Website owners often fail to explain the purpose of their site in one introductory paragraph – leaving visitors confused when they first arrive.
One of the most important jobs for a website is to represent the site owner in a credible way. If you can’t effectively describe your website’s purpose and what it stands for, you undermine all your other website goals. This information should be part of your About Us section.
Typically, About Us sections are little more than an after-thought which poorly communicate the crucial information it should contain.
Tips for Effective About Us Information
To test if your About Us section is effective, ask some people to:
- Navigate to the About Us section
- Describe their evaluation of you/your organization based solely on your About Us information
- Find out who runs the organization
- Find out when the organization/website was founded
- Find out how to contact you using a variety of different methods
What Should Be In a Good About Us Section
- Tagline
A tagline is a few words that summarises the essence of the site/site owner - Overview
The first paragraph should offers a bit more detail about the site/site owners goals and main accomplishments. - Fact Sheet
A bulleted/tabulated elaboration on key points and other essential facts about the organization. - Detailed information
More detailed information can be made available in subsequent pages for people who want more depth, for example journalists or interview candidates.
By writing an effective About Us section, you can create a more credible website, which will improve your website’s effectiveness, in terms of its long-term future, traffic and sales.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
You got any ideas for how to come up with a good tagline?
Got a bit stuck with that.
This is excellent.
http://www.yudkin.com/generate.htm
The site owner also offers a service where they’ll come up with names for you, if you get really stuck.