The about section is a fundamental component of any website. Without an about page, your potential customers can’t learn more about who you are, what you provide, why you provide it, and other essentials. Don’t believe us? Simply go to any website you can think of. They will almost certainly have an about page.
Google? Has an about page. Heck, even people often have their own about page. For example, check out this attorney’s about page to see how he’s structured his profile so potential clients can discover his experience and services.
When someone new visits your website and is interested in what it has to offer, they’re going to want to learn more. Where else would they go than the about section of your website? This means that the majority of people who click on your about page and read it are already probably considering buying your product or contacting you.
That’s why nailing the about section of your website is so crucial to increasing success on your website. Whether you sell goods, or services, or are trying to promote your media online, an about section is crucial to your brand.
In this article, we’ll go over some key features that make good about page, and then we’ll go over some notable examples of about pages that are currently in place by businesses and individuals.
What Makes up an About Page?
Believe it or not, there is a formula of sorts to create the ultimate about section. While it is true that most pages are formatted differently from one another, they all aim to cover some core pieces of information regarding your website’s use — whether it is for a business or a person.
For starters, most about pages will begin with an introduction of sorts. This could be something as simple as stating what your business is or who you are. For example, let’s say you own a boot store called Bob’s Boots. Your introduction to your about page could go along the lines of “Bob’s Boots is the largest boot store in Colorado, with over 100 brands of the finest boots!”
Next up, you’ll want to state the purpose and goals of your business. If you are creating an about page for yourself or another person, you can skip this step. For our example, we’d think of a reason as to why Bob’s Boots exists. Given that it is a boot store, it probably exists to sell boots. Therefore, their purpose is to supply the people of Colorado with the best quality footwear you can find. See what we did there?
You’ll want to give your introduction and mission statement a bit more thought than we did, but keep the same principles in mind. Don’t overcomplicate the mission of your business just to make it sound nice.
Finally, most about pages will have real examples of things that pertain to the website’s use. For an individual’s about page, this section would consist of accomplishments they have made in their life, and what they have done in their career. A typical about page for a person would include their education, current, and past jobs, and any other notable achievements they have made.
For a company, you can use this portion of the about page to display any large projects your business has completed and worked on. This could include partnerships with other brands, notable products you have launched/plan to launch, and anything else that is notable to the business.
For our example, Bob’s Boots, they could begin this portion of the about page with a story on how the store came to be. Some good places to start when tackling this are to ask yourself when was the company founded? Who founded it (if it wasn’t you) and why? In our case, we’ll say the store was founded by Bob in 2005 because he felt there weren’t enough quality boot stores around.
Examples of About Pages
One of the best ways to learn how to create good pages for websites is to look at real examples of pages being used today! We’ve compiled a list of four sites that have an outstanding about page.
1. Target
Target, surprisingly, has absolutely nailed theirs about page on their website. Starting with the introduction is a short statement that represents what the company is. In this case, it morphed the mission statement and introduction into one. Stating what they do — sell everyday products — but in a way that expresses how they “wish to help families enjoy everyday life.”
2. Ted Talks
Another fantastic example of an about page can be found on Ted.com. This is the website for the Ted Talks that you may have seen on Youtube or elsewhere. In their about section, you can find a whole list of facts about the company. When it was founded, how many topics they cover, and more can be found on their about page.
3. Polaris
Polaris’s about page has it all. Starting with their introduction, it’s clear what the company does — that is make automobiles that are for both adventuring and fun. In their second sentence, they nail the mission statement by saying how “they help people experience the outdoors to the fullest.”
4. Microsoft
Microsoft is a unique example because it is hard to describe what the company does in one sentence. It does a lot of things. So, they went straight to their mission statement, which we thought was the right call. As stated earlier, the format for about pages will vary from website to website, and some websites will benefit from leaving out parts others include.
Wrapping it Up
In this article, we went over what components you should include in an about section on your website, whether it is for you as an individual, or you are creating it for a business. Following that, we went over some examples of models about pages.
We hope you were able to find this article useful, and that you have gained some insight into what makes a good page. About pages can be difficult to write and are one of the most important parts of a website. Following this article and drawing inspiration from other sites should make the process much easier.
