What to Put on Your About Page (And How to Actually Make People Care)

Why Your About Page Matters More Than You Think

Picture the moment someone is deciding whether to hire you. They've seen your services. The price feels right. But before they call, they do one more thing — they click About. They want to know if you're a real person, if they can trust you, if you seem like someone they'd actually want to work with.

Research from KoMarketing found that 52% of visitors want to see an About page when they arrive on a company website — making it one of the most-clicked links in any navigation bar. And yet, the majority of small business About pages are either embarrassingly thin ("We're a family-owned business committed to excellence") or unreadably long walls of corporate text.

The stakes are real: a well-written About page can tip a hesitant prospect into a paying client. A poorly written one can undo all the trust your homepage just built.

The #1 Mistake Every Business Makes

The most common About page mistake is treating it as a page about you, when it should be a page about why you matter to your customer.

Most About pages open with something like: "Smith Plumbing was founded in 2008 by John Smith, a second-generation plumber with 20 years of experience serving the Denver area..." This is written entirely from the business's perspective — dates, names, credentials. The visitor has to do all the work of figuring out why any of this matters to them.

The shift is subtle but powerful: instead of starting with who you are, start with who your customer is and what frustrates them. Then explain how your story connects to solving that frustration. Your credentials and history become compelling once the reader understands why they matter.

What to Include — The Complete Layout

Here's every element an effective small business About page needs, in the order visitors expect to find them.

The 4-Step Story Formula That Builds Trust

The strongest About pages use the owner's personal story to explain why they're uniquely positioned to help. But most people don't know how to tell that story in a way that resonates with a potential client. Here's a simple four-step formula that works for almost any service business:

This structure works because it keeps the reader at the center throughout. You're not writing a biography — you're using your story to demonstrate that you understand the customer's situation and have specifically built your business to address it.

Why You Need a Real Photo (And What Kind)

If there's one single change that has the highest ROI on an About page, it's adding a real, human photo. Not a stock photo of smiling strangers. A photo of you — the actual person who will answer the phone when a client calls.

For local service businesses especially — plumbers, landscapers, accountants, designers, consultants — clients are hiring a person as much as a service. Your face on the About page signals that there's a real human behind the business who stands behind their work.

What makes a good About page photo:

• Natural light. A photo taken by a window on a clear day looks better than most professional studio shots.
• In your work environment. A plumber in a workshop, a designer at a desk, a landscaper outdoors — context reinforces credibility far better than a blank background.
• Looking at the camera. Eye contact in a photo builds more trust than a candid three-quarter profile.
• Recent. The photo should look like you do right now, not five years ago. A mismatch between your photo and reality is jarring when clients meet you in person.

How to Write It So People Actually Read It

Most About pages are written in a formal, third-person corporate voice that feels disconnected and forgettable. Write your About page the same way you'd talk to a potential client you've just met at a networking event — direct, warm, and specific.

• Use "I" or "we," not "the company." "We've been serving Denver homeowners since 2011" reads more human than "Smith Plumbing has been serving Denver homeowners since 2011."
• Keep paragraphs short. No paragraph on an About page should be more than 3-4 sentences. Long blocks of text signal that this page wasn't written with the reader in mind.
• Use specific numbers. "Over 400 completed projects" is more credible than "many years of experience." "Licensed in Colorado since 2009" beats "fully licensed."
• Don't say "passionate." Every About page says the owner is passionate about their work. It's meaningless. Show the passion through the story — don't announce it.
• End with a next step. Don't leave people on the About page with nowhere to go. Finish with a CTA: "Want to see if we're the right fit? Get in touch here."

5 About Page Mistakes to Avoid

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  Starting with "We were founded in..."

  Fix: Start with your customer's situation or a specific problem you set out to solve. The founding date belongs in a credentials section, not the opening line.
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  Using stock photos instead of real ones

  Fix: Take a real photo on a smartphone. A slightly imperfect genuine photo always outperforms a polished stock image of someone who doesn't work there.
• ✗
  Listing every award and certification without context

  Fix: Only include credentials that matter to your customer — a homeowner cares that you're licensed and insured, not that you attended a trade conference in 2019.
• ✗
  No call to action at the end

  Fix: Always end the About page with a CTA linking to your Contact page or booking link. Someone who reads your full About page is a highly motivated prospect — don't leave them on a dead end.
• ✗
  Never updating it

  Fix: Review your About page once a year. Update the photo if it's more than 3 years old. Update project numbers, staff photos, and service descriptions to reflect your business as it actually is today.