eCommerce Podcast #81 - How to Create a Killer About Page That Converts
The about page is one of the most important pages on any eCommerce website. Prospective buyers want to learn everything they need to know before making up their minds as to whether or not they want to buy from you - everything from pricing information down to social proof and media handles and email addresses for contact purposes! The about page will play a role in the decision-making process of potential customers and where it fails to capture the reader's attention, conversion rates will suffer.
This podcast will:
- introduce why an about page is so important;
- show you how to plan out the information for your own killer about page, and
- how to create a strong call to action that will increase your conversion rate.
Why is the About page so important?
Products and or services
An about page must clearly explain what your business does and offers in an easily digestible and engaging way. If website visitors can't quickly understand what your online business does and exactly what it offers to its target market they will simply move on and you will lose sales. Potential customers want the key information right up front.
Authenticity
Be less corporate and more human. The about page is really helpful for building trust, especially for people who are looking to buy from small businesses. You can leverage that buying behavior honestly by talking about your humble beginnings. A compelling approach to do this is to tell a tale. Stories - particularly, personal stories - are an inherently human activity that may create a profound sense of empathy. Tell the story of how your firm began or some other element of your history that emphasizes what it does.
If you are an artisan and you make handmade soaps, dog clothes, candles, baked goods, etc and you haven't moved to the point where you're fully manufacturing, or even starting to automate some of the processes when your business is made by your hands you can capture attention by telling your story and the pain points. Potential customers want to know and care about the artisan's journey. Creating a connection on an emotional level with your ideal customers will increase sales.
The use of attractive images of you, your team members, your products or services helps create visual interest for the potential client. It helps them get a feel for who you are and what you're about and also carries the benefit of showing your potential clients your humanity.
Navigation
Even if you've got the most stunning "About Us" page that offers an awesome value proposition to the ideal customer, if users can't find it, it's useless. Your homepage and every other page on your website should have relevant links to your about page.
The most damaging threat to the discoverability of your page is giving it a non-standard name. The simplest solution is to call the page "About Us" or "About [Company Name]," but there are other choices as well. Workable names include “Who Are We?” and “Meet the Team,” although unconventional
Indie brands that have a very strong valued led business and want their customers to be on that that values journey, would benefit from having theirs about links on the main navigation. A values-led online business will want to pull in its target audience by aligning them with its mission and values.
🎵I bet you think your About Page is about you 🎵
Most online businesses overlook the fact that the about page is really about the visitors who are landing on their site and then clicking to learn more.
The about page is less about blowing your own horn and more about the person visiting the site and why they should care about your website.
Talk to the individual about why they should care about you and expand on the shared problems you are solving for them (your ideal customers). Address how you can help the right person overcome those problems while being relatable and making a point to mention what you have in common.
When writing your about page, lead with the customer so that they feel seen and appreciated. Your customers care first and foremost about themselves - it's not your pretty logo or striking web design. Knowing that customers are more concerned about their own needs we can give them what they're looking for, by talking to them first, on our about pages, and then secondly, transitioning to tie in our own story into the customer's story or whatever it was that pulled them in on that about page.
Hook and capture the attention of your customers by putting the focus on So there is a chance an opportunity for you to talk about you or your company, your mission, your values, but lead with the customer first, to hook them to capture their attention.
How to create a killer About Page that converts
Two-pronged approach: Structure and Design
Structure:
First, think about the words you are using and make sure that the most important words are included in the headline. The headline on a website is a much bigger text size than, say, paragraphs of text.
We want to start the about page and our approach to our copy for maybe the first 25 to 50% of the page with a strong headline. Then using the word "you" we can immediately pull the customer into the page. It's a powerful word and it's an underused word. The minute we as a customer read the word you, we think "they're talking to me!" and we pay attention.
“If nothing else, please change your top headline from saying ‘about us’ to something related to what your customer desires and cares about or about a problem that addresses their main big pressing issue or desire.”
— Spykerman
A strong headline, followed by a strong sub-headline, and onto the first paragraph of text keep the potential customers moving down the page a single sentence at a time. The goal of any good copy is to get them to read the next line of copy. Capture the attention of the prospective buyers and hook them by addressing their pressing desire or pain points. Be empathetic and make it about them while hinting at the fact that you as the company owner also had the same problem. You can then segue and begin to start hinting at the backstory, the mission, and the values of your company. So by the end of that paragraph, the buyer needs to feel understood and confident that you can help them solve the problem.
“The goal of any good copy is to get them to read the next line of copy.”
- Spykerman
Design
Design is an important aspect of the about page. A long wall of text can get real old, real fast.
The best way to deal with that is to break it down into chunks. The majority of people visiting the page will have short attention spans and will scroll right by if they don't see anything that is of visual interest to them. People tend to scan the page instead of reading and their eyes are dancing around the page for something that will appeal and pull their attention. You want to leverage what we know about this by throwing in some icons to represent, for example, your values. You can break it up further by putting in macro images of your materials or your ingredients. Start to weave imagery into the page to create a sensory experience. Break up the text with bullet points of key benefits.
Create a strong call to action that will lead to conversion
If people have taken the time, and you've chunked out your page and people have taken the time to be browsing with intention. When they get to the bottom it is a ripe opportunity for capturing the next step and having a strong call to action to create convert visitors into customers. The call to action can be anything from buy now to sign up to get in touch.
An awesome about page isn't enough to convert visitors. You have to go beyond that to a strong call to action. Your prospective buyer needs to know what to do next. It's a missed opportunity to not have a call to action and leave your potential customer hanging.
Connect with Reese Spykerman
Connect with Reese at designbyreese.com
Links
Kristi Soomer about page - https://www.kristisoomer.com/pages/about
“Kristi's site is one that I will return to time and time again because it is a perfect example to the clients I work with for how to knock an about page out of the park.”
Spykerman
The Kind bar about page - https://www.kindsnacks.co.uk/about
Casper Mattress about page - https://casper.com/about/