Let’s state the obvious: Every website should include an About page. But what makes a good About page? More importantly — what makes a bad one?
Find out from the fine folks at Ironistic.
You know something that bothers me? About pages that show individual team photos but not the person’s name/title unless you click or hover over the picture. Not to brag, but our team page is MUCH more user friendly. (And a lot better looking!)
The mistakes I see most often are having too much or too little content in this area of the site. For example, some organizations have separate navigation items or pages for the description of the organization, their mission, their location, their board, their annual reports, their history, etc. Generally, there is not enough content to justify this type of break down and users don’t want to go to 3, 4, 5+ pages just to read a paragraph.
On the other side of that same coin, sometimes organizations pack too much into the about page making it long and hard to read. I recommend having a description of the organization, mission, and history (unless this is very long and content-rich) on the about page with links to secondary pages (these can also be in the nav if needed) to their staff info, board, and annual reports.
A website’s About page is very important for SEO, especially when the site is health or wellness-related. Google wants to know it can trust your site and your business, so your About page should be very clear and consistent in regards to outlining who you are and what you stand for. Be clear about what it is you offer. Include team bios and make sure you’re linking to other pages of your site where applicable.
The most common mistakes I see on websites are “cutesy” navigation terms rather than the real word. Nav words like “About” and “Contact Us” still work great and let any demographic clearly understand what you mean. The About page should tell a user what the company does, what they value, and a tad bit about their history.
I think it’s a mistake to put too much information on an About page. Very few people are going to read through a large amount of text. Keep things short, sweet, and to the point.
A great thing to put on an About page would be a 30-60 second video that talks about the company. The likelihood of a video being watched over a bunch of text being read is much higher.
About pages can put users off if it is too much about the organization and not enough about HOW the organization can help or WHAT the organization can do to assist the user. Users are viewing the site, so every aspect of the site needs to be geared toward them.
Biggest mistake? TOO MUCH CONTENT! Keep it short, sweet, and to the point. Who are you? Why do I care? Give the necessary details, add a few images or graphics, and let me know why you’re the best in your field (without actually saying you’re the best in your field).
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