6 Cornerstones For A Killer About Page On Your Blog

Most bloggers realize that they need an “About Page” on their blog. However, that doesn’t mean it is done very well.

After looking at a LOT of blogs over the course of doing blog evaluations, I often see that the “About Page” is under-utilized and not set up correctly.

See, it isn’t that there is single right way to do it. However, the page has to be written by taking into account the typical mindset of a new arrival on your blog. And, that is…

Who Is This Weirdo And Why Should I Care?

That’s right. They want to know what’s in it for THEM.

What’s more, they want to know NOW. Not in five seconds… RIGHT NOW.

So, essentially, you need to consider your new arrival as impatient, barely paying attention, and borderline hypnotic. You might think this sounds extreme, but it is more true than you probably care to realize. Our attention is stretched thin these days. There are WAY more things we surf by on the average day than we can process. That constant inflow, inflow, inflow…. it is damn near hypnotic. It takes something extra punchy to wake them up.

Think of your “About Page” as a sales letter for your blog. They’re not interested in learning about your personal background. They want to know why you matter to THEM. What’s your offer?

This is an important page to get “right”. My click testing routinely shows that the About page is consistently one of the most visited pages on the blog.

#1 – Just Call It “About”

Always make sure the page is found in your top navigation bar and labeled with a simple, predictable title like “About”. No kooky titles as it may get glossed over.

Don’t try to stuff the “About Page” info into a sidebar widget, either. It won’t get nearly as much notice there as it will in your top menu. My testing has always shown that’s where it gets the most clicks.

#2 – Quickly Answer The Question, “Why Should I Care?”

Quickly give them the highlights to tell them why they should pay any attention.

On my About Page (new window), the very first sentence tells people what I do: “I show bloggers how to turn their blogging into a business“. Bam! Done. Now they know.

Next, I give them the “short version”, and I purposely use bullet points. Why? Because, I’ve taken into consideration that my target audience (bloggers) is usually suffering from attention deprevation. Chances are this isn’t the first “blog about blogging” you’ve come across. So, bullet points are easily scannable and I jump right to the heart of my credibility and why I’m worth listening to.

Too often, I see bloggers get cheeky with their “About Page”. They’ll jump into their childhood, or launch into a long-winded personal biography. But, none of that answers “Why Should I Care?”

#3 – Establish Credibility.

This goes tightly with #2 above, but you need to focus on establishing your credibility. What, in your background, gives you the altitude to talk about what you do on your blog?

Here’s a tip for you… If you don’t feel you can establish suitable credibility on your own, you can “borrow it”. See, an indirect way to establish credibility is by association with known sources of credibility. One way to do this is to take quotes from the media about your niche. What you’re doing is establishing the importance of what you’re doing and, indirectly, propping up your credibility. Another way to do it (and you see this often) is pictures of yourself with known credible sources. If you go to a conference or trade show and end up meeting credible people in your niche, get your photo taken with them.

#4 – Use A Photo Of Yourself

People are visual (well, most are). Plus, we bond with people, not blogs. So, show yourself!

There is nothing more “blah” than a big long text-only About Page.

#5 – Tell A Story

Now, this part usually comes naturally. I see a lot of bloggers who give long backgrounds about themselves on their blogs. That’s fine. But…

Make it interesting and scannable.

Now, if you look at my About page, you’ll see that I’ve approached it from two different sides. On one side, I’m done a purely VISUAL story of how I got to where I am. People’s eyeballs gravitate right to that when they get to that page – and that’s by design. But, if you look at the text part of it, you’ll see I’ve also broken it up with sub-headlines. Those sub-headlines are designed to (a) Tell the short version of the story, (b) hopefully entice the person to read the text immediately below it.

Lastly, you really only need to tell them what is relevant to your personal brand. For example, on my page, I could have launched into all kinds of subjects in my life (my pets, my hobbies, etc.), but I don’t. Why? Because it isn’t relevant to establishing my credibility and providing a reason to read my blog. I tell just enough to establish my development as a problogger and a few little personal details mixed in.

#6 – Funnel Their Attention

They’ve come to your about page. They’ve found out why they should care about you. They’ve learned a little about you (the parts that matter). Now what?

You’ve got to steer them somewhere. Give them options to connect with you in the forms of calls to action. After all, you want to have a way to reach out and bring them back and turn them into a fan. So, a link to your mailing list (or an embedded opt-in form), links to connect on social media, etc. The trick is to focus on the calls to action that are most relevant to YOUR market. See, my market (bloggers) use RSS. In many markets, they might not even know what RSS is, so don’t try to get them to subscribe to your RSS feed. Give them something they understand, like a list opt-in to a newsletter, etc.

In my case, I know that people are going to visually track down the storyline image on my About page. So, I’ve put my relevant calls to action immediately below that image.

… And There Ya Go…

Now, go check out your own About Page. Is it written with the MINDSET of your reader in mind? Did you set it up strategically?