you need to do to get started and grow your online business.
Online Business Ambitions takes a back-to-basics approach to teach online business concepts and strategies centered around your business’s main hub which is your website.
A great place to start is the blog. There you’ll find ongoing updates with some of the best (and simple) strategies and tips to help you start and grow your own online business.”
So, this lets my readers know that my site will help them start and grow their online business. It also lets them know that the value they’re getting is a back-to-basics approach that cuts through the noise and helps them stay focused.
And lastly, they learn that they should keep coming back for ongoing strategies and tips via blog posts.
All three questions answered!
Writing Your Story
Once you’ve established what’s in it for the reader, it’s time to talk a bit about yourself. After all, you do want your reader to get to know you, right?
So in this section, include a picture of yourself and a brief bio so that your readers get a sense of who you are.
Add Proof
At the same time, it’s important that you give your readers some value and a reason to trust you.
To do this, share a success story about yourself and be sure to relate it to the questions or problems they’re coming to your website to solve.
By doing this, your readers will relate to you and say, “OK, this person gets what the problems are and how to solve them. I should learn more from her or him.”
Don’t Forget an Opt-In
At the bottom of your About page, consider adding a call to action with an opt-in.
This is the perfect time to try to get someone’s email address in exchange for a high value lead magnet.
By doing this, you’ll naturally continue the conversation you started on your About page, plus add additional value through your lead magnet.
About Page Examples from Other Bloggers
I thought it would be a great idea to share some examples of About pages from some of the bloggers I’ve come to respect.
Let’s get started…
Kristie Hill
One of the things I like about Kristie’s About Page is her bio section.
She has an “Official Bio” and a “Keeping it Real Bio.”
Those two sections demonstrate a unique way in which she shares a bit about herself both professionally and personally.
I love the way she transitions from the professional to the personal. It really helps you to understand the person behind the brand.
I think most people who have a personal brand have to find a way to integrate their personal and professional lives. Kristie illustrates this in her About page really well.
Plus, she just seems like a super genuine person!
Bobby Klinck
If you’ve spent any time following him, you know that he’s one of the least pretentious marketers out there.
He’s an attorney who helps bloggers figure out the “legal stuff” and is very generous with his content.
Just listening to his podcasts alone are like getting a free course every week. And not just in the legal stuff, but also in online marketing.
What I like about Bobby’s About Page is the way he explains how he turned his lessons learned into his core beliefs. He gives you some great advice in there about how to be a good online marketer, based on his real-life experience. Plus, you also get a good feel for the value he provides.
Cathrin Manning
Cath is one of the most high-energy content creators out there. Between her blog posts and YouTube videos, she gives you a ton of great advice.
She’s a kind soul who serves first, while pulling back the curtain on her achievements so that you can learn from them.
What I like about Cath’s About Page is how she documents the evolution of herself and her business. She also includes a video as part of her About page, which helps the reader to connect with her. A very smart idea!
Chris Ducker
The rock-star online business gentleman who coined the term “Youpreneur”, Chris is well-known in the internet marketing industry. His people to people approach of growing a business is unmatched.
What I like about Chris’s About Page is the top hero section. It does a brilliant job of telling you exactly what value you’re going to get. Plus, it’s got a great, friendly-looking picture of him on the right hand side of the text. Perfect!
He then follows that section with an immediate and clear call to action to subscribe and get his free course.
If you’re looking to write the perfect About Page, his is one of the best models to follow.
Brian Dean
If you include search engine optimization as part of your online business strategy, then you probably know about Brian Dean and his Backlinko brand.
He’s well-known for giving people the best advice on SEO based on the experiments he conducts and shares.
What I like about Brian’s About Page is the way he communicates the value you’re going to get from him and the way he uses social proof.
He makes it extremely clear that if you want higher rankings in the search engines and the additional traffic that comes with that, you need to stick around!
And then he tops it off with excellent social proof from the likes of Apple, Disney and Amazon, coupled with mentions of his appearances with six well-known publishers.
Conclusion
And that’s a wrap!
I hope you found value in this post and the examples above from other bloggers.
My goal was for you to take away some good lessons you can use when creating your own About page.
As a quick recap, here’s the questions your About page should answer:
- What will your blog or website do for your reader?
- Why should they keep coming back?
- What is the value you bring them?
By implementing these tips, you’ll be off to a great start to writing your own perfect About page!
Pretty awesome post. It lead me to reinvent my About page, thank you.
You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked it Rui!
This is another excellent post Jon with some great examples… and not just your own! I really like all of the examples you’ve provided but perhaps Kristie Hill’s approach works best for me.
Like Rui, I feel like I need to scramble away and reappraise my own About page! Well it’s perhaps not as big a job as I might suggest but the biggest takeaway for me is the questions my about page should be addressing.
Highly useful… thanks for sharing your experience.
Hey Paul, thanks for the comment and glad you liked the post!
Kristie’s approach is great, plus she’s a super nice person too.
Cheers!