When designing a website for your business, it is rather easy to overlook the About page. But your About page is a crucial entry point for potential customers investigating your brand. A well-crafted About page not only builds trust with your audience but can significantly enhance your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. Follow these easy tips to optimize your About page for both search engines and visitors.
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1. Identify and incorporate relevant keywords
Before writing or revising your About page, take time to do thorough keyword research. Research tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs can help you identify keywords and phrases that potential customers are searching for concerning your brand, products, or services.
We recommend that most small businesses focus on long-tail keywords because they tend to be less competitive and usually reflect more specific searches. For example, instead of just targeting “furniture,” you might target “sustainable home furniture made in the USA” for your About page. Once you have identified your keywords, integrate them naturally into your content. Use your keyword in your headings and body text, but be careful not to overdo it. If you stuff your post full of your keyword, search engines might penalize you. Aim for a keyword density of about 1-2%, or around 3 to 4 times in a 300-word blog post.
2. Craft a compelling brand story
Your About page is the perfect place to share your brand story. A strong narrative can emotionally connect with your audience, making your brand more relatable and memorable. In a dedicated section on your About page, clearly express your mission statement and core values. Explain what drives your business—whether it’s sustainability, innovation, or community involvement—and highlight what makes your brand unique (your USPs). Maybe your business sources ingredients locally or has exceptional customer service. Your customers won’t know what sets you apart from the competition unless you tell them!
In this section, you can also share a brief background of your company. It can be tempting to tell every last detail about how your grandfather started the business from his two-car garage in the suburbs of Chicago. But most of your customers will not care about these details. They care more about the details we outlined above: your mission, your values, and what makes you the right choice.
3. Use internal links
When Google sends its bots to crawl your website, the bot will follow links and put together a “map” of what your site looks like. A good map typically gives you several alternate routes to get to the same destination. On your website, we build these alternate routes with internal links to other pages on your website.
Internal links are links that you embed on your website that lead to other pages on your website. This article, for example, contains several internal links that will take you to related blog posts or (in some cases) to our services or contact pages. You could arguably get to any of our articles from the main blog page, but using an internal link provides another, easier route to that same article. Strategic use of internal linking is essential for guiding your visitors (and search engines) through your website. It enhances navigation, reduces bounce rates, and improves your site’s overall SEO.
On your About page, consider linking to relevant product pages, service descriptions, blog posts, or case studies. For example, if your brand focuses on eco-friendly products, you could link to a blog post about sustainability practices. Whichever links you decide to use, ensure that your anchor text (the clickable text in a hyperlink) is descriptive and includes relevant keywords when possible. Instead of “click here,” use “learn more about our eco-friendly initiatives.” Or you can check out the rest of this blog post for examples of descriptive anchor text.
4. Optimize images and alt text
High-quality images can enhance the user experience on your About page, but ensure that you optimize images properly. Use tools like TinyPNG, ImageOptim, and Squoosh to compress your images without sacrificing quality. This is an important step because small file sizes reduce page load time. In other words, the smaller the files, the quicker your page will load. And this means your visitor has a better experience on your site!
In addition to optimizing your image files, you should provide descriptive alt text to each image. Alt text is a brief description of the contents of the image that will show whenever the image cannot be displayed. When writing your alt text, try to incorporate your keywords into the description, as this can help with your SEO. For example, if you feature a picture of your team, you could write the following for alt text: “Our dedicated team of eco-friendly furniture designers.”
5. Use headers and formatting to structure your content
Organizing your content makes it easier to read and understand for both visitors and search engines. You can do this with headers, bulleted lists, short paragraphs, and strategically-placed white space. Header tags are organized in a hierarchy, with the H1 tag as the highest heading (your page title), H2 as your main headings, and H3 through H6 as your subheadings. Typically, you will not need to use anything beyond H3. If you do, you may want to reconsider how your content is structured. Let’s take a look at how that might look for Cozy Corner Furniture, a sustainable furniture outlet:
- Page Title (H1) – About Cozy Corner Furniture
- Subheadings
- Our Mission (H2)
- Our Values (H2)
- Sustainability (H3)
- Excellence (H3)
- Transparency (H3)
To make your content more digestible, break up large blocks of text with bulleted lists, short paragraphs, and white space. This makes the page easier to scan and read on mobile devices, which improves user experience and (however indirectly) your site’s SEO.
6. Include testimonials and social proof
To convert visitors into customers, you need to build trust in your brand. While you should sprinkle testimonials throughout your website, you should definitely feature a couple of your best on the About page. If possible, use customers’ real names and photos, as this projects a sense of transparency and authenticity. (Just don’t forget to get permission first!) Testimonials, ratings, and reviews help improve your website’s SEO
Related: Where and How to Get Reviews for Your Business
If your business has received any awards, accolades, or been featured in any reputable publications, create a section in your page design dedicated to displaying these endorsements. These things can significantly boost confidence in your brand and drive more traffic to your website.
7. Add a clear Call-to-Action
After engaging visitors with your brand story, guide them on what to do next with a clear call-to-action. Your CTAs must be direct and specific; otherwise, your customers will do nothing at all! For example, you could invite visitors to shop your collection, subscribe to a newsletter for updates, or follow your social media channels.
Don’t forget to make your CTA stand out and place it at strategic points on the page
Make your CTA stand out visually by using contrasting colors or buttons. Ensure it is placed at logical points on the page, such as at the end of your narrative or alongside testimonials.
8. Optimize for mobile devices
For most businesses, a significant amount of their website traffic comes from mobile devices. That means your website needs to perform top-notch on a mobile device. Make sure you have a responsive design that adapts to different screen sizes with tools like Google Lighthouse. Minimize your file sizes, take care of redirects, and use browser caching to reduce your page’s loading speed. Fast-loading pages improve user experience and positively impact your SEO.
9. Audit your content regularly
To optimize your About page and keep it that way, you should regularly review and update your About page content. Use tools like Google Analytics 4 to monitor user interactions on your About page. Look at metrics like time on page, bounce rates, and user behavior to see how people behave on our page. Are they clicking through to your products or to other pages on your site, or do they leave your website right away? Look at the data to see where you can make improvements to your site for your visitors.
Though we are stating the obvious with this one, make sure you update your About page whenever there is a change in your business. Do you offer a new product or service? Mention it there. Have you expanded into a new market? Have you hired a new CFO? Have your values changed? Updating these things not only keeps users informed but also signals to search engines that your content is current, fresh, and relevant.
Conclusion
Optimizing your About page is a powerful opportunity to enhance your brand’s online presence while providing potential customers with the information they need to make informed decisions. By implementing these strategies, you can improve your search engine rankings, build trust with users, and ultimately drive more conversions. Make the most of this valuable web real estate, and watch your online visibility flourish!
Keep Reading: How to Optimize Your Blog Posts for Search Engines