Everyone clicks on the About page. Don’t you? That’s how I realized that About pages are not all the same, and some are way better than others. But what makes a good one, and how do we go about getting ours to be effective?

The Most Important Page on Your Website

If you’re anything like me, there’s nothing worse than browsing through a photographer’s website filled with images we like, and then ending up on a long and boring About page, usually devoid of images (‘cuz we don’t like to be photographed — that’s why we’re photographers, right?) and written in a font too small, rambling on about which photography school they went to, how many children and pets they have, and how much they’re addicted to coffee, seafood and Scottish landscapes.

boy, lego airplane

While some of these things could potentially be good when purposefully included into our brand (we’ll get into that in another article), on the typical About page we find way too much information that’s absolutely useless to the client who’s trying to figure out whether you are the right person they’re looking for, the one to solve their problem.

Because that’s where prospective clients go to see who you are and to decide if you’re a good fit for them, your About Page has the potential to make or break your business: What you say, or don’t say, will have an impact on how your website converts visits to enquiries that can then turn into customers. And if you bore them to tears with stories of the love of your life and don’t provide them with some practical and useful info on why they should choose you over someone else, you’re wasting your website space and their time, and losing clients in the process.

Convince Your Customers of the Value You Can Provide, and How You Can Solve Their Problems

Your About Page should be designed to convince your customers of the value you can provide for them and how you can solve their problems. It’s also an important place to show what makes you different from your competition, strengthen your brand, and find points of connection with new customers.

The things that will resonate with your customers have to be included on your About page. It’s not just a little introduction about you, but should rather answer the question, “what is it about me that is of real interest to my clients?”

dog, black dog, pug

It needs to be informative, engaging, and have a clear call to action at the end. This is where your clients think, “I want to know this person, and I want to know more about what they do,” and act upon it to contact you.

So shoot back to your About Page and be merciless: If this was someone else’s, would it get a pass from you, a potential client? Does it make you want to know this person? Does it convey their expertise, work ethics, character, “joie de vivre” (fancy term for someone who is fun to be with), and most of all, does it make you feel like you want to know YOU?

If the answer is not a resounding YES, then go back to the drawing board. Rope in random friends if you feel you can’t give impartial judgment, and tell them to be merciless as well. Hack away at everything that is not relevant to a potential client. And keep your text short and crisp and light and flowing.

Now go back to my page and see how much I’m addicted to tea! Oh, wait — I took that out.

To Sum it Up

It’s Not About You!

Your experience and story needs to be in a couple of short paragraphs at the most. Nobody really cares about an extensive awards list, or which university you went to. What a client wants to hear is what you can do for them.

So ask yourself: What is it about me, that I do or that I am, that is of interest to my clients? For example, you might like posing (or not), or love Black and White (or playing with color). You might enjoy showing your beauty, everyday life, pets, etc.

ALWAYS add a good picture of yourself. Smiling, serious, shooting — whatever you like as long as it really represents you. Show your pretty face! You can also use this page to write more info about your sessions or frequently asked questions. Keep them scrolling!