The humble About Us page: it’s one of the most visited pages on any site and also one of the most neglected and overlooked. We chatted with some of our favorite digital marketing experts on what’s usually missing to give you an easy checklist for your own site.
Mistake #1: Not including contact information.
Joanna Lord, BigDoor
You read that correctly. Some businesses just don't include basics like telephone numbers and addresses -- and don't add new locations when their business expands. “The biggest mistake for small businesses is not putting their address, contact information and hours of business front and center. Too often small businesses think because it’s on local review sites or their homepage or footer it doesn’t also have to be clearly present on the About Us page.”
Mistake #2. Not explaining what you do for a living
Jason Falls, CafePress
Don't make people guess at how your company can help them. “Businesses typically do a really poor job of simply answering the question, "What do we do?" If I can't read your first sentence or two and know instantly what service you provide, what products you sell or why I would want to use you, the page is a fail. And the more sophisticated the company, it seems the more I have to go hunt for information. I've spent 20 minutes on a site before looking for an address or the CEO's name. If companies spent as much time making sure the basic information is there as they did on writing vague paragraphs of inspiration about some greater company vision that no one understands, we'd all be happier.”
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Mistake #3: Neglecting to explain how great you are
Eric Siu, Single Grain
If you offer a standout product service, here's your chance to remind people. “Including links to your press mentions is something I see people missing out on often as well as including your team members. People like to see personality and also some of your accolades.”
Mistake #4: Being boring
Brian Honigman, BrianHonigman.com
Don't miss a chance to surprise and delight. “The point of the "about us" page is to educate visitors about your business, which means it should be interesting to read, view or interact with. For example, software company Moz has a very unique About Us page that features visuals of their staff, a visual timeline of the company's history and is broken up into different sections featuring the company's story, team, jobs, contact info and more.”
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Mistake #5: Forgetting to have fun
Peter Shankman, HARO
Lighten up a little. “The About Us page is a wonderful, wonderful way to “humanize” your business. You can have some fun with it, be a little funny, and really get to the human side of who you are and what you do. Also, you can have different About Us pages for different parts of your company. Check out the link from my Twitter profile. It drives to a “So you found me on Twitter” post. It keeps people excited and gives them a reason to return.”
Mistake #6: Seriously, don’t forget to have fun
Ilise Benun, Marketing-Mentor.com
“Personality is missing from almost every About Us page I come across. Whether your business is online or brick-and-mortar, visitors to your website are looking for a sense of the people behind it. In fact, that may be the only thing that sets you apart from a competitor offering the same services or products. So inject some personality into your About Us page to clarify what makes you different.”
Mistake #7: Putting the customer last
Jim Joseph, Cohn & Wolf
Whatever you do, always keep your audience in mind: new and existing customers. “I'm a big believer that the "about us" section should really still be about the customer. A sure sign that it needs to be updated is when it's all about me, me, me … when in fact it should be about what I can do for you.”