2 About Page Formulas That Actually Work

Are you trying to write your About Page and have no clue where to start? Maybe you’re a new business owner who can’t afford to hire out (totally okay), or perhaps you want to try your hand at your own copy first. With a few tricks of the trade-in your pocket, writing good website copy doesn’t need to be scary or seem unachievable. 

Some formulas tell you what to write, where to write it, and how to apply it to specific web pages. Formulas are a go-to for most copywriters mainly because they are tested, shown to work, and can initiate your writing flow if you’re ever feeling unsure of what to say. 

If you’re writing your own copy, you’ll likely be writing your About Page at some point during the process. To help you tackle one of the most popular pages on your website (I take a guess it’s in the top 5 most visited pages based on Google Analytics), I’m giving you 2 About Page formulas that actually work so you can start writing copy that connects, compels, and converts today.

Why Your About Page Copy Is Important

Customers are not only seeking out products or services. They are seeking out a product or service from brands or people they connect with. An About Page is there to tell your potential clients who you are, what you do, and why you do it. 

These formulas are more or less the same, with a minor element (or two) added or subtracted. Use the one that gives you a solid foundation for what you and your brand are all about. 

Formula #1: GRDGPGC

This pretty straightforward formula differentiates itself by hitting on everything your reader is looking for when they land on your About Page: connection.

Grab their attention:  You can do this with an eye-catching and curiosity-building headline. Just meet your reader right where they are at. Your reader should feel an immediate sense of belonging and be inspired to keep reading. Tell them what your BRAND, not your product is all about. You can also add a subheadline or a shorter sentence underneath your headline.

Reassure your reader is in the right spot by telling them how you know what they’re going through. This is your intro to your About Page. The aim here is to tell your reader why they should hang out with you and not a competition. Clearly explain your purpose and why you’re unique. You can give your mission and vision statement here, too. This section should directly follow your headline and subheadline. 

Drop your credentials. Establish your authority but make it fun and fast. You don’t want to bore them with a long list of facts. Don’t forget to give your name (if it’s not obvious on the site) and tell them why you’re legit.

Give Non-professional tidbits. Follow up your credentials with a bit of pizazz. Give some color on who you are, places you’ve been, where you want to go (make it relevant for the reader). Give them a narrative that connects you and your interests with your brands’ mission and vision.

Paint a picture of your method. Tell the reader what it’ll look like to work with you. Explain what you do (if it’s not obvious already). What may make sense to you might not make sense to others. Clarify!

Give insight into your process or a behind-the-scenes look. Studio pictures, testimonials, or a brief description can all work here. 

Call to Action. Never hit publish on a page that doesn’t have a call to action. Guide them towards their next step by making it crystal clear which action you want them to take. Is it downloading a free resource, reading your latest blog, listening to your podcast or YouTube channel, following you on social media, booking a free discovery call, or shopping in your store?

IF YOU’RE AN ORGANIZATION OR HAVE A TEAM…

You can still rock an About Page. Yes, personal brands have a slight advantage over organizations when it comes to their About Page, but mainly because they can connect with their readers by sharing their personal story. 

Even if you’re an organization, you can still connect with your readers through your copy. You just have to add a couple of extra pieces to humanize your brand just a little more. If you’re an organization, here are a few things you might want to include in the formula I just gave above. 

• Mission statement. Go ahead and define your organization’s brand mission and give your reader a high-level explanation of how your product or service contributes to your mission overall. 

• Add a little detail. Give a detailed timeline of your organization, or tell the story behind how and why your organization was founded. You can even talk about how your company has evolved.

• Show off your team. Readers will connect more with your organizations if you show that you value and prioritize your team members. Plus, you’re putting names to faces which makes the buying experience with your brand that much more personal.

Formula #2: AIDA

An oldie but a goodie, the AIDA framework is a marketing technique that has been used by copywriters to boost conversions on websites since selling on the web became a thing. It originally was used to sell products in mail-order catalogs over 100 years ago (by a guy named E. St. Elmo Lewis back in 1898) but is now used for all kinds of digital marketing campaigns for big and small businesses. 

The main idea behind the formula is to grab the reader’s attention by highlighting the benefits of your product or service enough to make them take a specific action. Here’s what AIDA stands for: Attention – Interest – Desire – Action. 

This formula can be used for your entire About Page, or even just the headline or introduction of your About Page. It’s highly customizable and can be adjusted to fit your business model and objective.

A – Attention: You want to surprise your reader enough to grab their attention. Hook them with something unique or interesting, so they pause their hectic life and pay attention to what you have to say. Because if you don’t get them to read your copy, they probably won’t be buying your offer either.

Tell them where you started in your journey and the struggles you went through before you found the transformation that you’re now offering your audience.

I – Interest: Once you grab your reader’s attention, you want to keep it, so they continue to read about your offer. This means adjusting your content so it’s readable, skimmable, and easy to read. You don’t want your reader to become confused or disinterested. You also want to elaborate on what initially caught your reader’s attention. Solidify your point or back up your statements here. 

Elaborate on that transformation you experienced. What did you go through, or what helped you overcome your struggles? Explain it in a way that shows how your reader can do the same.

D – Desire: Make your offer desirable. Tell them what they’ll get when they take action. Reaffirm why it’s a good idea to invest in you and what’s in it for them. Highlight the benefits of your product or service. What is the primal desire behind wanting to purchase your offer? 

Tell your reader what it will look like working with you. More specifically, touch on the benefits they’ll receive in relation to what you’ve written above for the attention + interest section.

A – Action: Get your reader to take the next step, whatever that looks like. It can be purchasing something, signing up for a consultation call, or whatever you’re promoting on that page. There always needs to be a call to action on any piece of copy you write. Otherwise, everything you’ve written will have been pointless for conversions — which is the main goal behind your website, right?

A Call to action for your About Page can to simply check out your services or how they can work with you. Link to the page that holds that information.

Bonus Tip

Now that you have two proven formulas to try out on your About Page, I have one more bonus tip for you. Read everything you’ve written and knock yourself down a notch. What I mean by this is go through your copy and edit and cut out anything that’s not needed or that doesn’t tie back to your audience in some way, shape, or form.

Doing this will make your copy tighter and more concise, so you keep your reader interested enough to keep reading enough to take the next step, but also don’t waffle on and lose your readers before they can take action.

Remember, your About Page needs to be client-focused, and it only needs to be as long as it takes to get the message across to your audience.

If you have any questions about your About Page and how to write one, just send me a message right here! Or, if you’re ready to take the pressure off and let me write your pages for you, learn how you can work with me and the team here.