The about page is your first declaration to customers. At the least, it tells them who you are. Written as a manifesto, it also holds your promise to customers and pushes you to make that promise true.
How is it different from a CV?
An about page is not a job CV. Both tell about one person, but the readers differ.
| Job CV | About page | |
|---|---|---|
| Reader | Someone who will hire you | Your customers |
| Content | Your whole history and every milestone | Just enough background, a promise, a mission and a story that matters to customers |
Once you know the reader is a customer, you know what to write and what to cut. An about page that lists every milestone since school is a CV in the wrong place.
What do you need first?
- Your background: your name, where you live and work, and the focus of your expertise.
- The reason for your product: which pain, mission or wish it comes from.
- Your promise: what you can help customers with, and how.
- Your mission: what you pursue for the long term.
How do you write it?
State just enough background
Open with your background, namely who you are, where you are, what you do and where your expertise focuses. On a personal site, this declaration is also a mark you leave on the Internet.
State only what is enough. Don’t talk about yourself too much, because this part lets customers know whom they are reading about, not tell your whole life.
Tell why you made this product
Customers very much want to read the story of why you made the product. It may come from your own pain, your mission, or a wish you have.
Tell stories that speak to customers, the things they want to hear. Share the lesson you took from life, because if the lesson matters to you, customers see that it matters to them too. Avoid dwelling on yourself or complaining.
Write your promise to customers
The about page needs one promise, which is what you can help customers with, and how. Customers look for this promise more than anything else on the page.
You may have no product yet, nothing to start with. If the promise is clear, people will still follow you from there.
Make your mission and brand clear
State your mission for the product and what your brand is. The mission is a compass. Customers look at it to understand you, and you look at it so you don’t get lost.
On the about page of a business site, also say who is behind the product and the brand, which product the brand sells, and what the brand’s mission is.
Reread and cut what customers don't need
Read the page again and again, and ask of each idea whether the customer needs to know it. Cut what leaves a poor impression and any part that dwells on you. Once you know the reader is a customer, you will see which ideas are extra.
How do you know it is enough?
The about page is enough when a customer who finishes it can answer:
- Who is this person, and what is their expertise?
- Why did this person make this product?
- What does this person promise to help me with, and how?
- What does this person pursue for the long term?
A page that answers these is a manifesto. Once you have declared it, you will try to keep your promise, and selling gets clearer too.
Related pages
- Doesn’t give a ready-made frame block by block: see About page template.
- Doesn’t teach how to build a home page: see Create a home page.
- Doesn’t teach how to build a page that sells: see Create a product page.
- Doesn’t explain why there are 2 websites: see Personal site.