Corporate websites are the first introduction to your business. The “About” page is often the most visited page on your site, and is the most important as it tells the story of your business. In order to build a better About page, you first need to outline your story.
Start your outline by reviewing your corporate history. Corporate history gives you and your employees perspective on how long it took for you to get where you are today. It allows you to appreciate your accomplishments along the way and to set goals and strategies more reasonably in the future.
Next, work on a narrative that explains how your company came into being and what major milestones you’ve passed. This story need not be lengthy and filled with facts and figures. The emphasis should be on conveying the broad outline in a way that presents a very positive image of your company. It’s a good opportunity for you to express your personal style.
Use this worksheet to answer questions about your business to help set the stage for your company. The information you assemble may contain some pleasant surprises and will surely enlighten you to what may have been false starts, when you headed in the wrong direction or went in too many directions, or simply some unnecessary efforts.
Now that you’ve outlined your business story, it’s time to build a better About page for your corporate website. It is likely that anyone who is visiting your website is a prospective customer. They may even be interested in buying your products or services. Let’s face it, customers are more apt to do business with you if they feel like they have a good sense of who you are and can trust you. If you outline your mission and objectives clearly, you’ll be outlining the value that you feel you can provide to your customers. You want to make your customer aware that their needs come first. Are you committed to your clients, employees, and community? If so, you need to let your prospective customers know.
Has your company been nominated for an award? Have you launched new products? These are all aspects of your business that you need to convey to your customers. Many times, prospective customers want to see that your company is established. If you have a long history in business, have achieved certain goals, and reached certain milestones, your customers want to know. Milestones help you maintain a level of progress but they also help the customer get a sense of what you have accomplished and what you can offer them going forward.
It’s important to let your potential customers know what they can expect from you and your company. You may want to think about including a brief section which explains your product or service offerings and the thought behind these offerings. This brings us back to value — why you have created the products and/or services you did and what benefit can be derived from utilizing these products or services.
Whether you simply want to display key leadership personnel within your company or you want to post each and every employee that works for your firm, potential customers enjoy learning about your employees. Think about it this way, if you’re attending a meeting with a patron you haven’t met prior, would you feel more comfortable going to the meeting having read their biography and seen their photo? In my opinion, the answer would be yes. Having a leadership page adds a personal touch to your business, allowing it to be raw and real.
Adding photos that portray company events, your corporate office, or any other positive representation of your company will give your About page a personal touch. Again, this coincides with the idea that a prospective customer will feel more comfortable doing business with you if they feel like they know you and your company on a more personal level.
Social media has been a key aspect of running a business over the past several years. Many potential customers will utilize social media for their own personal use, which means you have the opportunity to organically connect with thousands of professionals within your target market. It’s crucial to link any social media platform you utilize as a company to your About page so your customers can easily find your content. If you’re willing to connect, potential customers may be willing to connect. Whatever your target audience, a substantial portion of your customers and leads are on social media.
They’ve read your story, the value you can bring, and the milestones you achieved, now it’s time to make contact. It’s important to link to a secondary page which includes your contact phone numbers, a built-in contact form, applicable email addresses, company addresses, and more.
Now that you’ve learned how to build a better About page, it’s time to get your business rocking and rolling. Directing prospects first to your About page can be a strategic business move. Your business story, offerings, and leadership will all live on one easy-to-access place. It’s time to build trust and increase sales conversions.
For more on this and other business-building topics, check out our Business Building Corner.
Important Information
Past performance does not guarantee future results. The views presented are those of Don Schreiber, Jr., and should not be construed as investment advice or trade recommendations.
