A lot of sites phone it in when it comes to the About Us page.

You’ve seen it before: a dry, impersonal list of accomplishments and qualifications, maybe a few awards. You finish reading—or more likely, skimming—with no more opinion of the brand than you started with. So you hit the back button, or even just close the site.

And who can blame you? The page you clicked on to help you decide whether they’re worth your time or money left you flat.

So when it comes to your own About page, why would you rely on the same kind of boring, soulless content to make an impression on your visitors?

Don’t treat your About page like an encyclopedia entry. Instead, use these three tips to help yourself stand out from the crowd.

Start with a unique value proposition

This is a combination of what you offer and what’s special or different about the way you do it. It should be short, pithy, and straightforward.

The first part—what you offer—can just be the product or service you provide or the problem you specialize in solving. For example, if you sell quality hardwood flooring, it’s fine to say so without trying to make it more than it is.

The second part relies on the particular values you, and more importantly you customers, espouse. In our flooring example, maybe you use only recycled lumber. In that case, you might emphasize that your business is conservation-minded and environmentally conscious.

Including both these elements at the beginning of your About page reinforces what you can give them. Though they will likely have seen similar information on your homepage first, the repetition—especially when presented in a way that’s short and easy to digest—will help it stick in their mind.

This also gives readers something about you to identify with, right at the top of the page. Whether that’s the desire to be environmentally friendly (as in our earlier example), or to be entertained, or whatever else you might use, when your readers connect their values to yours they begin to consider you more like themselves. And people tend to like—and trust—those who are like them.

Show them you understand their problems

People come to your site because they have a problem and you offer solutions. But in most cases, there’s more to a problem than just the thing that needs to be remedied.

Consider the reasons a customer might want a problem solved, and what they’ll get out of solving it. If they need a pipe fixed, what do you do to eliminate the worries that come with a plumbing problem? If they come to your site to learn, what do you do to make it easier for them—and what do you enable them to do with that learning?

Demonstrate that you have the experience to predict and address the issues common to people with the problems you solve.

By doing this, you show your authority in your field while encouraging readers to feel that you understand them personally. It also reinforces what you can do for them in a more specific way.

Tell them your story

This is where most About pages begin and end—or try to, anyway, with that list of accomplishments we mentioned before. But we’re going to take it a bit further.

Share your “Why”—the reason it matters to you to solve the problems you do. What made you decide to address those particular issues? Why is it important to serve your specific audience? What caused you to choose to dedicate your time and energy?

If you have relevant awards and accomplishments, this is also the place to include them. Don’t simply list them out, though. Connect them, in context, to your journey and to the values you hold.

People connect to stories, and more than anything else, it’s your story that will stay in readers’ minds after they leave your site.

By giving readers ways to identify themselves with who you are and what’s important to you, and tying it all together with your story, you insert yourself into their subconscious in a powerful way. They get more invested in you, and allow you greater influence over them… the influence you can use to help them choose you over your competition.

Want help using your About page to encourage reader engagement and drive conversions? Click here and schedule your free phone consultation.