How to Write an About Page for Your Squarespace Website
An About Page is one of the first pages that a visitor to your site will look at. If someone is thinking about working with you, they will want to know a bit more about who you are, your background, why you do what you do, and what makes you tick.
“Your About Page is typically one of the most visited pages on your site.”
About Pages have gone through many phases and trends. An old fashioned website used to have a little bit of formal text written in the third person about the business owner, it was usually short and sweet and often there would be a corporate style headshot of the person or team in question. In the last few years About Pages have become more and more confusing. If you searched Google for something along the lines of ‘what should I have on my About Page’ you’d come up with at least ten different approaches. More recently, there has been a heavy emphasis on the About Page not even being about you! “Make it all about your target market”, the gurus have told us.
When people come across your online shop, see your services, read one of your blog posts, or spot a product you have on offer, they want to know who the person behind the business is. They’re asking some, or all, of the following questions:
Can this person help me with my problem?
Have I come to the right place?
Do they have what it takes to get the job done?
What does this business owner value?
Are they trustworthy?
Do I feel some sort of connection with them?
Would we be a good fit to work together?
The job you have as a website owner when it comes to your About Page is to answer those questions by providing insight into who you are and what your story is.
Here are some elements that are helpful to have on your about page.
01 | Your name
Strangely enough, it’s quite common not to be able to find someone’s full name on their website. Don’t forget to add this in.
02 | A one liner stating what you do, who you do it for, and why you do it.
Here is a useful template you can use to come up with your own one liner:
“I help __________ (who do you help) to __________ (what do you do) __________ (and how do you do it) because __________ (why you do it).”
Here’s my one-liner:
“I help overwhelmed business owners create good looking websites in just two weeks, because having a decent website in the 21st century shouldn’t be such a headache.”
03 | A bit of a backstory
How did you get to where you are? Share a bit of your journey (without feeling obliged to go all the way back to your birth) and answer the question people may be asking: how did you end up doing what you’re doing? If you have a particular ‘aha’ moment that led to where you are now in your business, be sure to include that.
04 | Your credentials
These could be professional — a degree, a diploma, a certificate — but they could also be experiential.
How many projects you’ve worked on,
How many clients you’ve helped,
How many years you’ve been doing what you’ve been doing.
How many businesses have you turned around
How much money have you helped people make
Where have you exhibited your work?
How many podcasts/magazines/publications have you been featured on/in?
05 | Any certificates, awards, memberships that boost your credibility
If you’re an architect, are you part of a recognised association? Mention that and include their logo. If you’re a therapist, it's important to include those professional links that help people know they’ve come to the right place. Have you won any awards for excellence? Include these. They are all part of the trust factor helping potential clients make their decision about whether to work with you.
06 | A decent and recent photo of you.
I would even recommend more than one photo, perhaps a more professional image, and some that help people get a sense of your personality or interests.
07 | Fun or interesting facts
You might need to use your discretion about the sort of information you share here. If your site is a professional space for clients to hire you and they’re looking for your credentials and experience (like consultants, engineers, medical professionals), then you could leave this element out. If you’re a creative, blogger, writer, or photographer it can work in your favour to include some fun facts relating to your hobbies, personality type, interesting things you’ve done in your life, favourite books or TV series.
08 | What it’s like to work with you
People don’t only want to know whether you can do the job, but they are also eager to know what it will be like to work with you.
Are you patient and measured in your process?
Do you value collaboration and teamwork?
Are you rational and thorough?
Do you work on a long term project base or prefer to get things done quickly?
What is your communication style?
What are your values?
These are things you can share on your About Page to help potential clients have a sense of what it might be like to work with you.
09 | Location
You might want to put your location, if not the exact place then the area where you’re based. This helps clients to know your timezone, whether they can meet with you in person, and be sure to include information about whether you work in person and/or remotely, locally and/or internationally.
10 | A way to keep in touch
Your About Page is a good place to put a newsletter sign-up where people can receive updates or other regular communications. You can also put links to where you hang out on social media (Instagram, Dribbble, YouTube) so that people can connect that way as well.
Lastly, don’t forget to invite your readers to take action. Do you want them to view your services, book a consultation call with you, read a blog post, or fill in a questionnaire?
Make sure you make that next step clear by adding a distinct call to action.
