About Us Page: What to Include and How to Write One

An about us page is where a customer goes to decide whether they trust you. It is often one of the most visited pages on a small business website, and one of the least worked on. This guide explains what to put on yours, what to leave off, a simple structure you can follow, and the mistakes that make a business look smaller or less trustworthy than it is.

What is an about us page for?

An about us page answers three questions a customer has before they get in touch: who is behind this business, can I trust them, and are they right for me? It is not a company history. For a small business, it is the closest thing to meeting you before you meet. A good one makes the next step, a call or an enquiry, feel safe.

Do people actually read about us pages?

Yes, and more than most owners expect. Over 28 days this summer, the about page on one online shop we built was the second most seen page in Google search results, behind only the homepage and ahead of every product page. It appeared 101 times at an average position of 5.5. People search for the business, then check who runs it.

That fits long-standing usability research. Nielsen Norman Group’s study of about us information on websites found that people expect the page to be clear and open, and that many test participants struggled to work out what a company actually did. It also found that people check outside review sites and are wary of testimonials that look hand picked.

What should an about us page include?

Six things, roughly in this order.

1. What you do, in one plain sentence

Start with the answer, not the backstory. “We are a family run roofing firm covering Medway and Maidstone, specialising in flat roofs and repairs” tells the reader what they came to find out in the first line.

2. The people behind it

Real names and real photos. For a sole trader that is you; for a small team, each person a customer might deal with, with their role. A friendly photo taken on a phone in good light beats a polished stock image every time, because customers can tell the difference.

This matters more than it seems. One business owner told us on a call that his biggest worry about hiring a small firm was being left with no support if the person he dealt with moved on. A page that shows who is behind the business, and that there is more than one person who knows the work, answers that worry before it is asked.

3. Why you do it, and how

A short paragraph on how you started and how you work. Keep it specific. “We started after ten years working for a national installer, because we wanted to do fewer jobs, properly” says more than “we are passionate about quality”. If you have a way of working that customers value (fixed quotes, tidy sites, same day replies), say so here.

4. Proof

Years trading, jobs completed if you count them, accreditations, trade memberships, insurance and guarantees. Add a few reviews with names and towns, and link to where customers can read more on an independent site. Because people distrust hand picked quotes, the link to an outside review platform does a lot of work.

5. Where you work

The towns and area you cover, written in a sentence. If customers visit you, include your address. If you cover a wide area, say where you are based and how far you travel.

6. A next step

Most about pages end with nothing. Someone who has just read about you and liked it is ready to get in touch, so finish with a clear way to do that: a phone number, a button to the contact page or a short form. Our guide to the contact us page covers what that page needs.

A simple about us page structure

If you are writing from scratch, five short blocks are enough.

That is usually 300 to 500 words. Longer is fine if every paragraph tells a customer something useful about working with you. For help with the wording itself, see our guide on how to write website content.

What are the most common about us page mistakes?

• No names or faces. “Our team” with no team shown reads as a business with something to hide, even when it is not.
• Stock photos. Smiling models in hard hats or a handshake in an office tell the customer nothing, and many will spot them.
• Empty phrases. “Passionate”, “customer focused”, “high quality service” and “one stop shop” appear on almost every site. Replace each one with a fact that proves it.
• Writing about yourself, for yourself. The page is about you, but it is for the customer. Every paragraph should help them decide.
• Out of date details. A team member who left two years ago, or a “five years trading” line that is now nine, makes the whole site look neglected.
• A dead end. No contact details, no button, no next step.

Does an about us page help with SEO?

Indirectly, yes. Google’s guidance on creating helpful, reliable content asks whether it is clear to visitors who created the content, and points to background information about the people behind it as one way to show that. It also asks whether content shows first-hand experience. An about page with real people, real credentials and consistent business details supports that. It also gives people searching your business name a page that answers their real question: who are these people?

Keep your business name, address and phone number on the about page the same as everywhere else, and link from it to your main service pages. Our guide to SEO web design covers how the rest of the site should be set up.

About us page or homepage?

Both, doing different jobs. The homepage gives a short version: what you do, a line about who you are, and proof. The about page tells the fuller story for people who want it. A brief “who we are” section on the homepage with a link to the full page works well for most small businesses. We cover the homepage side in our guide to homepage design, and the full page list in what a brochure website includes.

How we put this together

The search figures above come from one client’s own Google Search Console account, anonymised. The worry about support comes from a real sales call. Usability findings are from Nielsen Norman Group, and the search guidance is from Google’s own documentation, both linked below. The structure is the one we use when we write about pages for the small business websites we build.

The short version

Say what you do in the first line, show the real people behind the business, explain how you work in specifics, back it up with proof customers can check, and end with a way to get in touch. If your about page still says “we are passionate about quality”, talk to us and we will help you say something that wins work.

Sources

• Nielsen Norman Group, About Us Information on Websites: what people expect from an about page, and how they judge testimonials.
• Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content: the “who” question, and first-hand experience.