Why an About us page is so important
Remember when you set up your Shopify site and one of the templated pages was the “About” page?
Remember when you hastily pulled together a quick rundown of what you sell/do because if it’s in the template then it must be necessary?
Remember when you forgot about it and haven’t looked at or updated it in about 12 months?
Yeah, we need to talk about that.
As an eCommerce store, you need to focus on convincing people how amazing your products are, right? So you’ve probably been spending what little time you have after the day-to-day running of your business on your product or service descriptions, or your SEO.
The trouble is, while SEO is great to get people to your website, once they’re there, you have to show them why they should buy from you.
Why an About Page?
Did you know that the About Page is the 2nd most visited page on a company’s website? This study from 2015 learned that 52% of people visit a brand’s About Page once they’ve landed on the homepage.
Yeah, I’ll wait for the horror to slowly spread across your face as you remember the sparse paragraph that’s been sitting on yours for a year…
The About Us page is where potential customers get to know your business. But, more importantly, it’s where potential customers work out if you have a connection. They want to know the answers to these questions before they get out their wallet and give you their cash:
- Can they trust you?
- Do you have the same values as them?
- Can they see themselves in your story, or your team?
- Are you the expert at what you do?
- Do you ‘get’ them?
Essentially, they’re trying to work out why they should buy from you and not someone else.
Before the revolution
Before the internet changed the world (not completely for the better) most transactions would have taken place in person (bonus points if you can remember that far back!). You would be able to look someone in the eye and ask them questions before you bought your car, your buggy, or even your puppy (Ok, well the last one is probably something you should still do in person). Try to think of your About page as the firm handshake, good (not creepy) eye contact, and trustworthy chat that will get you the sale.
It’s where you build the rapport that would have been done face to face.
This Brave New World
Your About Us page shouldn’t be an afterthought where you copy and paste the mission statement you put in your business plan.
The most successful brands take this challenging and lucrative website page by the horns and wrestle it into a relatable, inspiring, and convincing piece of writing that leads potential customers from uncertainty to a confident purchase. Or they paid someone else to do it for them (ahem).
We know, writing about yourself is hard (we’ve written about it here why writing about yourself is hard). So, if you’ve gone back and deleted your brief paragraph but you’re now staring at the blank page as panic sets in, we can help.
Start Your Own Legend specializes in creating About pages that will soon be the origin stories of your epic brand. We’ll take your amazing business idea and make sure your customers connect with it.
