Content length is something that never fails to stump online business owners and bloggers? About pages causes people enough stress as it is. People become so hung up on content length to the point where they have zero content at all. Let’s put this one to bed once and for all. Stop holding yourself back because at the end of the day, something is better than nothing – amiright!? Keep reading to find out exactly how long your sites about page should be.
Why your about page is so important
First of all, let’s get one thing clear. Your website’s about page might just be the most important page on your entire site. Prices and portfolios mean nothing if potential clients don’t feel an instant connection with you. Yes, branding goes a long way to helping people understand who you are and what your about BUT… there are so many online service providers nowadays that you have to make yourself stand out from the crowd and show some personality. Your about page is where you can begin to turn on ideal clients and turn off those you don’t want to work with.
You want to work with people you’re really going to vibe with – right? Make your about page the deciding factor for your clients. It shouldn’t be your prices that get people to work with you. Valuable clients and customers will keep coming back because they like YOU.
The battle with SEO
Yes, you still want your about page to be SEO friendly and help you get discovered organically. And there are ways to do this without having a crappy and boring about page. People already know what you do, that’s how they came to be on your site. About pages are no longer simple “Hi, I’m Beth and I write articles and eBooks for other business owners…” blah blah blah. That’s a given. Your about page should mention your area of expertise briefly and then go to town on WHY you do what you do, WHAT makes you different and so damn awesome and HOW you’re going to use our amazing super power to help others. See how much more interesting that is and now there’s so much opportunity to inject your personality!
To keep your about page SEO friendly, use keywords that relate to your area of expertise in the following discrete places:
- Image alt attributes
- Image file names themselves
- Briefly list your skills
- URL slug
- Headings
Realistically you’re about pages isn’t going to have the best SEO of all your sites pages. If you want killer SEO and want to drive more organic traffic to your site, get a blog. Done and dusted. Blogs are the number one way to get organic traffic.
Word count
So many people get hung up on word count, myself included. But let’s face it, who counts the words on your web page other than search engines? You potential clients and customers aren’t getting hung up on the fact that you’ve only got 300 words on your about page. If those words convey your message – job done. I would never recommend writing just to fill a word count. If you want to put across a short and to the point message, that’s great. If you want to write 1000 words about yourself, that’s cool too.
The last thing you want is to be waffling on and on and boring potentially perfect clients and customers because you read somewhere that you about page should be exactly 600 words long. Simply put, there is no optimal word count for your about page. Everyone is different and I think it’s dangerous to start telling people how much they should write about themselves. It’s an unnecessary added pressure for an already challenging task. For example, if your a minimalist coach then in keeping with your brand, you about page will probably be minimal too!
How to use images on your about page
We’ve all heard the phrase, “a picture speaks a thousand words”. Great visual content is an absolute must these days. The minimum you should have on your about page is a professional headshot or photo of yourself. Bonus points for other branded graphics and photos that show off your unique personality.
We’ve all found ourselves on pages that are just massive chunks of text. Your innate response is to leave the page immediately. Use images to cleverly break up your text into manageable chunks and keep people discovering you. You could even use sneaky opt-in graphics to break up paragraphs AND convert your visitors into subscribers. It’s a win-win!
Improve your sites about page
About pages are a chore to write – I get it. Writing about yourself is never an easy task. This is the core reason why so many people’s about pages are neglected. You about page should be at least 300 words long in order to let your personality and company message really shine. I think anything less than 300 words is a cop-out and people won’t be able to get a feel for who you are and if they want to work with you. You’re about page should attract your ideal client or customer and get your less than ideal partners to turn around and walk away. The best way to do this is to inject a ton of personality – amp it up and exaggerate. No one ever stood out by being average so be as you as you can be. This is your about page and it’s your time to shine!
