How to write a kick-ass about page for your ecommerce website
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Your about page on your e-commerce website is prime real estate to capture your customer’s attention and let them know more about your brand. Much of your success nowadays is tied to your story and how well people know the brand (or the people behind the brand) because of our need for connection and trust. So what better way to layer on that trust, than to write a kick-ass about page that communicates your brand’s value and personality?
How to write a kick-ass About page for your ecommerce website
When you’re first setting up your e-commerce store or website, your main priority is getting your products online so that people can buy from you, but how much time have you spent thinking about writing yourself an effective page for your store?
The about page is one of the most visited pages on any website, especially for new visitors to your website. They want to know more about you, your brand and your products, mainly so they know why they should trust you and your products – even though this might not be a conscious thought as they navigate your site.
So how do you capture their attention to effectively get them to know, like and trust you so they buy from you?
Let’s look at what you should or can include on your e-commerce store’s “about” page to build a deeper connection with your readers.
7 elements to include on your e-commerce about page
1. Your why or mission
You’ll have no doubt started your business for some reason. And even if your purpose or reason is to make money, they’ll be more to it than that (I can guarantee it). Your products whether you make them yourself or source them from somewhere else will have a special meaning to you, so share what that is.
Your customers want to know why you create the products you do. For most ecommerce stores the “why” will be tied greatly to the results that the product gives their customers. Even if you think your product doesn’t give specific results, it will have a benefit to the user in some way, whether that’s entertainment, saving time, making life easier etc.
Use this why/ mission element to share your passion and showcase why it all matters in the grand scheme of things.
2. Core values or philosophy
You or your brand will have something that you believe in when it comes to your products. It might be the manner in which it’s made… for example you may be vegan and your core value is kindness… you’ll want to showcase this in your about page so that customers with the same values can identify themselves in your brand – which makes for loyal customers.
3. Origin story
Everyone loves a story, especially one that follows the hero’s journey! And an origin story makes for riveting attention. If your customers share the same values as you and your brand, they’ll want to know more about how your products came to life.
Often business owners want to hide behind their storefronts and not get personal. That’s perfectly fine if you don’t want to get too detailed, but your customers will be die-hard loyal fans if they can connect with your story of how you started your business or how your products were brought to life. If you have overcome challenges, then that makes for a gripping tale too. Human beings are curious souls and we like to know what we’re buying. Not only about the product but about the history and evolution of the brand or product too.
Take some time to feel into what you’re comfortable sharing and write out your story. Once you have the narrative refined, then it’s always good to pare it down to the basics so that your customers don’t have to read a novel. Ask the question – why does this matter to my customer so you can edit out the irrelevant pieces.
4. What makes you, your brand or your products unique?
This is one of the things that’s really important to refine before you even set up your store – knowing what makes your brand stand out from all the others on the market… because that’s how you can position yourself ahead of your competition. You can do this by niching down to a specific market, or highlighting a unique feature of your brand or products.
For example, one client of mine produces skincare products for sensitive skin, but we were trying to dig deeper to understand what that really meant for her customers. In the end we realised that her products were perfect for skin types that were reactive to other products. Yes they can be sensitive, but also people with a variety of skin types can also have bad reactions too, even if they don’t consider their skin to be sensitive.
What makes you and your products different from the rest is something that can be highlighted throughout your website copy, but it’s important to hone in on this on the about page so that customers get a full picture of why they can trust in your brand.
5. Behind the curtain
Going back to sharing personal details, you may want to highlight you and your team on your about page. Putting a face to a brand or a product is like seeing the Wizard behind the curtain in the Emerald City. It’s like a peek back-stage to see what’s going on and having a section where you highlight you and/ or your team can bring trust to the relationship with your reader or website visitor.
This doesn’t have to be a huge section, a photo with some details specific about the person is all that’s needed. Throw in some personality and you’ve got yourself a winning section on your about page.
Stuck for ideas about what to share in your team bios? Why not add some quirkiness by stating their favourite icecream flavour, their astrology sign or something else that’s unique to them that also connects with your brand.
6. Proof
There’s nothing like a bit of proof to tip a person over the edge of being a fence sitter in the buying process to them clicking the add to cart button and adding their credit card details.
And there’s no better way to do this than showcase some of your customers testimonials. Your customers' feedback on your products are vital to a new customer’s buying decision, so make sure you have a process in place to regularly collect customer testimonials, either by using a quarterly feedback survey or even an automated post-purchase email.
Once you’ve collected testimonials, make sure to pare them back to the essential points of the problem they had, how your products solved their problem and what their life is like now so it creates a mini story or journey for your reader and shows them what’s possible for them too.
7. What next?
Of course at the end of a website page, you don’t want to leave your reader in limbo, you’ll need to direct them to do something next. So what’s your call-to-action? By telling your reader what you’d like them to do next, you're essentially leading them on a journey through your website.
Do you want them to sign up to your email list to get a discount code or free delivery? Do you want to browse your store by giving them a selection of products they can learn more about? Decide what is the next logical step for your reader and make it easy for them!
3 other things to consider for your e-commerce about page
1. Positioning
By this I don’t mean the usual positioning we think of when it comes to marketing but how do you talk about yourself, or your brand? Are you talking as an “I” or a “we” or as a brand entity? You need to be super clear on this so that you can make it consistent across the board.
If you are a one-person business then you might want to refer to your brand in the first person so that people get to know who you are and feel more connected to you and your products. However, you don’t have to make your business a personal brand if you don’t want to.
If you have a team of people working with you, or you want to position yourself as a brand entity, you might want to go with “we” since you’re giving life to the collective or the brand as a personality in itself.
2. Personality
As mentioned above, you may want to consider what personality your brand has. If you are going for a more personal brand where you are the star of the show then obviously the personality of the brand will be similar to your personality. However, you can curate more personality that fits your products and brand so that you’re attracting your ideal customer. (If you want to know how to add Personality to your copy, take a peek at this!).
3. Products
Does your brand have a flagship product or do your offer ranges? Consider how these might impact what you want to convey on your about page. Having one flagship product may mean your positioning and personality (as above) have a different tone because all roads lead to Rome – which means all steps in your viewers journey will be to get them to add your product to their cart. So perhaps each of the 7 elements listed above include your product in some way.
Do you need ALL these elements on your about page?
Not necessarily, but if you do include all of these elements, you’ll have laid the foundations for customers who are well on their way in the buying journey. Which is essentially what you want - because the more people buying your products, the bigger difference your products can make in this world.
If you have any questions relating to your e-commerce website’s about page, then go to the contact page here and fill out the form to send me a message.