The ins and outs of writing an impactful About Page

Your About Page is one of the most elusive, frustrating, and important pages on your website. It’s ok for it to be a work in progress. And I have some frameworks (and a free toolkit) to make it easier.

First and foremost: the purpose of your About Page. It’s not actually about you…it’s about your audience. So yes, you’re injecting your story, your vision, your values, your point of view. But as a means to show your audience that they are in the right place and that you are the perfect fit for them.

And your About Page does a lot of legwork for you. It:

⟹ builds trust with potential customers and allows your existing fans spread the word on your behalf,

⟹ acts as a secondary sales page,

⟹ frames how and why you show up for your clients, your customers, your people.

Let’s cover the anatomy of an impactful About Page—one that connects you to your audience in a human-first, values-led, intentional way.

The 3 key elements (regardless of your industry, vibe, voice, design, etc.) are:

⟹ Headlines that catch attention and guide the reader (especially the skimmers) down the page

⟹ A throughline between your story and business journey, in relation to your audience

⟹ Calls to action that pushes your audience forward

In terms of headline tips…

1. Make it skimmable. As much as it crushes someone like me (who wants every single word on every single page to be read and adored and internalized), the reality is that most people just aren’t going to read most of your copy. Especially the first go around. That’s why headlines are so important. Think about how you can make it so that if the reader ONLY skimmed through the headlines, they’d still get the gist of what they need to know about you and how you’re the perfect fit for them.
2. Use audience-focused language. Yes, you want your website to sound like you, in your brand voice. But you also want it to reflect and attract your people. After all, that’s why your website exists, right, to show them that they’re in the right place? So use their vernacular, vocabulary, point of view, aspirations, etc in both the headlines and the main copy.
3. Leverage SEO keywords. This is a whole other can of worms and I’m SEO-literate, but not an expert, so I won’t dive too deep into this. But basically, you want the magic of Google search to work in your favor. This pairs really closely with tip 2 about using audience-centric words. Essentially, capture what people are searching for. Even if that’s not necessarily how you would talk about what you have to offer. For example, one of the main keywords my site ranks for is conscious marketing. So I sprinkle that in, even if that’s not necessarily something I talk about on a day-to-day basis. There are tons of free and paid tools out there, so definitely poke around to see what works for you.

Next, let’s talk about stories.

Storytelling is so powerful because it connects people and ideas. And there’s not a right way to tell a story, especially your story. But here are some storytelling building blocks that might make it easier so that you feel more focused and less all over the place.

1. Set the scene
2. Share the journey
3. Show the transformation
4. Highlight the benefit

(This is clearest with an example, so listen to this episode of my podcast—starting at 8:46—for a line-by-line breakdown.)

I often get asked, how long is too long, or is there a right length for an About Page? And I get it because you’re super ambitious and experienced, you have all these ideas and accolades you could pull from. But stuffing them all onto your About Page isn’t going to make it more impactful, and especially not more resonant. Instead, it’s about choosing the most relevant parts of your work and offers, and the most important details that show your audience they’re in the right place.

You can always share more of your extended story via your content—a blog post, a podcast interview, social posts, newsletters, 1:1 conversations. And you can even boil down some clutter-inducing elements like certifications or affiliations by simply sharing a partner logo—no words required.

That said, personally, my About Page is long. I’m a bit long-winded. I know this about myself and my audience knows this about me. That’s part of my brand voice and my enthusiastic personality, and it matches my newsletter style, so at least it’s consistent. I do aim to be really intentional with my headlines and line breaks though so that people can skip through whatever they find least interesting.

Yours might be super bare bones if that’s your vibe. Or, it might be even longer than mine. As long as there’s a point to sharing it and your audience feels and knows what they need to, then it belongs.

And then we have the question, how much is too much, or what should I definitely omit? I do have some benchmarks around these ideas.

1. Omit anything irrelevant. I worked with a photographer once on her offer suite. And her About Page talked about her day job in tech, but that detail didn’t reflect her vibrant, bubbly personality, it didn’t connect to her photography style, and it actually served as a distraction from the amazing photography work she did. So I suggested she cut it. That said, if you have a really cool, seemingly tangential skill or lived experience that DOES impact your work and your point of view, please do include that. You can also share little parts of your multi-passionate self as a “fun fact” section or one-off if you really want to include it, but don’t know how it fits into the bigger picture.
2. Also avoid anything too graphic. Lots of us have trauma or other lived experiences that could be triggering to other people. Sharing and showing up vulnerably and transparently may be a big part of your brand. But if you’re adding in details that don’t connect to what your audience needs to know about you in order to take that next step, then it’s just too much. In that case, maybe save the graphic bits for DMs and 1:1 conversations.
3. Along those same lines, if something is too fresh, don’t share it yet. If you’re not ok with receiving unsolicited judgment or criticism from strangers on the internet, do NOT put it on your About page. Again, if you feel like you have a safe space to talk about these fresh, raw parts of yourself more privately, that’s the place to share. And then if/when you do process whatever you have been through and choose for it to be part of your founder’s story or brand story, then it could have a place on your About Page.
4. Lastly, if whatever you’re including is jammed-full of jargon, be sure to omit or re-write. Unless you work in a highly technical field with highly technical people who will be LOOKING for jargon to know that you speak the same language, then do not include it. So for us online marketing/online business people, don’t say “level up” when you could say “make more money with more ease”. Or don’t say “business growth” when you could say “connect with your perfect-fit people without putting yourself in a box”. Avoid the clichés and industry jargon that don’t actually say much at all. I actually have a whole blog post about your own personal jargon, so that’ll be linked in the show notes.

Close with a call to action.

You’ve guided them down the page with your headlines. You’ve crafted a throughline between you and them and your past and future versions of yourself.

The call to action (CTA) guides them to that next step in their customer journey.

Some super common examples are:

• Download this freebie
• Book a call
• Fill out this form (or apply now)
• Read this blog post
• Watch this video
• Listen to this episode
• Join this online community

There’s no right formula or perfect CTA. It’s about what your audience needs from you in order to take that next leap of faith. They’ve invested their time, energy, and attention into reading your page. Whatever comes next will be an even bigger investment. (Even if we’re not even talking about exchanging money or personal information yet.)

You might have a really long customer journey, or a super short one, depending on your positioning, your price, your offer, your customers’ mindset. So, consider those elements as well when you think about that best next step.

And depending on how long your About Page is, you might want to sprinkle in multiple CTAs. The CTA could be the same throughout, or they could be slightly different depending on what’s most relevant for that given section.

But always, always close out the bottom of the page with the best next step for them. It’s the generous (and strategic) thing to do. If they got all the way to the bottom of your page, do not leave them hanging, wondering what to do next.

So, as we take on this potentially daunting, pressure-packed About Page, it comes down to consistency.

You want your About Page vibe and messaging and voice and values to match the rest of your website, your social profiles, and beyond. This is just one piece of your overarching brand presence.

Also think about where else you would need a condensed (or expanded) version of your brand story. Like project proposals, sales calls, podcast pitches or interviews, press release boilerplates or event descriptions, your regular content.

All of this builds into a strong, reliable, trustworthy, consistent brand presence that you can be confident in. And that others can have confidence in.

So, there you have it. Easy peasy, right? Obviously not. But hopefully breaking down these elements made writing your about page feel more manageable. As you inject yourself, your values, and your vision onto your website, definitely tap into my free About Page Architect. Happy writing!