15 Things you must include in your About-Page

You have written or are planning to write an about page, but What are the things you should never miss while writing an about page? So, here's a list of thinks you should never miss out.

An about page, is one of the most important pages in  any website, It is this about page which leads the visitors to believe you're an authority on the topic and this about page converts call to action.

Thus you must not treat an About-Page as a normal blog post, but as a carefully written article which will remain on your website for years to come. But first you must determine which category do you fall into, so that you know which things are the most important in your case.

The complete article is divided into three categories

Red topics are the most important

Yellow topics are subject to the blog type (i.e. corporate blog, personal blog etc.) 

Green topics can be done without, but including them would add extra value to an about page.

So here it goes,

Your name – The author name for a blog is just as important as the blog’s name in on the landing page. For a community blog or a corporate blog with number of authors, it is good to add each and everyone’s name so that they feel important and the reader finds a sense of trust, thinking ‘I know the author so I’m sure the content is authentic.’

Social circles – Be sure to inform the visitors about your social circles and where will you be available. Facebook and twitter being some of the most popular ones, you can even think out of the box with other services. The user once in your social circle will become loyal and will come even more regularly. In short, it is a nice place to garner likes and followers.

Update Regularly – Just as it is evident, search engines always look for new content and would preffer pages with new and updated content. Regarding you, since an about page is a story of you and since time does not stops, you should be kind enough to update your about page with the latest activities and milestones in your life(only if you’re a timeliner).

Include links and buttons – You do not just want people to read your about page, you want them to explore and discover about you. So provide external links as well as internal links on your page. Give your users incentives to explore and learn. Also never forget the contact us button.

Include Photos – An about page is in many ways just another article which mainly deals with you and your creation. To captivate your readers and make them read the page, you must include multimedia and what better place is there to start other than an image?

Overachievers arrange yourself - An overachiever will have every reason to fill his about space with loads of achievements and accolades, but just as Mahatma Gandhi said ‘Not to have control over the senses is like sailing in a rudderless ship, bound to break to pieces on coming in contact with the very first rock.’ So control yourself, because by mentioning everything, instead of impressing the visitors, psychologically you’re giving them inferiority complexes.

What do the reader wants – If you’re from a different field like me, writing about an entirely different field. Then do not make the mistake of including everything. The writer came to listen to the story of you and you creation only. Do not bore them with unnecessary details (read more) and never boast your PageRank.

Location helps – Though it is of relatively low importance for a content based blog to include a location for the author, the location of the service is of prime importance for a corporate website. It will go a long way in solving customer problems to find your address. So add a location through google maps or through text, if it helps your page.

Education – Many veterans usually prefer to include their educational and academic background in the article. The point is a good addition as it stirs up authority in the eyes of the visitors. But like everything this too has limitations, you must have some academics to talk about or else there will be a non-related statement dangling around in mid-air.

What am I good at? – Though blatant display one’s strengths is a misuse of web space for boasting your talents, a well written about page will always tell about the strengths/skill set of the author in a subtle way. You should tell the people about your skills; after all it’s your page.

Honesty is the best policy – It goes around without much saying but, users can normally pick out a lie. Though not consciously but subconsciously and so you lose some trust and thereby loyalty. But who’s stopping you to bend some facts.

Keep it under limit – Again you must remember, it’s not an autobiography, it’s a page which talks about you and your creations only. So keep it short, so that the reader can get on with their lives and not get stuck to your page learning about your life history.

Just an about page – Several people want to show off their talents, writing themselves as practically supermen. They use hyperbole adjectives like best, cutting Edge, world class, awesome etc. We all believe you’re awesome, but do you have facts? Just an extension of the previous topic, ‘A half-truth is still a lie’.

Try different multimedia – An image might be equal to a thousand words, but it is not the only thing equal. You can try using music or video to look original and a tad different.

Make up your mind – certain personal and professional blogs are written in first person (like Jeff Attwood). Also some are written in third person(like Amit Agrawal). But one of the characteristics of a wrongly written about page is, unsure person. The writer vacillates between first person and third person which is obviously not good.

This was a list on,