**Editors Note** Cathy Goodwin is an exceptional copywriter that establishes a connection to your visitors, communicates your value and motivates prospects to buy. I HIGHLY recommend her!
Business owners who promote themselves with online marketing often neglect the “about us” page. If you own a service business or work as an independent professional, your “About” page will be especially critical to your success. Prospective clients want to get to know you before they make a hiring decision, so they may turn to this page right after they come to your website.
Many business owners make these 3 mistakes when they write their “About” page. They list facts in obituary style; they include irrelevant information; or they omit to add a personal flavor that prospects will want to find.
First, begin by identifying why you are the single best resource to solve your niche’s most urgent problem. You might list facts but it’s important to relate the facts to your expertise. Sometimes it’s difficult to see the relationship between your hobby or college major and your current business. That’s where an objective viewpoint can help. Ask your clients, friends, and mentors. Often they will make these connections readily.
Second, limit your “About” page to information that is directly relevant to your business. You need to be scrupulously honest but you don’t need to share every aspect of your life.
The decision on what’s relevant will be related to your field. If you got into trouble as a teen, your experience may be relevant if you work as a life coach or child psychologist. If you are a business coach this information will be less relevant and may actually backfire. It’s always a judgment call.
Finally, be sure to add a personal flavor to your “About” page. Include elements of your life that present you as a friendly, competent three-dimensional person. Your clients want to relate to you as a human being, not a one-dimensional robot, but they don’t want to know the most intimate details of your life.
One business consultant includes information about community activities because he wants to show that he gives back. He realizes his contribution to nonprofit organizations will show that he is a caring person with integrity.
Another consultant writes extensively about her family. She finds clients often relate to her experience as a wife and mom. She also finds she gets more comments about her cats than just about anything on the About page.
Remember to review your “About” page at least once a year. Your facts change. Your kids grow up and you may get a new dog. You also may need to change your content as your own business changes and new facts become more or less relevant.
Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., is an online copywriter who helps business owners get more clients and sell more products online. Download The Case Of The Missing Website Profits and discover 3 clues to why your website isn’t working (and 3 red herrings that lead you down the wrong trail). http://www.CopywritingDetective.com
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A SIMPLE domain name – I can’t tell you how many times people have spent weeks trying to determine just the right domain name, only to come up with something that has no keywords or is a tongue-twister. Keep is simple folks. If your brilliant domain name is taken, go back to the white board – add a simple word like “The” (thewebcoach) or “Your”, (yourwebcoach) “e” (ewebcoach)… get it? Go through the alphabet if you have to.