As if it’s not terrifying enough to start your own business, sooner than later, you’ll find yourself writing an About page for your site.

“But, why? Why do I need an About page?” you ask…

A few reasons…

1. People do business with other people…not websites.
2. People do business with people they know, like and trust.
3. Allowing yourself to be known – particularly in your own words – engenders trust.
4. People don’t have all day…your About page tells them (among other things) who you are so they don’t have to read your entire site to piece it together.

The About page is usually the first click when I land on a new site I’ve never visited before. And I’m not the only one, apparently.

I was surprised (and gratified) when I checked this site’s stats and found that 18% of my total page views last month were my About page, and for 48% of those views, my About page was the visitor’s first click after landing on my site. So, that tells me that I’m not the only one (by far) who checks out the About page fairly quickly. Even better, about half of those folks went from there to other pages on my site instead of leaving. (So, I guess I didn’t scare them, too bad, eh? More on that in a minute…)

Do you have to have an About page? No. You can leave us guessing and wondering, if you like.

That said…

Elements of a Great About Page

• Your Picture: I’m a fan of ‘real’ pictures, not staid, boring portraits.
• What You Do: Here’s the perfect place for your X, Y, Z statement.
• Who You Are: Not your whole life story, but the parts relevant to you being in business…this business…
• Need to Know Info: Anything that you absolutely want people considering working with you to know about you, your work, or how you work.
• How to Contact You: State your preferences and your boundaries.
• Something Unique (aka Weird): You decide. But take a risk. It’s good for you.

You’re welcome to check out my About page for some ideas. Or Marty’s. Or Liz’s. Or Christa’s.

Your Picture

Yours. Not a cartoon version, either. Include more, if you like…but let folks put a face to your name. (I have a family pic as well as one of me holding my granddaughter when she was bitty bitty. These are my peeps and the reasons you do not find me playing online games or watching afternoon TV. These babies are always needing new shoes!)

What You Do

Preferably in one sentence, a paragraph, if you must. Call the name of your ideal client here. Others will respond, but your “right” people will recognize themselves as belonging here.

Who You Are

As you can see, I talk about the fact that I’m a single mom (because that’s what made me want to work from home so bad.) I also talk about how I came to blend coaching and web design into the same business. Some people think that’s weird, so after being asked a few dozen times, I decided it warranted a mention in a public space.

Need to Know Info

Here’s an example from my page: “My office is my home, so if you call here outside my business hours (9am-3pm CT M-Th), you’ll hear kids and dogs and all manner of other racket in the background. That’s why I have published business hours – to spare you all that drama. If you need to talk to me outside of those hours, consider yourself warned, and you’ll have to schedule it ahead of time.” Handy to know that ahead of time, no?

How to Contact You

Link to your contact page/form, post your phone number, give directions to your front door – whatever you feel comfortable. Just be accessible some kind of way.

If you’re involved in any social networks, this is a handy place and time to extend an invitation for people to connect with you there, too.

Something Unique (aka Weird)

I’ve got some favorite quotes, Liz and Christa have some “fun facts” about themselves…let people get a peek at the non-business you some kind of way. You become more ‘human’ when you do…more accessible…and remember, people do business with people, not websites.

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