The About Us page isn’t just one of the most visited areas of your website. It’s the place where people get a feel for your company and whether they’re interested in doing business with you. So, if you’re not putting your best face forward there, it’s time for a makeover.

The good news is that the process doesn’t have to be complicated. With the help of these golden rules, you’ll be able to create a compelling About Us page that online visitors can’t resist.

1. Tell a story

This is an area where small companies have an advantage over the big guys. People enjoy supporting others with whom they feel a connection, and sharing your personal story is a step toward establishing a relationship. In your company description, talk about why the business was started or the history behind it.

Lovett’s Soul Food, based in Alton, Illinois, is all about family — and their About Us page is proof of that. Instead of simply listing the dishes offered, it explains the Lovett family’s connection to those dishes. It also describes the early days of the restaurant, from its humble beginnings as a walk-up window restaurant to its eventual growth and transition into a dine-in restaurant beloved by the community.

2. Include stats and facts

You want to stand out from the crowd, but steer away from any inclination to pad your numbers, client list or achievements. It’s just not worth the risk to your business and the reputation you’ve worked so hard to establish.

Schlemmer Brothers Hearth & Home is a family-run business based in Wabash, Indiana. The company’s historical connection to Wabash is a point of pride for owner Kent Henderson, and he highlights it in the About Us page by mentioning that the company has been serving the community for 110 years. This impressive fact is further emphasized and supported on the page by vintage family photos of the shop.

3. Use visuals and photos

The old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words” definitely rings true in many cases. Staff pics, behind-the-scenes peeks and old photos add context and color to your company description.

Lisa Morrison, Mary Morrison and Katey Vankirk, owners of Morrison’s Irish Pub in Alton, Illinois, want their patrons to feel at home when they’re in the bar. The trio is also dedicated to creating an authentic Irish pub environment for everyone who walks through their doors. Morrison’s, as they explain on their website, is like an “Ireland away from Ireland.” The images and graphics displayed on their About Us page are intended to support their messaging while grabbing visitors’ attention.

The owners use a mix of high-quality, professional photos and personal snapshots of themselves to show who they are and connect with their website visitors on a human level. They’ve also accented the page with a plaid design and Celtic graphics to evoke the Irish culture that is so integral to their business.

4. Be true to your brand

Your branding — that is, the color scheme, typography, logo and messaging you use on all of your marketing materials — communicates who you are as a company. Strong, consistent branding will bring attention to your company, create trust and ensure that people remember you. This being said, your website design — along with everything from your email marketing campaigns to your social media profiles — should reflect your brand identity and complement the narrative that you’re presenting in your About Us page.

Miguel Velez, owner of Miguel’s Riverside Barber Shop in Bristol Borough, Pennsylvania, notes his years of experience and love of old-school barbering in his website biography. The page’s design supports these points in subtle but effective ways. The sleek, clean layout speaks to his professionalism while the deep blue, brown and red color scheme are classic and hint at the old-school barbering that he’s passionate about. If he were to use, say, a neon color palette he would be evoking a completely different personality — one that isn’t compatible with his branding.

5. Let your customers do the talking

What’s better than telling the world that you make the best pizza in town? Hearing or seeing rave reviews from happy customers. Customer testimonials build trust by backing up what you say on your website. So, take a look at what you can share about your business that lends credibility to the claims you make, and put this social proof where online visitors can easily find it.

Like any child care facility, Discover, Learn & Grow in Bristol Borough, needed a way to establish trust in the community. The example below shows how owner Ramona Jones does just that by using parent testimonials on her website.

6. Drive readers to action

Every page on your website, including the About Us page, should drive readers to take a specific action — whether it’s to call you, learn more about your products, buy something or visit your business. So, don’t forget to include calls to action and contact links.

You can create a playful call to action like this one from bait and tackle retailer Bluff City Outdoors in Alton, so long as readers understand what you’d like them to do:

7. Show off your personality

People do business with people, so let your personality shine in your writing. Being a little funny, if that’s your style, can definitely help you stand out among your competitors and help customers feel connected to your company. Just keep it authentic.

Mark McMurry isn’t just the owner of a bait and tackle shop. He is an avid outdoorsman with a passion for catfishing. And he reels in an audience by infusing his personality, passion and expertise into every page of his website. In the following example, McMurry not only builds trust by showing people he has what it takes to wrangle some monstrous catfish, he shares his quirky sense of humor by saying, “Think crappies — not crap.”

8. Sum it up

Want your story to stick with readers? Sum it up with a short and sweet, memorable tagline. Your tagline will capture your company’s essence, personality and values to help you stand out from the crowd. Before you write one, think about what your company is about, who your customers are and how you help them.

The tagline below communicates that owner Benjamin Golley of Today’s Beauty Supply, doesn’t just want to make a profit. He wants to make a difference in the Alton community. And he does that by hosting a variety of neighborhood events in the community space connected to the shop.

In short, when it comes to your About Us page, be interesting, be accurate and, above all, be yourself!

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Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2015 under the title “7 do’s and don’ts for writing your company’s story.” It has been completely rewritten for relevance.

© 2019, Contributing Author. All rights reserved.