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The About Us Page in a Social World
Posted by:Bryan Eisenberg
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Posted November 18, 2012
Since my column about the Power of the About
Us page (remember 2006 when MySpace was
really popular) was written, not a week goes by
that I don’t receive a comment about it. Every
website needs an “About Us” page, it’s one of
the most import ant but undervalued element s
of a company’s website. This is especially true in
a world where social media profiles allow us to
connect content to people. The “About Us” page
needs t o show and tell about a company’s human
side.
“About Us” is often the most neglected page on any website; if the page exist s at all. It can put
a human face on an otherwise technical, dry, and impersonal websit e. Properly written, it can
provide some serious buying resolve to certain customer segments.
Humans want to connect with other humans. That ’s easy to forget in an overly-transact ion-
focused business world. This critically important page allows visitors to connect if done well.
However, this really important page seems to be t he most difficult for so many to write about
themselves.
As brands (from startups to multi-nationals), we should want people to like us, to share our
values, to feel validat ed by doing business with us. How are we supposed to get them to do
this if we don’t connect with them on a human level in a “human voice”?
What Your “About Us” Page Should be About
This is where you get to tell your story, why you exist, what
problems you solve.

words that describe what they think about when they think about “your
brand.”
7 Things your “About Us” page Should Do:
Let cust omers see a more human side of your company. This is where you get to
become more likable by including “individual information and personal interests.” E-Trade’s
advertising makes it seem like a f un company, but the E-Trade “About Us” page displays
none of that human personality. See how Dropbox shows and t ell about the people in
their company. As you navigat e the page hover over the picture of anyone on the team
and you get a fun blurb about the person. Or check out the bio’s and little known facts
about the Raven Tool’s team.
How do you choose the voice of your “about us” page? Here are some more
ideas:
What is the overall emot ional stance that your company has towards its
industry/market?
If your company were an actual person, who would it be?
Is there a favorite quote you or the people in your company have?
Is there one particular moment in the life of your company that would
capture its essence in a nutshell?
Do certain words or phrases keep popping up in your daily conversations,
your salespeople’s sales calls, your blog posts, etc.
Use the verbiage your customers use. Mine your live chat logs, emails,
cust omer service calls, in site search, and especially customer product reviews
if you have them.
As an exercise, do a “25 Random Things About Our Company.” Then pull out
the nuggets and insert them into your about us page. Or leave the whole list
as a link or tab f rom your about us page.
Make sure your voice on the about us page is consistent with the rest of the
site. Yes, you can afford to be a little more conversational and
personal/passionate, but the overall writing style should be relatively
consistent .

Reflect your company’s personality. If you’re a fun company, your “About Us” page
should be fun. Do you think MailChimp would be a fun company to work with? Behind their
wonderful mascot, t hey even highlight their customers so you can try to relate to their
stories as well.
Many “About Us” pages seem like a copy-and-paste job from AboutUs.com.
Thinking any old creat ive will do, will not do. The vast majority of “About Us” pages
are simply boring, stiff , and tight ly clenched pages.
Let the customer inside your company. Everything about how BodyBuilding.com has
had the success they have had is about profiling people. Did you begin to watch their core
values video?
I highly recommend the use of video to show off your human side. Of course, it’s
important to tell us what you do, but put that content on another page. When
visit ors click on “About Us,” they want to know about you.
Reit erate your company’s compet ence to serve t he cust omers by using all t he
above tools. Take a few minutes and see how Zappos runs you through the A to Z of
their company, team and culture. Google also walks you through from their mission, why
their are passionate about the 10 things they believe to be true, who their management
team is, why they value their corporate culture and what they do for you.
They have more pages dedicated to this area than many company overall pages
on their website
Tell me why should your customers’ care about you? Also, please f eel free to share your
favorite “About Us” page in the comment s below.
* Image: Social media network. Hand painted in people faces showing OK sign
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Aut hored by:
Bryan Eisenberg
Bryan Eisenberg is the co-author of the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, USA Today