"Should I buy this company's product or service?" "Is this organization reputable?" To answer those questions, you naturally click to the About Us web page. But once there, it is likely that you won't find useful answers and information. In his September 29th Alertbox newsletter, usability guru Jakob Nielsen summarizes his About Us page research. In the past five years, users' ability to find out what the company or organization does has actually dropped from 90% to 81%.
“Companies and organizations still can’t explain what they do in one paragraph,” Nielsen says. As an example he cites this About Us summary: X Corporation provides highly specialized services to businesses of all types throughout North America. As one tester remarked, “I still don’t know what they do.”
Think Elevator Speech
Why do organizations write what
Nielsen terms “marketese and blah-blah text?” One reason is that writing a
short concise summary is hard to do. Writing your About Us summary is
similar to developing your elevator pitch: how you’d explain your
company to a potential client or financial backer who gets on at the
6th floor. In both your elevator speech and your About Us summary, you
want to distill your organization’s essence--clearly explain what
you sell or do and how it benefits your customers. And you want to do
it quickly, before your reader clicks off or your elevator captive
flees once the doors open on the ground floor.
Start with Now
Instead
of opening with a powerful what-we-do summary, many organizations
default to history. (Founded in 1986. . . . In 1992, our company . . . .) Your
history is useful, but it belongs in a subparagraph or subpage. First
up, your readers want to know what you can do for them right now.
Be Specific and Concrete
Let’s go back to the vague and unhelpful About Us summary that Nielsen cited. X Corporation provides highly specialized services to businesses of all types. Substitute specific examples for highly specialized services and actual clients for businesses of all types, and you’ve got the backbone of a successful About Us:
X Corporation provides translators in 30 languages to organizations such as IBM, eBay, and Citibank.
Remember That About Us Is About the Reader
Yes, the About
Us page is your opportunity to tell readers who you are. But frame
that information as a reader (potential client) benefit. Here’s a benefits
sentence to add to Corporation X’s About Us:
Our quick and accurate translations enable you to overcome language barriers and sell your products worldwide.
Combine the two sentences and you’ve got an About Us that tells readers who you are and why that matters to them:
X Corporation provides translators in 30 languages to organizations such as IBM, eBay and Citibank. Our quick and accurate translations enable you to overcome language barriers and sell your product worldwide.
Choose Each Word Carefully
So, you’re almost there. But
before you publish your About Us, made sure it uses plain, simple
language. Be judicious in your use of superlatives. (Translators is simple; world’s best translators is marketese.) Use words your readers understand. (Overcome language barriers is clear; transcend marketing obstacles caused by language disparities is obtuse.)
Your Thoughts on About Us Pages
Have you found examples of well-written and helpful About Us pages? Do you have any tips on writing them or suggestions about content? Please share your examples and thoughts with us!
---Marilynne Rudick
How weird.
I have a small translation and editing company and today finally started re-writing my web site. I came to your blog today via Luisa Carrada's "Mestiere di Scrivere" blog (Luisa is an Italian business writer).
I spent much of this afternoon mulling over my own "About us" page, so was amazed to find this post on my very first visit to your site. Serendipity.
PS I do subscribe to Jakob Nielsen's newsletters, but I've been busy recently and they've been piling up in my inbox.
Posted by: Marian D | October 21, 2008 at 06:09 PM