A corporate “About Us” page is not a nominal section of the site, but an important element in brand positioning strategy and an effective tool for lead generation. Let’s find out what an “About Us” page should be to competitively repel competitors and attract new clients.

The key task of the “About Us” section is to tell potential customers in a non-trivial and interesting way – with modern affiliate marketing – about the benefits of the product being promoted, encouraging them to cooperate.

HOW TO CREATE THE EFFECTIVE “ABOUT US” PAGE

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1. Analyze target audience.

The text of the page “About Us” should tell about the benefits of the product in a language consumers understand, demonstrating its benefits. You can benefit from presenting the strengths of a product or service only if you know exactly what its target audience needs and problems.

At the first stage it is important to describe in detail the avatar of the ideal client: insights, interests, values, communication style, social and demographic characteristics, etc. Having well studied all the “pain points” of the potential customer, it is much easier to make a suitable offer and choose an appropriate communication style.

2. Research your competitors.

Since the “About Us” section is one of the key links in the brand positioning strategy, you need to clearly present the full range of your strengths in comparison with your direct competitors. It is on the exclusivity of the product or service should be emphasized when composing the text for the page. A detailed analysis of the competitive field will help to creatively present the promoted product.

It is necessary to study:

• prices;
• the line of products or services offered and their characteristics;
• discounts, promotions, bonus programs, etc.

With the help of collected information it is easier to distinguish the product in the market, as well as to choose a different approach to the design of the “About Us” section than competitors.

3. Compose a unique selling proposition.

By drawing a clear customer avatar and outlining your competitive advantages, you can craft a sales pitch that translates the unique characteristics of the product. It is the commercial offer, regardless of the approach to the design section “About Us”, will be its main component. Developing a unique selling proposition, you need to define a list of real benefits that the customer will receive in addition to quality goods or services:

• flexible discount system;
• fast delivery;
• a gift on holidays;
• free related product or service;
• deferred payment.

Having put together all the winning features of the product or service, you can write a unique selling proposition.

4. Choose your communication style.

After developing your USP (unique selling proposition), you need to determine the tone (tone of voice) in which the text for the “About Us” section will be written.

The style of communication with the audience has to be uniform in all channels of the communication and to form an original, individual, recognized voice of the brand. The form and manner of presentation, design and stylistics of both text and visual materials depend on the tone of voice chosen.

If the tone of voice has already been created, it remains only to maintain a given format, and when the style is absent, you have to work it out before filling the page. Previously, we’ve already talked about how to create the tone of voice of the brand.

5. Design the layout of the page.

When the marketing component is worked out, you can begin to think about the content and appearance of the page. The format of the appeal, speech patterns, graphic elements: videos, photos, tables, infographics, etc. A visual concept with a written plan will simplify the process of creating the section.

The creation of an “About Us” page is preceded by: a study of the company’s target audience, a competitive analysis, and the development of the brand’s concept, including the tone of communication.

When the positioning strategy is built, you can develop a visual and content concept of the page. At this stage, it is important to prepare a prototype of the section, fixing the location of all its elements. For example, note that the SEO photo will be on the left, the TOC on the right, and the brand mission statement below.

The names of the text blocks and their sequence, as well as the speech structures themselves, should be thoroughly prescribed. It is worth preparing high-quality photos in advance, if a visual range is planned. Detailed ToR will greatly facilitate the work of a graphic designer, who will “draw” the page. Remember, the “About Us” page is a commercial proposal, which should be attractive.

The development of the “About Us” page starts with a study of the target audience. The audience determines the style of communication. For example, if your clients are teenagers, dry clerical language will not do. If it’s webmasters that you’re trying to get registered and start making money in a CPA network, then the language will be slang.

You need to research your niche and understand what dialect will give the best response. If your site is designed for a general audience, avoid specific acronyms and complex terms. The text should be comfortable to read.

The About Us page is not created just to fill out a section on a site or to please the owner’s ego. It’s just as much of a sales page as the catalog or contacts.

Therefore, before filling the section, find out: who is your audience, what product you sell, what are the benefits of your service.

Once you understand these questions, it will be much easier to write meaningful, useful text and get away from clichés like “We are a young, dynamic, growing company of specialists…”.

7 POSSIBLE APPROACHES TO “ABOUT US” PAGE DESIGN

At the stage of developing the layout of the page you need to choose a format in which the brand will be presented. It is the chosen approach will largely determine the content aspect. There is no single recipe for page design.

From the mass of ways to talk about the company to select the appropriate for a particular business.

1. Commercial offer.

The text “About Us” may look like a commercial offer, including a list of marketing “chips” of the product, as well as additional arguments to encourage cooperation, such as:

• a list of major customers;
• positive feedback about the product;
• awards significant for the market niche;
• data on the number of signed contracts, open branches, etc.
• reputable company analytics.

A formal approach would suit the B2B segment, where it is important to build trust in the business before deciding to make a deal.

2. Storytelling.

A real success story generates interest in the audience and a desire to share it. You can openly describe all the difficulties and challenges encountered in the process of establishing and growing the company or tell how the product has changed the client’s life for the better. The main thing is that the story should be true.

Fictitious facts look unnatural and reduce the credibility of the brand. The format of storytelling is not universal and should be chosen when there is really something to share.

3. The Case.

You can use cases not only to demonstrate your expertise and professionalism, but also to offer a solution. Practical experience, complete with concrete, proven advice, is highly valued by the professional community and potential clients. Such an approach is more eloquent than assurances of company reliability.

4. Description of business processes.

Demonstrating all the work from application to result or product production makes it easier for the brand to get the target audience to be liked and emotionally involved. Do not neglect the opportunity to show the inner workings of the company, or to get acquainted closer with the company’s employees, placing their biography, photos or video messages.

5. Product in action.

Showing a customer using a product or using a service, the brand not only focuses attention on its competitive advantages, but also awakens trust in the target audience. A visual example is always more informative and persuasive than a long story.

6. FAQ.

Choosing a product, a consumer faces a lot of questions. Boring and creatively designed FAQ will cover all the nuances consumers are interested in. This approach to page design stimulates the client to use the service or make a purchase, eliminating all doubts and convincing in the right choice.

7. Problem solving.

Offering the client to resolve a problem situation, the company increases its own credibility, confirms its competence and encourages long-term cooperation. So, in addition to describing the benefits of the product or list of services, you can offer the client a free initial consultation, a link to a useful online service or a substantial discount. Pleasant bonuses encourage the user to stay on the page.

THE TIPS FOR CREATING “ABOUT US” PAGE

The first (and sometimes the only) thing that should be on the “About Us” page is a commercial offer, that is, a listing of the main advantages of a product or a list of services. Describe the products need to be in lively language, not forgetting to mention the values and philosophy of the company.

If your views coincide with the vision of a visitor or at least interest him – he will move in the category of customers.

People love stories. It is always interesting to know how the company was born, what difficulties were encountered along the way and what has been achieved so far. Tell us about the failures you have overcome, your values and plans for the future. The story can be divided into chronological blocks, framed in a timeline. And subsections with social proof of your credibility (links to press releases, performance statistics, reviews or testimonials) will be a great addition and will positively impact SEO.

Try design the “About Us” page in the form of a storytelling on behalf of the executive. In the header of the page is a small business style banner with the title “History of our company” and the slogan “Time to be first”. Then the story about the idea of creating the company, our mission and plans.

In order for the “About Us” page to work and bring customers, you need to collect all your most powerful results and achievements, which you are proud of. It’s worth showing your employees and customers.

Remember, the section shouldn’t be boring. You need to literally create a landing page that can convert. Our page is designed like a classic landing page. After all, the section “About Us” is above all a tool for lead generation, on which the fate of your sales depends.

The design of the “About Us” page depends a lot on the specifics of the business. If it’s an advertising agency website, the reader will probably be interested in awards, big clients and successful cases. And if you are a dairy farm, it is important for the target audience to know that you take care of cows, carefully monitor the quality of products and deliver them quickly.

So, a company with 20 years of experience can place an infographic with achievements, a slider with successful cases, or a video of its founding history with funny animations in the “About Us” section. A brand with a lot of satisfied customers would do better to publish their testimonials on the page.

For example, as a courier service, we realized that most of our customers don’t have time to read long texts or enjoy the designers’ creativity, because they are looking for urgent delivery and want to know that we will fulfill the order on time and accurately. That’s why we made a concise page and highlighted our main advantages.

A short video message from the SEO or a video about the company is an unconventional and lively approach to designing an “About Us” page. A brand story in photos or in the form of an infographic will clearly demonstrate the path you’ve taken.

In short, there are plenty of options for designing the section. The main thing is for the original elements and creatives not to take the reader away from the essence, not to complicate the usability of the site and not to deviate from the chosen brand tone.

In addition, you should keep in mind that the “About Us” section can help the company convert users into actual customers, so a button with a call to action will be an important element of the page.

Add icons of social networks to the page, it causes trust and allows you to learn more about the company. And don’t forget to make a call to action as a button:

• sign up for a consultation

• start your free trial

• subscribe to our blog or newsletter.

Don’t use clichéd stamps like “Unique offer! Only today and only for you!” And the wording “Would you like to work with us? So do we!” perfectly reflects the philosophy of the agency: no arrogance, everything is clear and to the point.

WHAT SHOULD THE TEXT OF THE “ABOUT US” PAGE

To make a page text incite to cooperation, it must meet the chosen format, as well as be useful. The task of the page is to tell about the benefits of a product or service for the target audience in an original and interesting form.

To attract the potential customer, the emphasis should be placed on the winning benefits of the product, rather than on the praise of the company. Communicating the benefit the consumer will receive by purchasing the product or service is the main purpose of the page. Specifics are valued by customers more than abstract reasoning.

From a content point of view the page should be useful. It is better to be not too original in design, but give users answers to their questions than to make a wow design with motion, video and 3D, but do not tell who you are and why you are useful. Although, you have to understand that the approach largely depends on the audience and objectives. Some need restraint, and for some the story of the company is suitable in the format of a cartoon or comic strip.

Also, the content on the page should be truthful. Every fact about the company, awards, major clients, significant projects should be true. Fictitious reviews or fake certificates spoil the reputation of the brand. Information about the company’s success should be confirmed by authentic data: real evaluations of rating sites, expert publications on authoritative resources, case studies, etc.

When describing the success of the company, completed projects and reputable clients, it is worth relying on real achievements. Nowadays it is not difficult to check the information, and the Internet, as we know, remembers everything. One of the options for proving your expertise would be publications.

If you have an author’s blog or if you post articles on third-party resources, mention it and provide links to materials. Industry awards also raise the degree of credibility, but you should tell about them only if the name of the award affordably reflects what you excel at.

The cliched perception of content has finally taken over from thoughtful reading of intelligent articles. If you want visitors to really get the important information, avoid long texts. Conquer your inner graphomaniac. Give preference to simple words, short sentences, small paragraphs, use accompanying illustrations.

The text is perceived better when the information is served not as a solid canvas, but in the form of bulleted or numbered lists, infographics, charts, diagrams, tables, etc. Division into meaningful blocks helps to grasp the material easier and to single out the main message.

From a technical point of view, the section should load quickly and work as navigation through the site’s landing pages, that is, serve as a kind of relinking. It is good when the content is supported by high-quality visuals and does not contain abstract, stock images. It’s great if the “About Us” page has photos and videos of production, employees, and key people.

THE BEST “ABOUT US” PAGE

The “About Us” section is not needed on the site for a tick. This is a sales page, every element of which works for the promotion and development of business. Just with a non-trivial, useful and interesting section “About us” the company can solve a whole complex of important tasks:

• attract target audience;
• to separate itself from competitors;
• Increase credibility of the target audience to the brand and be remembered for a long time;
• convert visitors to the page in real customers;
• to increase sales.

Given the practical importance of the “About Us” page, its development should be approached with special care, working out each element in detail.