Hey there and welcome back!
So in this series on an anatomy of a website, we’ve talked about the header and we’ve talked about the footer and last time out we talked about the homepage. Today we’re going to talk more in depth about the about and contact pages that you probably should have on your website.
Before we get started, if you want to see the rest of this series or more videos on web design, WordPress, ecommerce, digital marketing and other website related topics, be sure to hit the subscribe button and to ring the bell for notifications.
Now let’s get started.
What is the about page?
So the about page is basically the bio for you or your business. It tells the story about how you came to run this business or how this business exists in the first place. Talk about how and why you wanted to do this. It’s your chance to tell your story to the world.
Also, it can be a great opportunity to connect with that potential customer or client and tell them about how you are different from other companies in your industry. Maybe you can show how you had a similar problem and were able to figure out the solution to that problem and want to help other people who have that problem as well. That might give you a leg up on your competition.
Again, it’s the best chance that you have to tell your story to the world.
What is the contact page?
The contact page is, well, the place people are going to go if they want to get in contact with you if they want to ask a question or leave a comment or something like that. Let’s face it, people probably aren’t going to buy something without first asking a few questions, especially if they’re looking to buy an expensive product or a service. Or they might use this page if they run into any issues.
Typically, this page has an email address and/or phone number to contact someone in the business. There also might be a form that people can submit that also sends an email to the contact person in the business. And some pages might have both.
It doesn’t have to be elaborate or fancy. Just something that works for you and the user.
Why are these pages so important?
So why exactly are these pages so important for your website anyway?
Well, the about page, as I mentioned, is your chance to tell your story. It’s your chance to connect with the potential customer or client on a personal level. You can use your bio to pull at their heart strings and to show how you really, really want to help them with whatever problem that they have.
Something that smaller businesses can do better than a bigger company is connect with a potential customer or client in a more personal way. So really use this page as an opportunity to do just that and make yourself stand out from the rest of the crowd.
On the other side, the contact page is basically how people are going to get in touch with you. As I mentioned before, people are likely going to have questions before they buy a product or service. Making sure that they have a really quick and easy way to get in contact with you is a really good idea.
Having this is important because if they can’t find a way to ask you a question or leave a comment or something like that, they’re probably just going to leave and go somewhere else.
Elements of these pages
So what makes up an about page or a contact page?
Well first on the about page, you have the bio. You want to have your story on your about page. There’s no real formula or set way to create an about page. Just make sure that your story makes sense, has no grammar or spelling issues and is inviting to the user. Again, this is your chance to make about as personal a connection with the user as you can online.
Next, you can also have a photo of yourself or your team on the page. This can help put a face with the business, and again can help create a personal connection with the user. Just make sure that any photos have a defined purpose on the page and don’t slow down the page load time.
Moving on to the contact page, this one is pretty obvious, but you should have your contact information on the contact page. You can choose whether you put your phone number on the page. If you’re a freelancer or don’t have a business phone, I recommend not putting it there, lest you get even more spam calls.
Also, a good way to keep some of your contact info private is to just have a contact form. This form can email you submissions and then you can reply to the person from that without placing your contact info for everyone to see. If you use a CMS, adding a contact form should not be too challenging.
Finally, while not a requirement, you might want to have links to your social media profiles so that people can find you and stay connected on platforms that they might check every day. As long as they aren’t obnoxious, they can’t hurt being on the page.
What makes for a good about page?
So what will make for a good about page?
Well for starters, you need to make sure that you have a good story that really connects with the users. Make sure that everything you talk about is relevant. You don’t need to start from the very beginning of your life, thank you very much. Also make sure that the story you tell relates to the user or prospective client or customer.
Next, you’ll want to have good photography and images that really show off your business and help tell the story. You don’t need to have a ton of images; one or two should do the trick.
And finally a call to action of some type, whether it’s a newsletter sign up, a button to go to the next page or something else, is a really good idea to have on this page. That way they have a really good idea of where they should go next.
What makes for a good contact page?
Meanwhile, for your contact page it’s pretty simple.
First, make sure you have your up-to-date contact information plainly visible on the page. If you don’t want to put your personal phone number because you don’t have a business phone, you don’t have to do so. But make sure that other contact information is visible.
Also, if you decide to place a contact form there, make sure that the form is actually working and sending you notifications. You also might want to specify how long it might take you to get back to them, usually within about 24 hours.
Finally, I think it is a pretty good idea to have some of your social media profile links in the contact page, especially if you’re a business. That way it’s easy for them to stay in touch with your business.
What makes for bad pages?
Well, for starters, not having either page, especially the contact page, on your website is a really, really bad idea. If you can’t give someone a way to contact you, they’re just going to leave your business.
In that same vein, having no contact info on your contact page, which first off why would you do that, is also not ideal. Also in that same line of thought, having outdated information or a broken contact form is also not ideal. At that point you might as well not have a contact page.
For the about page, having a lot of grammatical or spelling errors can really hurt your credibility. It might not hurt a ton, but every little bit does kind of hurt, and that can really matter when you’re trying to optimize for conversions. Also, if your about page content is all about you, you, you, you and not how you can help the customer, you might come off as self-absorbed. And finally, having bad quality images, like images that are blurry or pixelated, as well as images that are way too big and slow down the page load time is a bad look for your website as well.
How can you apply it to your website?
So how can you take what you’ve learned here today and apply it to your website?
Well first, take a look through your about page. Read through it as if you’re a first time visitor to the website. Does it make sense to you? Do you feel like this person can help solve your problem? Does it also mention your city or service area for SEO? If not, you might want to think about rewriting it so that it does those things. Also, get your friends and family to read through it and give you critical feedback as well.
You can also think about adding photos of yourself or your business to help break up the text as well. Just make sure that each photo has a purpose on the page and that you’re not just throwing up a bunch of images on the page for the fun of it.
And this also goes without saying, but proofread your bio page, and every other page on your website as well. There shouldn’t be any typos on this page.
On the contact page, make sure that your contact information is up-to-date as well. Also, if you have a contact form, take some time today, right now, to test it out and make sure that it’s working. Also make sure that it is sending email notifications to your website.
Like everything on your website, take some time to go through those pages and make sure that they are working and that they’re really helping the customer or client know who you are or get in touch with you so that it’s helping your website and ultimately your business.
Outro
So that’s it for today. What questions do you have about about pages, contact pages or the website in general? Or is there an about or contact page that you just love? Or even leave a link to your about or contact page to show it off. Be sure to leave them all down in the comments section below.
If you’re in the market for a new or first website for your business, I would love to help you get started and create a website to get your business online relatively quickly and for a price that should fit your budget. Check out the link in the description for more information and to sign up for a free one-hour consultation.
Next week we’ll be going over the blogging pages as well as the ecommerce pages if you have an online store on your website.
To see those videos and more videos on ecommerce, web design, WordPress, digital marketing and other website related topics, be sure to hit the subscribe button and to ring the bell for notifications.
Until next time, I wish you and your business the best of luck!
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