Pitching your brand: How to write the perfect ‘About Us’ page
Your ‘About’ section, or web page, on your company’s website serves as a shining opportunity to pitch your brand. It’s a marketing tool in its own right. And it’s direct marketing at that.
Because if someone is reading your company’s ‘About’ page it means they’re interested enough in your products or services to spend time on your website.
And as an ecommerce business owner, pitching yourself on your website is all you’ve got. After all, there’s no in-person alternative. There’s no chance potential customers will meander into your store and strike up a conversation.
So in this article we’ll cover the elements of writing a perfect ‘About Us’ section — one that will inspire, inform, and, hopefully, convert curious browsers into loyal customers.
What’s the purpose of the ‘About’ section?
The ‘About’ section of your website tells a story.
More specifically, it tells the story of your company and brand. It answers the questions when and why you started and how you got to where you are now.
It also tells readers about your company’s mission: your goals, dreams, and plans for the future.
Finally, and, perhaps most importantly, it provides readers with practical information. What exactly are the products or services that you sell?
While ‘About Us’ sections can be lofty and mission-focused, they should always be rounded out with practical information. You don’t want potential customers to read your ‘About’ text from start to finish without a clear idea of what your company actually does.
So, as you can imagine, combining these three elements into one cohesive text is an art. And doing so in a matter of a few paragraphs is a science.
But, lucky for you, we’ve got some tips for writing the perfect ‘About’ web page for your ecommerce business.
How to write the perfect ‘About’ section
The difficulty in writing an ‘About’ section is finding balance: balancing the need to inspire and provide practical, serviceable information is no easy task. You need to be clear about what you sell without being salesy. You should also unabashedly state your mission, your goals, and aspirations without getting too dreamy that the message is lost.
So here are some steps to take in order to craft the perfect ‘About’ section:
Tip # 1: Be brand-focused
As we mentioned earlier, your ‘About’ section is an opportunity to showcase your brand. So it’s critical that it shines through in your text.
In order for this to happen, you’ll need to have a firm handle on what your company’s brand actually is. And, more importantly, your brand’s voice.
Ensure that your tone and language matches the ethos of your company and speaks to your customer base. Depending upon what you sell, more technical language may be called for. Or perhaps humor and levity is most appropriate.
The point is, your ‘About’ section needs to accurately represent the spirit of your company, or else it won’t be effective.
Tip # 2: Be visionary
Calling all dreamers!
As we mentioned earlier, your ‘About’ section is an opportunity to be a bit lofty. After all, customers expect this.
They want to know more than just what you sell, but why you sell it. To answer this question, consider putting together a concise mission statement.
A mission statement can be as little as one sentence and as long as a paragraph. And, in general, it should answer the following questions:
- Why do you sell the products or services that you sell?
- What do you hope to accomplish in business beyond making a profit?
The answers to these questions don’t need to be concrete. In fact, they can be as lofty as the questions themselves. Missions like inspiring young women to take on leadership roles or encouraging people to live better, for example, are perfectly fine. These might even be called vision statements rather than mission statements.
If visionary does not fit with your brand, however, being straightforward can be equally effective.
Take the powerhouse fast-fashion brand Zara, for example. Zara’s mission, to “give customers what they want, and get it to them faster than anyone else,” could not be more straightforward.
It’s not exactly inspiring, but in this case it doesn’t have to be. People don’t turn to Zara for inspiration. Quite to the contrary, the store represents to most exactly what its mission conveys: Addressing customers’ fashion wants and needs quickly.
Tip # 3: Tell a compelling story
Your ‘About’ section should chronicle the story of your company. But not like a dry history textbook.
It should answer the question of how your company got to where it is today.
When did it start? How has it evolved over time? And where is it going?
This is the story of your company or brand.
And to tell it well, it would behoove you to understand the basics of storytelling.
Instead of offering straight facts, such as “We started our online company in 2017,” try engaging readers with a problem: “We wondered why it was impossible to find wrinkle-resistant khakis at a reasonable price. And, finally, in 2017 we decided to be the solution to that problem by starting our company XYZ.”
The latter is clearly more engaging than the former. That’s because one of the elements of both storytelling and business is opening with a problem and ending with a solution. The most satisfying stories begin with a crisis or a problem that a protagonist needs to solve. Similarly, the most successful businesses discover problems, or opportunities, and create products that serve as solutions to those products.
Make your business that protagonist.
Remember that rattling off dates does not inspire; Describing your sense for a good business opportunity and your ingenuitive solutions for problems, on the other hand, does.
Tip # 4: Provide concrete information about what you sell
This is the part where things get more concrete. What do you sell?
Sharing your dreams, goals, and story are all important elements of an ‘About’ section, but, ultimately, browsers are on your page to buy products or services. They want to know exactly what it is that you sell in as much detail as is appropriate for an ‘About’ section.
So, to go back to the khakis example, you could write something like, “Our company specializes in fabricating wrinkle-resistant men’s khakis in all standard colors and sizes.” Now your readers will know exactly what you sell. And, if they’re interested in potentially buying those products, they’ll stay on your site or favorite it for later.
It should be obvious that including too much information, like product specifications, would be silly. But linking to your products in your ‘About’ wouldn’t be.
Giving interested shoppers a direct path to start shopping after reading your ‘About’ page is a great way to convert browsers into customers.
Unleash the Marketing with Kliken
We’re Kliken. And we’re ready to help you take your ecommerce marketing efforts to the next level.
Putting together an effective ‘About Us’ section on your website is just the tip of the iceberg. Marketing your products online to likely buyers is the best way to get more traffic to your website and more sales.
And our services can help you do just that.
We’ll do so by getting your products in front of the right shoppers with our simple Google Shopping & Ads integration platform.
With Kliken, marketing your brand has never been easier. Because we do all the heavy lifting for you. That way you can focus on running your business.
As the world’s #1 Shopping and Ads marketing platform, Kliken has helped over 1,000,000 small businesses worldwide grow their sales on Google and get a return of up to 7x their original ad spend. Our proven marketing solutions can help you to unleash the potential of your ecommerce business.
Learn more about how customers use Kliken to grow their businesses online here.
