The Best “About Us” Page I’ve Ever Seen
I was doing some research today and came across the best “About Us” page I’ve ever seen:
What I love about it, firstly, is that it’s called “Our Vow” instead of “About Us” — makes a great impression, doesn’t it? They’re making a vow? To me? Cool.
I also love that it has personality. Too many companies — big and small businesses both — completely waste the opportunity they have to do something with the “About Us” page. (Remember my 4 Most Underrated Pages On Your Web Site post?)
This kind of approach is great for a community-based site like IndieBride.com, but there are lessons here that ANY site can apply to the “About Us” page:
1.) Be human. You may not have a chance elsewhere on your web site to put a human face on the products you sell or the services you offer. You can do it here. It’s okay to be yourself on this part of your site.
2.) Tell stories. There’s no more captivating content than a well-told, interesting story. I’m not a girl. I’m not a bride. It’s been 15 years since I was married. And yet I couldn’t stop reading the IndieBride “About Us” page.
3.) Differentiate. What makes you unique? What makes you special? Sometimes it’s important — maybe imperative — to declare who you are and who you’re not; what you are and what you’re not.
4.) Welcome people. Every great customer service operation places great importance on making the visitor/shopper feel welcome in the store. A great “About Us” page can serve the same purpose.
[tags]web design, web development, web content, web pages, web marketing[/tags]
Right on the money, I work for an SME and our ‘meet the team’ page is one of the most visited. Visitors want to see the human face behind the words and pictures. Using real pictures also helps build credibility.
Hi. Thanks so much for your tips and for the selection posted. I had a hard time coming up with our “About Us” statements for our site. When I came across your site, I suddenly had tons of ideas already. I can’t wait to get started. Thanks again!
You’re quite welcome, Kristine – glad you found some value in this post.
All that text? Yikes! The copy may be great, but not many people will even attempt to read it because of the format. Most people prefer to skim pages and only read them when they’ve found exactly what they’re looking for:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html
To improve it, try breaking some of that great copy up with headings and bullet points for easy scanning.
Nice article Matt, short but good.
If your ‘About Us’ page is the most important one of your site then you have a problem.
It shouldn’t.
Most websites give the ‘About Us’ too much attention. They put it in the main navigation, usually as first menu item.
Now wonder, why so many people click on it? 🙂
The ‘About Page’ is a B task, at such put it in your footer menu.
First people, want to see if you have an answer for their problem. And if you do then they are maybe interested in the people behind the scene.
If you don’t respect this causality, people will surely visit your ‘About Page’ more, can’t find the answer for their problem, get bored and move to the exit of your website.
Got to agree with Edwin: If your ‘About Us’ page is the most important one of your site then you have a problem. That said, a good about us page will always set the right tone.
Just read an ABOUT US that actually made me laugh and be quite proud of the city in which I live at the same time. The city is a dump in many ways and the website could be pretty much the same, but the About Us made me realise it was About ‘Me’ as well. That’s a skill.
I also liked the use of AwesoMetres (something I;’ve never come across before). Their Perceived Percentage of ‘doom and gloom’ was something like 0.05%
http://www.manchester.tv/page/1/about-us
On another site ( http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/10/how-to-design-a-great-about-us-page.html ) I read a quote about how to write a perfect ‘about us’ page. They used quotes from an internet marketing expert. When I went to their site to read their About US page I was … well … well … Perhaps I’ll let you make your mind up!
http://www.webmarketingtherapy.com/about/
All in all, every ABOUT US page should be geared to who will be reading and what the site wants the world to think about them.
If I may ask a question. I just read in the earlier comments that ‘Meet The Team’ was used in place of ‘About Us’
Do anyone think this is a better turn of phrase?
Have to disagree with this, Julia:
“If your ‘About Us’ page is the most important one of your site then you have a problem.”
There are many types of businesses and organizations where, after the home page, one of the most popular pages on the site will be the About Us/Me page. A great About page would be helpful to doctors, lawyers, photographers, counselors, coaches, etc.