An About Us page is an opportunity to introduce your company on your own terms. It’s where potential customers will go to find out why you’re passionate about your products – and why they should be, too.
A well-crafted About Us page is the key to building trust and loyalty with your customers.
Elements of an Ecommerce About Us Page
The first thing to keep in mind is that your About Us page is not just about you – it’s about what you can do for potential customers, and why you should be the one to do it. Therefore, you’ll want to make sure you provide some background on both your products and your team. You’ll also want to emphasize the core values that make your company unique.
Writing about your products or services is simple. If you’ve created your ecommerce business in response to a gap in the market or a pain point that you think people can relate to, then tell that story! People will be curious about the origins behind your ideas.
Writing about your team means showing customers that there are real, relatable people bringing your business to life. This is your chance to build likeability and trust, both of which go a long way in attracting new customers and retaining older ones.
Writing about your core values will show customers what your ecommerce business is all about. You can include these as a concise mission statement on your About Us page, and you can also use your values as a guide to organizing the rest of your content with a cohesive tone of voice.
Why Does an About Us Page Matter?
1. It’s the first stop for new customers.
In one survey from KoMarketing, 52% of respondents said the About Us page is the first thing they want to see when they land on a company’s website. This page is a customer’s first encounter with the people and story behind your products, so it’s important to make a strong first impression by emphasizing your values and telling your story.
2. It’s where you stand out from competitors.
When potential customers visit your website, they know you’re not the only option for whatever products or services you’re selling. So, why should they choose your company over everything else out there? The About Us page is where people look for your answer to this question.
11 Best Practices for an About Us Page
Distilling your company’s ethos into a single web page sounds daunting at first. But the task becomes a lot more manageable when you realize that the best person for the job is you – after all, who knows more about your company and its values than yourself?
In other words, you’re already equipped with all of the information you need to write an About Us page that will increase conversions and elevate your brand. I’m here to tell you how to make the most out of all of that information:
1. Tell a story.
In one study from Stanford, students were asked to give one-minute speeches containing three statistics and one story. Only 5% of listeners remembered a single statistic, while 63% remembered the stories. My point? Customers identify with the real-life people and origins behind brands. It doesn’t matter whether that story involves a generational family saga, or a simple lightbulb moment with a college roommate – just tell us what you’ve got!
2. Speak to your customers.
As much as customers want to hear the story of what makes your company unique, they also want to know how your company will help them. How will your products make their lives easier? Why should they choose your product ahead of everything else on the market?
In order to effectively speak to your customers, you also need to know your audience really well. As you write, it will help to construct a mini customer profile to refer to – one that goes beyond the basics of age, occupation, and location. Think about what your products can tell you about your customers. For example, someone selling upscale cutlery can infer that their customers like to cook. Sharing a favorite recipe on the About Us page would be a simple way to connect with that particular demographic.
3. Showcase your design.
94% of website credibility comes from web design, which means that a visually appealing About Us page is just as important as a well written one. Whether you hire a web designer or handle it yourself, you’ll want to outfit your page with a professional layout that draws attention to the text and images you’ve put on the screen.
Just don’t overdo it on any fancy design elements – the last thing you want is for customers to be distracted by a crowded page. Instead, utilize headings, subheadings, and white space to improve the user experience, and make your content super scannable to potential customers as they’re scrolling.
4. Show off your people.
We’ve already established that an About Us page should tell a story. And what drives a great story? Its characters! In other words, customers want to gain a sense of who you and your team members really are, so that they don’t feel like they’re buying from some faceless monolith.
It’s a great idea to include a team photo or individual headshots on your About Us page, along with some background from each team member about what drew him or her to the company. But don’t get carried away with industry talk, either. If your head of sales is also an amateur baker, share that, too! Everyone has interests outside of work, and your customers will appreciate the splash of color.
5. Gain your customers’ trust.
Crafting a compelling story and showing off your people are good starting points in gaining customers’ trust. But if you were deciding between two restaurants for dinner, which information would you trust more: a recommendation from a friend, or a sales pitch from one of said restaurants?
I’m guessing you’d go with the former, and the same applies to ecommerce businesses: 36% of internet users aged 25 to 34 use online reviews for brand and product research, because customers want social proof from other customers. Including a few testimonials on your About Us page is a concrete way to start building trust.
6. Have a call to action.
Calls to action, or CTAs, encourage visitors to take an identifiable next step after viewing your About Us page. They usually take the form of some brief linked text, like the “more details” buttons below:
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