Your ‘About‘ page will be one of your most highly visited pages on your entire blog, as it should be. It should quickly detail who you are, what this blog is about, and what your readers can expect to receive in terms of information and value.
It should be compelling, exciting, and unique just as you are!
But you’d be surprised at how many people spend little to no time on this very strategic page! In fact, I’ve seen some significant opportunities for improvement in some of my reviews of only a handful of blogs already!
Help your readers to go one level deeper with you!
I’ll admit that although I just spent some time updating my own ‘About‘ page it still has tons of room for improvement (I’d like to add a video and some more biography at some point.)!
So don’t be discouraged! Part of a successful ‘About’ page is your willingness to help it evolve over time as you change as a blogger and as your blog matures into a traffic-generating monster (or so we hope…?).
You can mix, match, or throw them all together but you’ll want to definitely have these three categories in your ‘About’ page.
Why your blog when there are millions of other options?
The first thing your ‘About’ page needs to do is simply express who you are. This goes without saying but there are definitely some strategic and compelling ways to go about doing it in a way that is attractive and effective.
Next, you’re going to want to express what your blog is about in ways that are simple and understandable to all readers.
Finally, you’re going to want to express plainly what a reader can expect to receive by visiting your blog. But, more than this, you’re crafting a case for them to come back a lot – in fact, you want them to subscribe, follow you on Twitter, Like you on Facebook and more!
The more compelling a reason you can create through expectation the higher probability that they will stick around for more than that first visit. In other words, you need to convince them to some degree about why they should care about you and your blog!
Call it ‘About’ and not something long and super-fancy. ‘About’ is universally understood and provides zero chance of confusion.
Share the story of who you are more than just the “facts.” Tell us how you got here and where you are going. Share your vision!
Images are highly suggested. Get a great profile photo in there! And please make it you. No stock imagery allowed!
Videos are also nice-to-haves if you can do it well. You may have to do it a few times so that it’s short and sweet and not to long-winded, because some of you like to talk, a lot!
Do you have any testimonials or referrals that might make sense and give you even more credibility? Throw them in tastefully and it might just up your presence.
Using fancy language is lame and distances you from your reader. Sometimes it seems a bit arrogant. I’ve seen some ‘About’ pages that made me feel stupid. That’s not good!
They should be able to expect to connect with you more, which would mean links to your subscribe page or contact information directly.
Links to ‘Top Posts’ or posts that mean the most to you. These might be posts that you can’t afford your new readers to miss!
Is there a problem or issue that you’re investigating? Do you have the answer to that problem? Describe it and share how you’re going to solve it!
Are you a very direct person? Perhaps it’s best to explicitly express your objectives for your readers. Do it!
Short or long? It actually doesn’t really matter as long as it’s done well, easy to read, and broken up so that it doesn’t overwhelm the reader.
Make sure that there are obvious links to your ‘About’ page from your homepage and other places. Reference it in your blog posts when necessary and valuable.
I might add that your ‘About’ page is not “static” by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, you should re-visit your ‘About’ page monthly as things change and new posts are highlighted as being prominent.
Also, your story is sure to change over time and might even change significantly every single month! You’re going to want to capture that information for your new readers to see! Don’t let your ‘About’ page get stagnant, because you aren’t stagnant!
Finally, Michael Hyatt has a phenomenal post on 10 Ways to Create a Better About Page that you’ll want to check out as well and includes a few things that I do not but that might apply to your readers and your blog.
Did I miss anything? What else might you add?