Nobody reads an About page out of general interest. They read it partway through deciding whether to contact you, usually to answer one question: is this a real business run by people who will still be here in six months. Written as a company history it answers nothing. Written as evidence it does a specific and measurable job.
Who actually lands there
On most small business sites the About page is second or third in traffic behind the homepage and the main service page. That surprises owners, who tend to treat it as an obligation rather than an asset.
The people arriving on it are rarely at the start of their visit. They have read a service page, found it plausible, and are now doing a quick check before enquiring. It is a verification step, and the visitor is skimming for reassurance rather than reading for pleasure.
A second, smaller group arrives from a search for your business name, having been given it by someone else. They are confirming you are the company they were told about.
What they are actually checking
- That real people run this. Names, faces, and roles. The most valuable content on the page.
- That you have been doing it a while. A year founded, or a plain statement of how long.
- That you are local. Where you are based and where you work.
- That you are qualified and insured. Licence numbers, certifications, association memberships.
- That the operation is the right size. Some customers want a one-person business, others want a crew. Being straight about which you are attracts the right ones.
Five items, all factual, none requiring a paragraph of prose. Several also serve as credibility markers elsewhere on the site, which is covered in the trust signals that actually work.
What tends to fill the page instead
A founding narrative in the third person. A mission statement. A paragraph about passion for quality and putting customers first. A stock photograph of a handshake.
None of it is untrue and none of it is checkable, which is the problem. Every competitor claims commitment to quality, so the claim carries no information. A visitor skims past it looking for something they can verify, and if there is nothing, the page has spent their attention without earning anything.
A structure that works
Open with what you do and who for
Two sentences, in plain terms, at the top. Some visitors arrive here first from a name search and need orienting before anything else.
The people, with photographs
Name, role, and how long they have been doing it. Real photographs, not portraits that look purchased. For a small business this is the single most persuasive block on the page, because hiring a trade means letting someone into your property.
The verifiable facts
Founded date, licence and registration numbers, insurance, certifications, association memberships. Presented plainly. This is the block people are actually scanning for.
How you work
What happens from enquiry to completion. This is far more useful than values, because it tells someone what dealing with you will actually be like, which is the underlying question behind the values question.
A way to act
The page is a late step in the decision, so it should be able to finish the job rather than sending someone back to find a contact page.
The story question
Founding stories can work, and the ones that do are specific and short.
"I started this after fifteen years working for someone else, because I wanted to run jobs properly" is a real reason and it tells a customer something. Three paragraphs beginning with a childhood interest in machinery is a different thing, and it is generally read by nobody.
The test is whether the story explains something about how you work now. If it does, keep it to a paragraph. If it is background for its own sake, it belongs somewhere further down or nowhere.
What to leave off
- Mission and values statements that could be copied onto a competitor's site without editing.
- Stock photography of people who do not work for you. Recognisable, and it undermines the rest of the page.
- A timeline of milestones that matter internally and not to a customer.
- Awards nobody has heard of, unless you say briefly what they were for.
- Anything phrased in the third person by a business of three people, which reads as inflated rather than established.
The test
Read your About page and count the statements a stranger could verify. Names, dates, numbers, credentials, locations. Then count the statements that are claims about character.
If the second number is larger, the page is not doing the job the visitor came for. Swapping half the claims for facts is usually an hour of work, and the page is being read by more people than any other page except the ones selling the work.
Frequently asked questions
Does an About page actually matter?
On most small business sites it is the second or third most visited page. Visitors arrive on it partway through deciding, to check that a real and established business is behind the service pages they just read.
What should be on a small business About page?
What you do and who for, the people with photographs and roles, verifiable facts such as founding date and licence numbers, how you work from enquiry to completion, and a way to make contact.
Should I include a founding story?
Only if it explains something about how you work now, and then in a paragraph. Background for its own sake is generally read by nobody and pushes down the facts people came to check.
Do mission statements help?
Rarely, because every competitor makes the same claims and none of them are checkable. Visitors skim past unverifiable statements looking for something concrete.
Should I use stock photos of people on my About page?
No. Purchased portraits are recognisable and they undermine the credibility of the factual content around them, which is the part doing the work.
Should the About page have a contact option?
Yes. It is a late step in the decision, so it should be able to complete an enquiry rather than sending the visitor away to find a contact page.
West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.
About page reading like a brochure?
We rewrite it around the facts visitors are actually checking, so the page earns the enquiry instead of spending the attention.
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