In this post, I’m going to cover how to write an “About Us” page for blogging purposes.
We will look at a few examples and go over my 4 tips for writing an About Us page that works for your blog.
Specifically in this post I’ll be covering:
- Are “About Us” pages even important for blogging?
- What is an “About Us” page for a blogger?
Think of your blog as a brick-and-mortar retail store. The best designed retail stores utilize every aspect of their showroom – from the window display to the entrance, to the shelves where products are stored to the check out rack with gift cards and other last-minute add-ons. No space is wasted.
The same thing goes with creating a blog. Every page on your blog should serve more than one purpose and should complement your overall brand.
Sometimes I see beginning bloggers put too little thought into their ‘About Us’ page, focusing all their attention on their homepage or blog post page. It isn’t that those pages aren’t important, it’s that every page on your blog is important.
You don’t want wasted real estate on your blog.
Table of ContentsWhat is an About Us Page?Contact Page vs. About Us Page?What Should The Goal of Your About Us Page Be?Should You Consider The “About Page” Mobile Experience? How To Write Towards Your Audience?The Importance of Be Specific In Your Blog’s About Us Page?What Are Some Good About Us Page Examples? Are You Ready to Write Your About Page for Your Blog?
What is an About Us Page?
An About Page is a landing page on your blog that tells a story around your entire website. Sometimes the About Us page goes by different names, such as “Our Story” or “Our Mission” or your company’s “Mission Statement.”
No matter what its called, it serves the same purpose – it lets your reader know several important things:
- Who you are.
- What you do.
- Why they should trust you.
Expertise, authority, and trust are three major components of running a successful blog.
This is a well-known aspect of SEO called: E-A-T.
What that means for you is Google, and your readers are looking to see if your blog is a good source of information. This matters no matter how you’re making money from blogging, whether you’re monetizing through affiliate links, ad revenue, or by selling your own products or services.
There are several ways to incorporate E-A-T into your About Us page, which we go over in my first tip.
But first, I want to clarify a misconception.
Contact Page vs. About Us Page?
I sometimes see amateur bloggers try to make their about page and contact page into one page.
I think it’s best if you keep those pages separate because they’re doing two different things.
Your About page is where you go over your selling points, introduce your online business or team members. Think of it as your first impression with your target audience. You don’t want to assume that your reader needs to contact you.
Instead, you can create a separate page with your contact form and link to that page from within your about page.
What Should The Goal of Your About Us Page Be?
Think of your About Us page as the first time a customer or reader has been introduced to your web page and your overall brand.
What do you want them to know?
First, you want them to know who you are.
This means including your name, some biographical information, and a photo. If you are just one of few business owners involved in the blog, then you can decide if you want to introduce all owners or if you want one owner to be the spokesperson. If you’re unsure of what approach to take, always side with whatever option brings more value to the reader.
Second, you want them to know what purpose this blog serves.
Are you a blog for an eCommerce store? Are you an affiliate marketing blog that writes reviews about vacuums? Are you a personal blog that’s offering your services, such as copywriting or design work?
Third, you want them to know why they should trust you.
How you add social proof to your blog’s About Us page will depend on what kind of blog you have.
Let’s say you’re a sales writer who is running a blog about copywriting for small businesses. You’re writing content about how a small business can use the persuasive copy in its email campaigns to drive customers onto its online store.
Your About Us page could include testimonials or case studies (or both).
A testimonial is a satisfied customer who is giving you a raving review. Below is an example from a copywriter’s testimonial page
In this example, the copywriter actually included a photo of his customers along with their testimonial. I think this is a nice human touch that makes the testimonial come across as more genuine.
By adding testimonials as social proof to your About Us page, you’re increasing your blog’s E-A-T. Plus, you’re making it more likely for a customer to buy your services.
A case study is more involved than a testimonial – it’s a report covering a specific period of time where you can demonstrate the value (preferably monetary) you brought to a company.
For example, keeping with the copywriting services, if you’ve worked with a small business on their email marketing campaign for three months and increased their open rate by 42%, then you can create a case study documenting how you helped that company achieve those impressive results.
Okay, but what if you’re not selling your services, what if you’re an affiliate marketer? How do you convey trust then?
If you’re an affiliate marketer, you’re likely not to have testimonials, at least not in the traditional sense.
But you’re going to get comments from your readers. You can turn these comments into testimonials that help show other readers how others have benefited from your product reviews.
Okay, but what if you started out as a blogger and are brand new and have no testimonials or blog comments? How do you instill trust in your potential customers?
You most likely didn’t start your blog out of the blue. I’ve met a lot of beginning bloggers, but none of them woke up and said, “I don’t like coffee, but I’m going to start a coffee blog today.”
Whatever journey led you to start your blog, your target audience will likely share your journey For example, if you had to buy four different kinds of coffee makers before you decided on a french press, then that’s a story worth sharing with your audience on the About Me page for your coffee blog.
Pro-tip: A way to add credibility to your About Us page is to add social media buttons to your active accounts. But you should create work-friendly and work-centric social media accounts, as you want everything you present on your About Us page to complement your brand.
Should You Consider The “About Page” Mobile Experience?
More people are using their phone or their tablet to access the internet. In fact, by some estimates, mobile search has overtaken desktop with 60% of users their mobile devices to use the internet.
But mobile search internet is different than desktop search intent. Generally speaking, if you’re searching for something on mobile, you’re not looking to do a lot of research and reading, as much as you want to find an answer to your problem.
This is my About page as viewed from a mobile device. I go over in detail below how I designed this About page, but for now, let’s just focus on the mobile aspect.
Notice, the blue CTA (Let’s work together) is very present. It is now centered nicely above my video. Everything I want the user to see is front and center.
The main takeaway is not that “it looks good” on mobile (though that’s important), but by making the CTA and video so prominent, I’m catering my About page towards mobile search intent.
The good news is that platforms like WordPress make it easy to create mobile-friendly pages. But it’s on you, the blogger, to double-check every page on mobile after you hit publish.
Pro-tip: If you’re unsure about your blog’s user experience about us page on mobile devices, have a friend or family member visit your page on mobile and narrate their thoughts as they navigate the landing page.
How To Write Towards Your Audience?
Think of your blog as solving your audience’s pain points. Put yourself in the shoes of your reader.
Let’s say your a customer looking for bow ties. And you stumble across a blog that sells bow ties, so you go their About Us page.
And on that About Us page it says something like this:
Hi! My name is Shane and I started this blog to make some extra income as I work towards my dream of retiring at age 35. Please check it out and if you see a bow tie you like, click add to cart!
That isn’t writing towards your audience – your potential customers are made up of people who have a genuine need regarding bow ties. Instead of sharing biographical information that isn’t relevant to your reader, share information that shows how and why you came to run a blog about bow ties.
It might look like this:
Notice the About Us section is simple, direct, and effective. It also follows a really easy-to-mimic three-step model of writing:
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- Introduce the pain – expensive bow ties that are poor quality.
- Discuss the solution – providing a direct to consumer business model.
- Present the end result – a quality bow tie that lasts.
There’s also one other thing that I do in that section that leads us into my next tip:
I’m specific.
The Importance of Be Specific In Your Blog’s About Us Page?
I’m going to ask you to make two assumptions when you’re writing your About landing page.
First, I want you to assume that, no matter how unique your blog is, other blogs already exist for that topic.
I’ve seen affiliate blogs that only sell iPhone cases, I’ve seen blogs that sell eBooks about immigrating to Canada, I’ve seen blogs that sell fertilizer specific to African violets, and blogs that sell vintage dolls. No matter how unique or niche the topic, all of these blogs had competitors.
Second, I want you to assume that, no matter how good your ranking in Google or your social media presence, that your reader has read or will read your competitors’ blogs.
Most people don’t convert on their first visit. While the data is hard to quantify, it’s a good rule to live by as a blogger. This is why blogs create email lists of subscribers and rank for several topics. It’s to get your potential customers back to your blog.
So, why these two assumptions?
Because by acknowledging that you have direct competitors that your target audience will be aware of, you can now focus on making sure your About Us landing page is stronger than the competition by being specific in your copy.
Let’s take the bow tie copy from above.
I wrote:
The Bow Tie Guy was founded in 2015 by a small team led by Shane Dutka after noticing that many expensive bow ties, $50 and up, were actually cheaply made, thin, and didn’t last very long.
By providing direct to consumer and cutting out the middle man, they were able to develop a line of bow ties that were heavier, with more substantial fabrics, and luxurious textures.
The result: a bow tie that holds a full knot all day.
Since then, The Bow Tie Guy has been laser focused on delivering the same quality, without breaking the bank.
But let’s imagine I originally wrote this:
The Bow Tie Guy was founded years ago by a small team led after noticing that many expensive bow ties were actually cheaply made.
By providing direct to consumer and cutting out the middle man, they were able to develop a line of bow ties that were better quality.
The result: a bow tie that holds a full knot all day.
Since then, The Bow Tie Guy has been laser focused on delivering the same quality, without breaking the bank.
See the changes?
I replaced 2015 with “years ago.” I took out my name. I didn’t put in a price point. I took out my explanation of what makes these bow ties better.
I’m technically saying the same thing, but this new copy doesn’t do anything to make me stand out. Nor does it do anything to help convince the reader I know what I’m talking about when it comes to bow ties.
Let’s do one more example and look at the mattress industry.
Sometimes the About Us page of a mattress blog might read like this:
Our dedicated team of sleep writers understands that a good night’s sleep is critical to living a healthy, happy life. That’s why we put together our list of mattress reviews to help you pick the best mattress for your needs.
All that’s saying is sleep is important. But that’s obvious and non-specific.
What if we changed it by explaining why sleep and mattresses are important while giving the reader a story?
I started this blog because the last time I bought a mattress, I spent $3,000 on a bed that I hated. I wasn’t able to return it, and I grew frustrated with the whole mattress industry. After over 100 hours of research, including consulting mattress brands and sleep expert Matt Walker, I realized the problem was that I didn’t factor in my sleeping position or body type when I bought my mattress.
To help you avoid the same costly mistake I made, I started reviewing mattresses in terms of how good of a fit they are for specific sleepers: side sleepers, stomach sleepers, back sleepers, and combo sleepers.
Notice the specificity: “$3,000,” “couldn’t return it,” “100 hours, “medical expert Matt Walker,” “sleeping position,” and so on.
By being specific and detailed, you’re naturally going to make your writing more persuasive as long as you take the details and tie it back to the overarching pain point your blog is trying to solve.
What Are Some Good About Us Page Examples?
The great thing about an About Us page is that, as far as landing pages go, it’s relatively easy to make an effective one. Using a simple WordPress theme, you can make an about me page with images, a CTA, a contact form, a sidebar, and more..
1. Shanedutka.com About Us Page
They say write about what you know, and I can detail my thought process very clearly when I created the About Us page for my blog.
First, for context: on my blog, I write about blogging. This means I’m covering how I built blogs, sold blogs, and made various revenue streams off of affiliate blogs.
Second, there is more to my About Us page than that screenshot, but that screenshot is the portion above the fold. It’s what my blog’s visitors see first. That’s the area you want most optimized for engagement and conversions.
When I was building this About Us page, I had in mind the three questions above: who, who, what, and why.
Let’s go over box 1.
In box 1 that I address this very question: Who is Shane Dutka? In the copy below, I provide an answer:
“From nerdy accountant to digital entrepreneur, I build profitable blogs and publisher brands online.”
In that one line, I explain my previous work experience (accountant), my current work experience (digital entrepreneur), and then I focus on specifics (building profitable blogs and publisher brands).
Notice, in this section, I don’t offer more details about my past as an accountant.
Why?
It’s not relevant to this blog. If I were offering accountant services, then it would be relevant. But I’m not. Sometimes when bloggers write about themselves, they spend too long on details not relevant to the purpose of their blog.
So why include the accountant detail at all?
Because I was able to leave my full-time job as an accountant because I became a blogger. Plus, the bloggers I mentor are usually people with full-time jobs that are trying to either become a full-time blogger or want to supplement their income. In short, I’m catering my About Us page to my target audience.
In Box 2, I have a CTA.
A CTA (call to action) is very important in blogging – it’s a direct invite from you to your reader. Above I talked about wasting your blog’s real estate and making sure every page does at least two things. My About Us page does two things.
- It tells you who I am and what I do.
- It has a CTA which invites the reader to work with me.
A common beginner’s mistake is writing an About Us page that tells us who you are but doesn’t utilize a CTA.
In Box 3, I have an embedded video.
In this video, I offer a full account of how I went from an accountant to a successful digital marketer. I also tell that story in detail below in text, but by providing a video I am targeting two kinds of users: those who prefer to read, and those how prefer to listen.
Video marketing is on the rise (YouTube is the 2nd most popular side, losing out only to Google), and if you can cater your content towards a video-inclined audience, you’re likely to see significant returns.
Now that we’ve analyzed my blog’s About Us page let’s go over general tips and strategies for when you write your own About Us page.
2. LearningJewelry.com About Us Page
Let’s look at a more traditional example from one of my affiliate blogs: LearningJewelry.com.
In Box 1, I introduce the paint point:
I’ve never experienced a more difficult quest in my life than trying to find an engagement ring for my wife.
This is specific and relatable. And by using details, such as finding an engagement ring for my wife, I’m not just catering to guys who need to find jewelry for their soon to be wives, but anyone who wants to buy jewelry for anyone else.
Then I drill down into the pain point with more details:
Between the endless options, ulterior motives, questionable sourcing, I was overwhelmed.
Remember, the reader likely found this blog by searching for one the keywords I’m ranking for – this means the reader is on the hunt for jewelry and needs help. This means my specific paint points (endless options, ulterior motives, questionable sourcing) will resonate with them.
In box 2, I put a face to the blog.
As I’ve said before, I think including a headshot or personal photo is a major win for your readers and your blog. As a blogger, you’re giving advice to your readers. The more your readers have a connection with you, the better.
Let’s look at one more About Us example.
3. TheModestMan.com About Us Page
In Box 1, Brock gives us a preview of his blog’s origin story.
He writes:
My name is Brock and I started this blog because I believe that a man should dress for the occasion and always look his best. To look your best, your clothes need to fit, and they need to fit well.
This copy isn’t as specific as the other examples, but there’s a reason for that.
First, scrolling through the rest of the About landing page gives you more detail – such as how it was hard for Brock to find quality clothes for more petite men.
Second, the pain point here is finding clothes that fit. And Brock does bring that up in the copy, which is the detail he wants the reader to recognize the most.
In box 2, Brock put a call-to-action to subscribe to his email list. As an incentive, he is offering a free downloadable guide to all of those who subscribe. An offer like this is a great way to collect emails, which allow you to increase your reader engagement, and start focusing on email marketing strategies
Finally, in box 3, Brock has a sidebar with links to his top posts. Remember, a good landing page does at least two things.
Here, on his About me page, Brock explains his mission statement. Plus, he is offering a free downloadable guide. Finally, he is showing you his top posts for the month – it’s those posts that likely bring him in revenue and make him a profitable blogger, so it’s a strategic move on his part to make sure his potential customers can find them easily, no matter what page they are on.
Are You Ready to Write Your About Page for Your Blog?
I hope this guide on how to write an About Us page blogging was helpful.
An About Me page looks simple but don’t underestimate it. An About Me page is one of the more important pages on your blog – luckily, they’re easy to create a good one if you follow my 4 tips:
- Answer “Who?” “What?” “Why?”
- Make Sure Your About Us Page is Mobile Friendly
- Write Towards Your Audience
- Be Specific
If you have any questions, reach out in the comments!