When was the last time you read your own about page?
A frequent offense we witness with bloggers is an outdated, useless, lame or ugly “about” page. When people visit websites, a shortcut for their getting to know you is to click on your “about” button, so this is your opportunity to capture them. Your about page needs to be catchy and capture the essence of who you or your company is, it should contain some sort of contact information and it should be like a handshake at a party with a quick introduction as to who you are and what you do.
Below are screenshots of several websites’ about pages with tips on how you can take a hint from the below about pages.
Barfing & Yawning Simultaneously
Below is an about page that could be interchangeable with any Realtor on the planet- please for the love of kittens, don’t ever write an about page like this. Yeah, you care, yeah, you’re professional, but seriously, who ARE you? What do you specialize in? What are you like and why would I want to work with you? Where is your call to action? If your about page reads like this one below, don’t worry, we’ll feed you, baby bird- keep reading for some examples of good about pages.
Text as tasty as key lime Godiva truffles
Godiva key lime is my favorite truffle ever, so this is saying a lot. If you’re writing an about page for your business, make sure it reflects the spirit of your company culture- this may be more reverent than your personal blog and that’s okay. But if you’re blogging alone, we should be able to get a taste of your unique personality like we do in the next three examples:
Super sexy design
So we’re not graphic designers and it’s not realistic to expect the entire real estate industry to look like the examples below, but we can think about how these examples are structured and adopt the pieces that fit within our current or future blog themes. The good news is that if your spidey sense doesn’t include graphic designery, there is an entire industry of creatives waiting to help you. In the meantime, find some inspiration from outside our field by drooling over the four sites below:
So consider your blog’s about page- is it dry or is it juicy like Ken’s? Is it ugly text or is it sexy fonts like Daniel’s? Tonight’s homework is to check out your about page and ask if it really represents you and what you have to offer?
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Consumerism, Geo-mapping columnist
Marketing columnist
I’m Busted – time to get to work
Looks like I have some work to do! (and by the way…”for the love of kittens”…I like that !)
OMG – when I started reading this I was thinking “For the love of everything HOLY – please don’t let Lani post Mine!”
I’m with Paula, guess I just filled in that blank 1pm-2pm slot this afternoon!
Navy Chief, Navy Pride
About to embark on a massive overhaul of everything web. It’s long overdo and these ideas are very welcome. I think I may just start with a search for Godiva key lime truffles — to fuel the endeavor.
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Paula- I had to check my own *before* I posted this article! lol
Joe- when you’re done, link to it in the comments here, I don’t chomp, I promise
Elaine- OMG pick me up some. Now I have to wipe drool from my face, thanks a lot.
I’m thinking someone’s been checking on a lot of us – busted just like Paula and Joe, and probably plenty of others out there.
I’ll be keeping ‘juicy’ and ’sexy’ in mind when revamping mine.
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Ummmm….funny how we are. I’m gonna write a blog post about it for next week. Title = “Self Doubt. The Opposite Of Laughing At Your Own Joke.” I have self doubt issues.
Seriously, I’m completely flattered, but I have to say, when I read the title and began to read the article, I thought, “Damn, I better amp up my “about page”, it sucks!”
All the points shared are excellent and it’s healthy to review, evaluate and reinvent, but damn, self doubt is one heavy current; is it catchy, is it boring, is it accurate, am I high, am I stupid, am I dull….that stuff runs through my head like the bulls in Pamplona.
Anyway, great reminders…especially for stuff that lives on the web when we’re sleeping, or playing or ?????
And last, a random thought, “If I can’t please everyone, then I better please myself.” Easy to say, harder to do.
Clink-Cheers
Funny thing is, I looked at Ken’s page when I was drafting mine and thought it was just about the coolest “about us” page that one can ask for. By the time you’re done reading it, you truly feel like you know the man. Humbled to even be included.
Lani, loved the design ideas!!
Thank you for bringing awareness to just how bad About Us pages can be. I am in the same boat, I totally checked mine before posting…. Looks like I have some serious work to do