According to Edelman , 81% of consumers report they will only buy from a person or business they trust.
And, the About Page on your website is a prime place to prove to your ideal customer they can trust you to deliver the solution they need.
Why the About Page?
For many businesses, the About Page is the second most visited page on their website.
Regardless of traffic levels, if you’re ignoring your About Page, you’re missing a huge opportunity.
In a global market flooded with similar brands and products, your About Page is the perfect place to differentiate yourself and your company from your competition.
Your About Page is also a great place to earn the trust of your potential buyers.
Strong trust signals on your About Page can lead to higher engagement and higher engagement combined with strong trust signals can lead to higher conversion rates.
And the best way to engage all that traffic is by addressing your site visitors’ needs and wants – not by focusing solely on yourself or your business.
A strong About Page starts with voice of customer research
Voice of customer (VOC) data holds the key to writing high-converting copy.
When you look closely at VOC, you can find deeper meanings behind the words your customers use to describe their wants and needs. Using ideal customers’ words to inform your copy can also show your ideal buyer that you understand them… that you are listening, and that they can trust you.
Not sure where to start with collecting voice of customer data?
The most obvious place to start is to survey and interview existing customers.
You can also find great VOC in the following:
- Feature requests
- Bug and support requests
- Blog post comments
- Customer social media posts
- Customer social media comments
- Reviews and ratings on sites like Google, G2, Capterra, Facebook
- Industry groups on sights like Slack and Facebook
If you don’t have customers yet, you can use reviews and ratings from competitors, your competitor’s social media and comments left from their customers. This borrowed data won’t be as accurate as if it was coming from your own customers, but using data from a lookalike audience is better than guessing.
Get everything you need to write a trust-building About Page together in one place using this comprehensive asset checklist.
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Use a copywriting framework for a smooth writing process
Now that you’ve gathered the ingredients for your About Page, it’s time to write. To make your job easier, choose a copywriting framework to guide your writing
A common framework and one of the easier frameworks to use is Problem, Agitation, Solution or PAS.
It’s a simple but effective way to structure your copy and persuade your audience to take action.
Start your page by identifying your ideal customers’ most pressing problem problem. This is easily referenced in the hero section and contrary to popular opinion, stating your ideal buyer’s problem, doesn’t have to be done in a negative way.
Likewise, agitating your customers’ pain can be accomplished by using positive future pacing. Describe what your ideal customer’s life looks like when their problem is solved.
This is a more positive approach to reminding your site visitor of the problem they are trying to solve and it’s a great approach for an About Page.
You can learn more about the PAS copywriting framework and how to use it in this Copywrite Matters’ blog post by Belinda Weaver.
Decide which persuasive content belongs on your about page
With so many different options for displaying trust-building content on your About Page, how do you know which elements to include?
That depends on your one reader, your business type, and your experience… or lack of it.
Here’s a quick rundown of elements you can use on your page to display trust-building information about you, your team, and your brand:
Specialized training and relevant education – This is an important section for professional services companies and might include certifications from digital training or advanced degrees.
Noteworthy accomplishments – If you’ve won any awards, run a marathon, or you’ve done anything noteworthy that you can relate to your business, include it in a breakout box on your About Page.
Proprietary process – Include a description and diagram of your proprietary process. This is a strong trust-builder on any page.
Industry awards – Awards can be an important element on your About Page if they are relevant to your industry and will be meaningful to your ideal customer.
Brand origin stories – These stories can work for all business types if they are inspiring, highly entertaining, and relevant.
Ratings – If you are a SaaS or eCommerce company and you have a lot of satisfied customers leaving 5-star ratings that you have not paid for, this section is important to include on your page.
Reviews and testimonials – social proof from current customers is a powerful indicator that you can be trusted. Get testimonials that include specific results for the best results.
Product sourcing – This can be an important element on an eCommerce company’s About Page if where you source your ingredients or components is important to your one reader.
Grab the full list of special page sections common to About pages, by clicking here.
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Write a bio that builds trust
Probably the most dreaded writing task for an About Page project is the bio section.
Here’s a bit of a secret. If you follow through and conduct customer research, your customers will write your bio for you.
Let this question guide you as you decide what to share about yourself: “What does my ideal customer need to know about me to trust me to solve their problem?” Then ask, “Do they need to know anything else?”
Here’s the process I follow and recommend for writing a relevant bio:
- Start writing your bio by making a list of all your – and your team’s – accomplishments, biographical details, education, training, certifications, and other data.
- Make a list of what your ideal customer needs to know about you to trust you to solve their specific problems.
- Review the two lists and see where they intersect.
- Write your bio using only what is relevant and necessary to earn your reader’s trust.
Avoid including stray personal details in your bio. If someone doesn’t need to know that you like to make daisy chains and your dream is to live off-grid in a cabin on an Italian hillside, save those details for social media posts.
Don’t forget to shoot your shot
(… or close, as we call it in copywriting)
When you have a web page with a lot of traffic, the last thing you want to do is leave your site visitors guessing what they need to do next.
Your About Page may not be a sales page, but there is an exchange of value.
At the very least, you have asked for your reader’s time, but you also may ask for an email address, a phone number, or even a credit card to start a free trial or make a purchase.
Before you decide on how you will close your page, think about what your site visitor wanted to accomplish when they visited your website. What problem are they trying to solve?
Make sure your call to action moves your site visitors toward their most logical next step.
Is that a consultation, lead magnet, product sale, or free trial? Close your page either solving their problem or moving them a step closer to a solution.
If your site visitor isn’t ready. They won’t click. It’s their decision. Don’t make the decision for them by failing to offer even a glimpse at their next step.
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