19: Creating Copy for Your About Page
Your website's about page is your opportunity to connect with your audience on a personal level. It's where you tell your story, share your values, and build trust. But how can you make it stand out and captivate your visitors? In this episode of Think Inside the Square, we'll explore three creative ways to write an engaging about page for your Squarespace website regardless of your industry.
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Rebecca Harpain: Your website's about page is your opportunity to connect with your audience on a personal level. It's where you tell your story, share your values, and build trust. But how can you make it stand out and captivate your visitors? In this episode of Think Inside the Square, we'll explore three creative ways to write an engaging about page for your Squarespace website regardless of your industry. Welcome to Think Inside the Square, a podcast full of quick tips and tricks to help you create a Squarespace website that you're proud of.
Rebecca Harpain: I'm Becca Hart pain squarespace expert and creator of Inside This Waco. And in this episode I'm sharing three creative ways to create content specifically for the about page of your website. For a transcript of this episode, along with the links to any resources mentioned, visit inside the squared circle forward slash podcast. The term Squarespace is a trademark of Squarespace Inc. This content is not affiliated with Squarespace Inc..
Rebecca Harpain: the about page on your website really isn't about you. It's about connecting with your visitors and showing them why your business should be a part of their lives. As important as it is, this is one of the hardest pieces of content to tease out of my clients. So in this episode of Think Inside the Square, I'm sharing the three different approaches that I use to help them create the perfect about me content.
Rebecca Harpain: fun fact this is actually the second recording of this podcast because about halfway through my first recording, I realized that I was talking to another Squarespace website designer, and not all of my listeners are website designers. You might be listening to this podcast for your own about page content. So each one of these three approaches I'm about to share is what I use when I'm talking to my own clients. I'm going to go ahead and flip the script and talk to you as if you were my client. Here are three approaches that I would use to tease out content that we can use for your about page.
Rebecca Harpain: The fake you, the coffee conversation and the mission method. Each one of these approaches is uniquely tailored to a specific style of business. Starting with the fake you. This is the approach that I use for any company I'm working with that has a little bit more of a of a friendly business style. Less professional, more casual. Now these five core questions I definitely change and edit based on the industry or their business, but we're going for general here, so let's go ahead and kick this off with the five core questions for the F Q approach for you're about page. The first question I want to ask is who are you to tell the story of how your business started and the people behind it? I want you to share some quirky or interesting personal tidbits to connect on a human level, but again, related to your business. We'll get to the real personal stuff later on in these questions. Question number two is, what do you do? I want you to explain what you do in simple terms, as if you were explaining it to a friend who has no idea about your business. Keep it light and keep it conversational.
Rebecca Harpain: The third question why are you obsessed with your solution or your industry? This is where I want you to express passion for what you do. Share what excites you about your offerings and how they can brighten someone's day. I want to if you're not rambling, there's not enough excitement there. I want you to truly explain why this is your passion, why you're obsessed with this. The core reason why you started your business. Question number four What makes you so special? This is where you can really highlight what makes your company unique. But I want you to do this with a little bit of humor or a personal touch. No overcomplicated tech jargon allowed. Share a heartwarming or funny story from your customers, clients or your team. Maybe share some of the quirks that your office dog has or you're not so low key obsession with X-Files reruns. This is where you can get personal and talk about what makes you unique. Then the fifth and final question how can people reach out and say hello? Share your contact info and encourage people to reach out with a very specific prompt. Either ask them to. Submit a question. Share a joke, or even just chat about common interests. Taking it back to that X-Files answer for the last question. Maybe ask them what their favorite episode is. Start the conversation So a quick recap on the five questions. Who are you? What do you do? Why are you obsessed with your solution or your industry? What makes you so special and how can people read you? You might be able to get a good flow of copy from your responses in that specific order. But don't be afraid to add these to the page as a literal app. Q You can absolutely list the actual question before the answer, as if you filled out a form. Again, this is definitely a more relaxed and an informal approach to your about page. And the goal here is to make your audience feel like they're getting to know you as a person, not just a business. It's about connecting on that personal level And showing the human side of your brand.
Rebecca Harpain: If that F AQ approach is a little too casual for your business, the coffee conversation might be perfect. This one is a little more professional, but still casual. And here's how it works. I want you to pretend that we are meeting for a cup of coffee to talk about how our businesses can support each other. Maybe you're a part of a local co-working space and let's say you're chatting with someone there. I want you to share anecdotes or challenges you faced and lessons learned. Be authentic with me and honest about your journey. You need to include successes and failures here, how you paved the way to where you are in business. Here are a few of the questions that I would be asking you to get this conversation going. What was your first sale like? Do you remember the product or service or the customer that made that first purchase? When did you first have confidence in this idea as a business? What was the best customer interaction that you've ever had? Tell me about the best customer interaction that you've ever had. Do you have plans to do things differently in the next six months? What about the next year? Those are just a few ideas on how to get creative. But again, I want you to write this like it's a conversation. It'll be a little more professional than the F HQ approach, but you can still add those core business concepts and throw in some more complicated tech jargon related to your industry if it's appropriate. Again, this is business to business, so it doesn't have to be as casual as the first approach we tried. Now, if both of those are two casual for your very professional business, then I've got you covered with our final approach. I understand that not all companies want to be their customers best friend. You can be professional and still connect in a meaningful way. How? By creatively sharing your mission statement on your about page clearly define your purpose, values and goals. Explain why your business exists and how it can benefit your visitors. Remember, your about page is not about you. It's about the people who want to do work. It's about connecting with your visitors and showing them why your business should be a part of their lives. Here are some tips for making this connection with the mission method. I want you to keep it concise and to the point focusing on what sets your business apart from your competitors. Use a combination of text, images and infographics to visually represent your mission. When I use this approach on my clients, many of them get super text heavy, and that can be really hard for a visitor to digest all of that information if you don't break it up with visuals or even just whitespace on the page. So try to break up your text with images and even infographics if it's necessary to represent your mission. You also need to include a call to action that guides visitors on how to get involved or support your cause or your business. I like to reserve that for the last paragraph or even the last statement. Just make sure you finish with a call to action. Again, this is the mission method and for a much more professional style business. Focus on your purpose, values and goals. So let's do a quick recap of all three of these approaches. You're about page is a crucial part of your website, and these three creative approaches can help you make it more engaging and more memorable. Let's do a quick recap. The effort to use. Who are you? What do you do? Why are you obsessed with your solution or industry? What makes you special and how can people reach you? The second approach was the coffee conversation. Sit down and have a chat with me. Explain to me the anecdotes. Talk to me about the challenges you face, the lessons learned, and some of the exciting things that keep you involved in this industry. I want you to give me personal stories about what your first sale was like. The best client interaction you've ever had and how you plan to do things differently in your business over the next year. Definitely share a story using emotional terms in this coffee conversation. The third approach was the mission statement method defined. Designed for more professional businesses. You share your purpose and your values and create a compelling mission narrative. Choose the approach that aligns best with your brand and really resonates with your audience. Remember, you're about Page is not just about you. It's about connecting with your visitors and showing them why your website matters.
Rebecca Harpain: If you want to see all of these written out, head on over to Inside the Square Darko Forward Slash Podcast. To check out the show notes for this episode, this is episode 19. So that will be inside the square. Darko Forward Slash Podcast Forward Slash 19 there. I've listed out all of these and included the fake Q questions and those prompts for the conversation. And those prompts for the coffee conversation and the mission method. Again, that's inside the square. Forward slash podcast. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Think Inside the Square. I hope you loved it and found it useful and inspirational. I have a lot more tips and tricks to share with you about making an amazing Squarespace website that's uniquely yours. So be sure to subscribe to this podcast wherever you happen to be listening to this episode. Thanks again for listening and most importantly, have fun with your Squarespace website Bye for now. Thanks again for listening. And most importantly, have fun with your Squarespace website. Bye for now. Hey, you. You still here? Sweet. I've got a favor to ask. I'm still new to this whole podcast thing, but I've heard that reviews are pretty crucial to getting my content in front of new people who need it. So can you do me a favor and leave me a review? You can click five stars and Spotify or say a nice thing or two in iTunes. Wherever you're listening, let me know if you like what I'm sharing so others can find it too. Thanks for your support. Bye for now.
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1. Who are you?
Tell the story of how your business started and the people behind it. Share some quirky or interesting personal tidbits to connect on a human level.
2. What do you do?
Explain what you offer in simple terms, as if you were explaining it to a friend. Keep it light and conversational.
3. Why are you obsessed with your solution/industry?
Express your passion for what you do. Share what excites you about your offerings and how they can brighten someone's day.
4. What makes you so special?
Highlight what makes your company unique, but do it with a bit of humor or a personal touch. No overcomplicated tech jargon allowed! I like to encourage the more causal brands i work with to include a cute personal touch here, like one their office dogs quirks or their not-so-low-key obsession with X-files reruns.
Highlight some heartwarming or funny stories from your customers or clients. It's like sharing a good story with a friend.
5. How can people reach out and say hello?
Share your contact info and encourage people to reach out, whether it's to ask a question, share a joke, or just chat about common interests.
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What was your first sale like? Do you remember the product/service or the customer?
When did you first have confidence in this as a business?
What was the best customer/client interaction you’ve ever had?
Do you have plans to do things differently in the next 6 months? What about the next year?
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Clearly define your purpose, values, and goals. Explain why your business exists and how it can benefit your visitors. Here are some tips for making this connect:
Keep it concise and to the point, focusing on what sets you apart.
Use a combination of text, images, and infographics to visually represent your mission.
Include a call to action that guides visitors on how to get involved or support your cause.
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More about the X-Files on IMDB: imdb.com/title/tt0106179/
Free training on CSS Basics for Squarespace: insidethesquare.co/learn
