32: How to write a killer About Page with the HELLO Framework
Ready to learn about one of the most important marketing assets in your business and brand? It’s one of the most visited pages on your website and it is notoriously difficult to write. I’m talking about the About Page!
In this episode of ill communication, I’m sharing tips on how you can write a killer About Page with the HELLO Framework.
A person’s About Page is where people go to see if someone knows what they’re talking about. We are humans doing business with humans so it’s natural to want to know who we are working with.
An About Page is a mini sales page, which means they are an important part of the customer journey and an important point of conversion or sale, so you’re definitely going to want to spend the time to make it good.
Topics We Cover in This Episode:
Why your About Page is so important for your business
Why customer research is important before you write your About Page
What to include in your bio to help people get to know you
Tips for differentiating yourself from your competitors
How to use the HELLO framework to make your About Page stand out
So there you have it! This framework will help you write a killer About Page that will convince your ideal client to work with you. Remember, it’s a mini sales page so don’t forget to keep your ideal client in mind and help them know, like, and trust you.
Want help writing a killer About Page or the rest of your website? Connect with me to book a call for more information: hello@kimkiel.com.
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Welcome to Ill Communication, Copywriting, Tips and sales strategies for small Business. I'm your host, Kim Keel. I'm a copy coach, sales strategist and direct response copywriter. It's my mission to help women leaders and change makers amplify their voices through copy. It's why I'm dishing out all the juicy tips, writing prompts and sales formulas to help you generate more leads, book more calls, and get more high value clients on repeat. Sounds pretty good. It's time to ditch the overwhelm you might be feeling and find confidence in your copywriting so you can get your message out there and attract more soulmate clients. Let's get started. Hey there. Welcome to episode 32 of the Ill Communication Podcast. Now just a heads up. This is an episode you're going to want to bookmark and save so you can come back to it again and again. Because today we're talking about how to write one of the most important marketing assets you have in your business and brand. It is often the second most visited page on your website just after your home page. And this page is notoriously difficult to write. So whether you're writing or optimizing your website right now or plan to do it sometime this year, you'll want to come back and listen to this episode. So what's the copy I'm talking about? It's your about page. About pages. Rank in the top 2 to 3 most visited pages on your website. We visit about pages to cut to the chase of who this person is and to get proof that this person knows what they're talking about.
Also, we're humans doing business with humans and we want to see who is behind the business. About pages are about you. Yes, but they're also about your reader and helping them decide if you're the best option for them. So here is an important thing to remember. An about page is a mini sales page, which means they are an important part of the customer journey and an important point of conversion or sale. So you want to invest the time and energy into writing a killer about page, but about pages are really freaking hard to write because we just don't know how much we should talk about ourselves versus talking about our audience. And writing about pages are hard, especially for women and others who are socialized to play small and stay quiet and don't take up space. It's actually kind of hard for a lot of us to own our expertise and take up space and talk about ourselves in a way that's confident because a lot of us feel that talking about ourselves may come across as a little egotistical or narcissistic. So as long as you remember that your about page is actually helping your customer make a decision about whether or not you're the best person to solve their problems, that will really, really help you. Customers will only buy from us if they know, like and trust us and about pages. Help our clients decide if they want to work with us and gives them the information they need to take that next step.
So before you write your about page or update it, get prepared, spend a little time gathering some information so that when you do sit down, you can plow through it all in one sitting. Now fun fact your about page isn't just about you, it's actually more about your customer and what they need to know to make a decision about working with you or following you. So before you write your about page, make sure you really know who your ideal client is. Their language, their struggles, their desires. Your about page should answer what's in it for me. And so make sure you go back to your research. And if you haven't done your research, do a little research into your avatar or your client to make sure you have their language and what they're really struggling with at the top of your mind. You also want to know what step you want people to take from your about page when they scroll to the bottom of this page. Where do you want them to go next? Do you want them to visit your services page? Do you want them to click on a link to review some of your case studies? Do you want them to opt in to a freebie? Decide ahead of time what the next step is you want your reader to take. Once she's finished reading your about page, you might also find it's easier for you if you create or review your cheat sheet of awesomeness.
Now, I learned about the cheat sheet of awesomeness from the Copy Hackers agency and I share more about it way back in the episode about writing your bio, so I'll drop a link to that in the show notes. So go back and listen to that. But essentially you want to jot down all the reasons why you're awesome and why you're qualified and why people love you. So list out your accomplishments and credentials and qualifications include client outcomes and data. You can even go back and share your personal backstories, like the time you backpacked solo across Europe, or why you switched your university major multiple times. Think about the times in your personal life where you showed resilience or came through a difficult time because these are clues to your brilliance, your personality, and your secret success sauce. It doesn't mean you're going to share these stories. Probably you will not share a lot of them, but it helps you to remember why you're such a badass. The last thing you want to do to prepare to write your about page is do you have a unique mechanism or a proprietary framework? What is your differentiator? What makes your process different or more effective? What is your secret sauce? For some of us, we have trademarked, we have a proven formula or a framework or a six step process, whatever that is. Make sure you have that on hand because this shows how your unique in the marketplace and why people might want to choose you over anyone else.
Okay, Now that you're armed with all that research about your customers and clients and you've reminded yourself about why you're freaking awesome, now you start writing. And as you know, I love a good framework, but for so many years I couldn't find a great framework for writing an about page. So I created my own. And I've used this about page framework with dozens of my copywriting clients and members of the Joy of Copy Club. What I love about this framework is that it gives you just enough of a roadmap to know what sections to write, but it's super customizable so you can add in your own personal flair and personality to make it your own. So I'm excited to present to you the Hello framework for writing about pages. And the reason why I created the Hello Framework is because you want your reader to be like Renee Zellweger's character in Jerry Maguire. You know when she says, Oh, you had me at Hello. That's how you want people to feel when they've been on your about page. So let's break down the Hello framework. The letters in the Hello framework give you the order of the information on your about page. So these are the different sections you want to have on that page. So here's the order H have a heck yes. Headline E empathize with your reader and show them they're in the right place.
L Lean into your personal story, demonstrate your expertise, show proof, and share your framework. L Lighten up with fun facts, a quiz, quirky FAQs and your personality and oh, leave them with a final offer or a next step. Basically, you want to tell them what to do. So let's break this down further. The very top section of your about page should have a heck yes headline. Don't just say hi, I'm Kim, or about me. That hero and that headline section is prime real estate. So put a lot of effort into crafting a compelling headline there. There's a couple of examples I'll share with you here. So this is where blank discover how to blank without blank. So this is where busy moms discover how to cook healthy meals without blowing the budget. Another formula might be caution. Working with me may cause blank, such as caution working with me may cause you to sell your services faster than Taylor Swift sells out a concert or I help blank do blank so they can blank. So. Hi, I'm Kim. I helped Gen-X business owners like you share your voice so you can change more lives and get paid well to do it. The point here is to write something other than just about me or about brand name. Put a little effort into writing something compelling that makes me want to read more. Now your next section is E Empathize with your reader. Take a couple of brief paragraphs to let your reader know you understand her and her struggles.
This is where you're answering What's in it for me? No need to go too in depth. You're not really pulling off a full sales page here. You just want to show them. You see them. You understand why they're on your site and you know how to help them. The next section. The first is to lean into your personal story. Demonstrate your expertise, show proof, and share your framework. In this section, introduce yourself and share your experience. Tell your story. But you know we don't need to know the whole life story here. Share the bits and pieces of your life that are relevant to your business and the services you provide. For example, if you are a single mom and now you work with single moms, tell your single mom story again. You don't need to go on too long here. You're not writing a memoir, but you are sharing yourself so people can connect with you. Here's where you want to share your secret sauce that makes you the best at what you do. If you have a framework or a special process or any kind of intellectual property that makes you unique. Share it in this section. If you have a visual like a Venn diagram or some other kind of imagery for your proven framework, put it in this section. And next up in the Hello framework is our second. Lighten up with quirky stats, fun facts, or like a mini quiz or something.
Use your own personality and interest for this section. You can list the top ten surprising facts about me. You could share this or that style quiz to get people to engage with your content. If you're a music lover, you could list your top ten favorite albums of all time. If you love travel, think of something about travel. The point is with this section is to allow people to connect with you on a personal level. Let people peek behind the curtain a little. Now, if you have a mission driven business, you could add a brief section here about your mission and values, But be very disciplined about this. You don't need to share your corporate values or mission. And if you do keep it interesting and brief, if you want to go deeper into your mission and values and share your why, create a separate blog post or a podcast episode about it and allow people to click on a link to go there to go a little bit deeper with you. Okay, now we're at the bottom of our Hello framework. Now we're at oh, where you share an offer or the next step you want your reader to take. Do you want your reader to opt in to a freebie? Put that in right here. Do you want your reader to check out your services page or your work with me Page? Drop a little copy and a button so your reader can continue on to that page on your site.
So there you have it. That's the Hello framework for writing your about page. And here's just a couple of final tips, please. For the love of cheese, write your about page in first person. Even if you're a corporate agency, a human being is reading about you. A human being is going to be working likely with another human on the other side of your business. So talk in the first person we started our business. Our team is the best in the biz. Please ditch that wonky third person corporate speak. Always write in first person. Remember to keep your reader in mind. Make sure you're answering what's in it for me? And why is this the best person for me? If you're wondering about whether or not to include a story or a little bit more information, put it back through that lens. Will this help my reader make a decision about working with me or not? You also must sprinkle in social proof and data points throughout. So include local bars about who the clients you work with or about where you've been featured in media. You want to add in some testimonials to back up some of the copy about your story or your secret sauce or effectiveness. And lastly, be patient with yourself. Writing about pages is hard, so using this framework will help you get out of the overthinking and worrying about what to say and actually help you write a better and refreshed about page.
So my friend, now you have the you had me at Hello framework for writing about pages. The letters once again stand for the different sections on the page which are a heck yes headline. Then you empathize with your reader and show her she's in the right place. Then you lean into your personal story and demonstrate your expertise. Lighten up with quirky facts, fun statistics, and show off your personality. And finally, you give them an offer or a next step for your reader to take. Of course, if you don't want to write your about page or the rest of your website, I can totally help you with that. So just reach out to me and we can schedule a quick chat. But in the meantime, I hope you'll use the Hello framework to refresh or write a brand new about Page. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'll see you next time. And that's a wrap on today's episode of Ill Communication. Hey, if you're picking up what I'm putting down, I would love if you would leave a rating and a review to let me know. And don't forget to follow the show so you never miss out on the tips, prompts and strategies I share in every episode. They're designed to make you an ill communicator, too. As always, you can check out all the links and resources from this episode on the web page. Just head over to Kim keil.com/podcast. I'll chat with you again next week.
Resources Mentioned
Review the Cheatsheet of Awesomeness in Episode 2
Additional Resources
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