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How important is an 'about us' page with personal info for small and mid sized businesses?

Marketing, social media, advertising

Is an 'about us' page with some personal info good for business?

  • Yes, for all companies

    Votes: 15 60.0%
  • Yes, but more or only for smaller and middle sized ones

    Votes: 4 16.0%
  • Could be, but I don't often look at those infos and don't consider them so relevant

    Votes: 3 12.0%
  • No, I think other things are much more important than sharing personal info

    Votes: 3 12.0%
  • I have another opinion, shared below

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    25

Gepi

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Hi dear members of this forum,
often you read and get the advice, that an "about us" page with some personal info and profile of the founder/leader is very important to build trust, especially for small to middle-sized businesses, bluecollars, but also designers and such.
What do you think about this presumption? Do you consider similar businesses who share some personal background more likely for you to buy from, or do you not care about it so much?
Would you say it is generally good for business, or not?
In what cases you don't consider it important at all?

Please share your opinions! Relevant experience especially welcome, like if you had such business in the past or running now, and had good experience with having a personal "about us" page. Or if you recently bought from somewhere and this information was an important factor in the decision.
 
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PizzaOnTheRoof

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I think it’s good to build trust, but it shouldn’t be the main point of your website.

I don’t care that you’ve been in business for 36 years and your nephew runs marketing, I just need my leaky faucet fixed.
 

minivanman

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It depends what type of About Us page you are talking about. If it says: We sell nails. We carry
  • 2.1 Common nails.
  • 2.2 Finishing nails.
  • 2.3 Box nails.
  • 2.4 Roofing nails.
  • 2.5 Masonry nails.
  • 2.6 Double-headed nails.
  • 2.7 Drywall nails.
  • 2.8 Annular ring shank nails.
Don't waste you time.

But a good About Us page only takes 5 minutes to make so why not?

Hi, I'm Billy Bob Carpenter and this is my wife Nelly. My dad, Earl, started selling nails out of the back of his pickup in 1973. My dad worked hard and made friends with lots of the folks around the area. In 1982 he built this store and named it Carpenter's Nails. I grew up working in the store and getting to know all of the customers. In 2004, dad retired and I took over the store. Dad passed away in 2007 and since that time we have put in a lot of effort to keep things just the way my dad wanted them. My grandson, Earl jr. has since started working with us and is learning everything the way his great grandfather would want him to learn. I look forward to the day when I can turn the key over to him because I know it will not only stay in the family, but our family business, Carpenter's Nails, will be in good hands.
 
Last edited:

CareCPA

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I go back and forth on this. On one hand, it helps build trust. On the other, I don't want the company to depend on whether or not people like me or my story.
 
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Xeon

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It's important if your business is built around a brand, and your brand is built on storytelling.

Otherwise not much.
 

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I think it's important to have as it legitimizes your company.

In Unscripted MJ talks about how he tried to make his business look like it was a large company, although it was just him and an employee or two.

Representing your company as being somewhat large and successful, however you choose to do so, gives it higher social status (for lack of a better term).
 
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Zcott

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I think it is a must. You are harming your brand more by not having one than you are by having one.
 

Jonathan Hoch

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The about page is the 2nd most visited page on your website. Should you neglect that, or should you use it as an opportunity? If you would prefer to neglect, then skip my post.

But if you choose the latter, then read on.

The about page is about as cliche as having a home page. But what is the point? To talk about yourself and/or your company. Which is why most people don't like doing it. Isn't that just ... douchey? Not when you talk about how YOU are capable of serving them. Well, how do you do that?
  • Your credentials help the readers to understand that you know what you're talking about.
  • Your background story can be an example that you have both gone through the same struggles.
  • Your expertise can showcase that you have learned how to overcome their problems.
  • Your best examples can be referenced as starting points.
How do you put these all together? With the Hero's Journey followed with a call to action (go look at these posts/this product/etc)

Hero or Business > Describe everyday life > Long term goal > Unforseen setback > Expertise that overcame it > Personal/Business transformation > Aftermath and new way of life > What the reader should do next

@minivanman great example. Did you do that on purpose? :D
 

minivanman

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The about page is the 2nd most visited page on your website. Should you neglect that, or should you use it as an opportunity? If you would prefer to neglect, then skip my post.

But if you choose the latter, then read on.

The about page is about as cliche as having a home page. But what is the point? To talk about yourself and/or your company. Which is why most people don't like doing it. Isn't that just ... douchey? Not when you talk about how YOU are capable of serving them. Well, how do you do that?
  • Your credentials help the readers to understand that you know what you're talking about.
  • Your background story can be an example that you have both gone through the same struggles.
  • Your expertise can showcase that you have learned how to overcome their problems.
  • Your best examples can be referenced as starting points.
How do you put these all together? With the Hero's Journey followed with a call to action (go look at these posts/this product/etc)

Hero or Business > Describe everyday life > Long term goal > Unforseen setback > Expertise that overcame it > Personal/Business transformation > Aftermath and new way of life > What the reader should do next

@minivanman great example. Did you do that on purpose? :D

Come on now.... this is me.... would I do anything on purpose? ;) Guess what the store next door was named.... Jack's Hammers :smuggy:

There are a LOT of people that like knowing the story behind the scenes no matter how small or large the company is. There are even tv shows about it, books about it.... info about it all over the place. For every 1 that doesn't care about it, there is 1 that does.
 
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AllenCrawley

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The about page is the 2nd most visited page on your website.
Not the 2nd most visited page on my site but it is certainly up there. About Us pages are vitally important.

I need to refresh our About Us page so I was doing some research on this.

I recently came across a Hubspot article that showcases a number of great examples of About Us pages.

15 of the Best 'About Us' & 'About Me' Pages and How to Make Your Own

Take a look. Some great inspiration in there.
 

Andy Black

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A nice tip I heard about About Us pages is to make it about them.
 

Jonathan Hoch

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I forgot to mention this in my response above. The about page is able to answer an important question:
Who are you, and why should I trust you/buy from you?
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Extremely important.

It's a trust builder and a storyteller.

Both allow you to sell more.

All things held equal, I will buy from someone who tells a better story about "why" I should buy from them.
 

MJ DeMarco

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I should also mention that this forum's ABOUT page was been viewed...

632,000+ times.

That's just for a few years, not during the forum's lifespan.
 
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Walter Hay

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Extremely important.

It's a trust builder and a storyteller.

Both allow you to sell more.

All things held equal, I will buy from someone who tells a better story about "why" I should buy from them.
I started my importing business before the days of the Internet, but used the equivalent of "About Us" in all our advertising.

Competitors' advertising was invariably a bland statement of why someone should buy product X. Ours was about why they should buy from us.

I know from our Telco's monitoring of calls to the number advertised in our relatively low budget Yellow Pages entry, that we achieved a call rate as high as 11 times the rate of the calls to the big spending competitors.

I think that not having an about us page is a waste of a valuable advertising opportunity.

Walter
 

Xeon

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How important is it to have the Founders' / staff / company photos on the About page?
 

minivanman

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How important is it to have the Founders' / staff / company photos on the About page?

I think this is important as well. Even before the internet days, I put a picture of my manager on our flyers. While everyone else had those cute pictures of houses or a duster, we had a face that put trust in people' mind.
 
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Jonathan Hoch

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How important is it to have the Founders' / staff / company photos on the About page?
If two people are selling the exact same solution, the one who is more likely to get the sale, is the one who connects on a personal level.

It’s the reason why it’s important to even include a story. Showcasing that you had a similar or the same problem, builds a commonality between you.

Even if you’re a wholesaler that sells red widgets B2B only, there was a PERSONAL reason why the wholesale business came to be, and a PERSON should ALWAYS be represented!

And besides, it’s pretty damned difficult to relate to a company, as a consumer. Especially if the about us only showcases a pile of red widgets, or the high tech machines and building they’re made in.

(Basically 90% of small time manufacturing business websites)

Showcase the founder, showcase the team, and highlight the various struggles they have met and dealt with!

People buy from likable people. And the most likable, are the under dogs!

To prove my point: I hate the Patriots! Go rams!
(Seahawk fan)
 

Xeon

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In Unscripted MJ talks about how he tried to make his business look like it was a large company, although it was just him and an employee or two.

This never fails to crack me up.
I remember he wrote that he bought some phone numbers or something, and even came up with fictional employee names LMAO (not sure about the photos though)
Need to try that myself.
 

Gepi

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Dear all who took the time to contribute,
I am so glad, so many of you have posted and answered! Thank you so much for sharing. I am sure people will find your insights very useful and valuable!
I think you all have valid points and of course I read every post! By no means I am a natural marketeer, but after reading through your thoughts and following every link, I see it now much more clearly, how important it is to have a real, tangible thing behind your business, and putting it out there. Nobody likes the faceless grey organisation. And a person behind the brand makes it more trustworthy and also more connectable. For bigger brands, this could also be done by influencers, but personality is always needed!
Thank you so much! I will build on this knowledge in the next iteration of my website.
Have a great day to all who read this post, gepi
 

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