Most small business owners either ignore their About page entirely or fill it with a paragraph that reads like a CV. Neither approach works.
Your About page is typically the second most visited page on your website, after the homepage. When someone is deciding whether to hire you or buy from you, they will almost always check who they are dealing with first. A weak About page does not just fail to convince them — it can actively put them off.
The good news is that writing a great About page does not require a copywriter or an agency. It just requires understanding what your visitors are actually looking for when they click it.
What Visitors Are Really Asking When They Read Your About Page
People do not read About pages because they want to know the history of your company. They read them because they are trying to answer one question: can I trust this person to help me?
That is the frame everything should be written in. Every sentence on your About page should be doing one of two things: building credibility, or building connection. If a sentence does neither, cut it.
Lead With the Customer, Not Yourself
The most common mistake on About pages is starting with "I" or "We." It feels natural — after all, it is literally a page about you — but it immediately puts the focus in the wrong place.
Instead, open by acknowledging what your customer is going through. What problem brought them to your website? What do they need, and what are they worried about? Show that you understand their situation before you start talking about yourself.
For example, instead of:
"We are a family-run plumbing business established in 2008..."
Try:
"When something goes wrong with your plumbing, the last thing you want is to wonder whether the person you call is reliable. That's why everything we do at [Business Name] is built around turning up on time, being upfront about costs, and leaving your home as tidy as we found it."
Same business, same facts — but the second version speaks directly to what the customer cares about. The year the business was founded is not doing any work there. The promise of reliability and transparency is.
Tell Your Story, But Make It Relevant
Once you have addressed the customer's concerns, it is absolutely fine to bring in your story — and in fact, it is valuable. People buy from people, especially when they are choosing a local or independent business. A brief, honest account of why you do what you do creates connection that a faceless corporate website simply cannot.
But keep it focused. You do not need your full career history. What visitors want to know is:
- What led you to this work specifically?
- What makes you genuinely good at it?
- Why do you care about it?
A plumber who spent fifteen years working for a large contractor before going independent because he wanted to "do things properly, not just quickly" has a more compelling story than a list of qualifications. A cake maker who started baking for her daughter's birthday and was asked to do weddings from there has a warmer story than a generic "passion for baking" statement.
The specifics make it real. Vague claims ("we are passionate about what we do," "quality is at the heart of everything we offer") are so overused they mean nothing. The specific detail — the moment, the decision, the reason — is what people remember.
Include Proof, Not Just Claims
Anyone can say they are experienced, reliable, and professional. The visitors reading your About page know this, which is why self-praise on its own is largely ignored.
What carries weight is proof:
- How many years have you been doing this?
- Roughly how many customers or projects have you handled?
- Do you have any accreditations, qualifications, or trade memberships relevant to your industry?
- Are there testimonials or review scores you can reference?
You do not need to list everything. Two or three concrete, specific credibility signals are more convincing than a long list of vague accomplishments. "Over 200 projects completed across the East Midlands" lands differently than "extensive experience in the industry."
If you have received a notable review or piece of feedback, consider pulling a short quote into your About page. Hearing a real customer describe what it was like to work with you is far more persuasive than anything you could say about yourself.
Show Your Face
This is the one piece of advice most people resist, and the one that makes the biggest difference.
A professional-looking photo of you — the actual person behind the business — builds more trust than any words on the page. It makes you real. It removes the anonymity that makes people hesitant to spend money with someone they have never met.
You do not need a studio shoot. A clear photo taken in good light, where you look approachable and competent, is enough. A photo of you working — on-site, at your bench, in your kitchen — is often more effective than a formal headshot because it shows you in your element.
If your business has a small team, include photos of all of them. Customers like knowing who will turn up at their door or who they will be dealing with on the phone.
End With a Clear Next Step
Your About page should not just end. It should point visitors towards what to do next.
By the time someone has read to the bottom of your About page, they have already spent time with you. They have read your story, absorbed your credibility signals, seen your face. If they are still there, they are interested.
Give them a clear, low-friction way to take the next step. That might be a link to your services, a prompt to get a quote, or simply an invitation to get in touch. Something like: "If that sounds like the kind of business you want to work with, we would love to hear from you."
Keep It Updated
Your About page is not a one-time job. As your business grows, your story becomes richer. The team expands. New credibility signals emerge. The types of work you do might shift.
Set a reminder to review your About page once a year and ask yourself whether it still reflects who you are and what you offer. An About page that feels current and alive tells visitors that the business is current and alive.
If you are building a new website or overhauling an existing one and want help getting the words right, get in touch — we work with small businesses across the UK to build websites that do more than just sit there.