The About page is one of the most visited pages on a small business website, and one of the most consistently misused. The typical version reads like a CV or a company history — a timeline of credentials, a list of achievements, a paragraph about the founding story. All of it is about the business. Almost none of it is about the client reading it.
This is the fundamental mistake. The About page is not primarily about you. It is about whether the person reading it believes you are the right choice for them. That is a subtle but important distinction — and once you understand it, rewriting an About page becomes much more straightforward.
The biggest mistake small businesses make on their About page
Most About pages start with the business: when it was founded, who the founder is, what qualifications they have. The implicit message is: "here is why we are impressive." But a potential client does not yet care whether you are impressive. They care whether you understand their situation.
The business owner who starts their About page with "I help residential interior designers attract premium clients through clearer positioning and better digital presence" is more likely to get an enquiry than the one who starts with "With over ten years of experience in the design industry, our award-winning team..."
The first one makes the reader feel immediately seen. The second one makes them feel like they've landed on a professional bio they weren't looking for.
What an About page is actually for
"People don't hire your credentials — they hire their confidence in you. The About page's job is to build that confidence, not display your CV."
A potential client reading your About page is asking a specific set of questions, whether consciously or not: Does this person understand my situation? Have they done this before? Is there evidence it worked? Do I feel like I can trust them? Will working with them feel right?
Your About page needs to answer all of those questions — ideally in under 500 words, without feeling like a checklist.
The four elements of an About page that builds real trust
- Start with them, not you. The first sentence of your About page should name who you serve or the problem you solve. "If you're a service business that does great work but struggles to communicate its value online — this is for you." Before the reader hears anything about you, they know this page is relevant to them.
- Your relevant background — focused and specific. Not every qualification or piece of experience. The parts that make you specifically credible for the client in front of you. A web designer who has rebuilt brands for ten service businesses has more relevant credibility than one who has "worked across multiple industries." Specific beats general.
- A proof point that makes it real. One specific result, ideally with a name and a number. Not a vague testimonial — something concrete that demonstrates the work produces outcomes. "After working together, Interior Elina saw 340% more enquiries within 90 days." That one sentence does more work than a paragraph of credentials.
- A human element that creates connection. Something genuine about who you are — not a rehearsed brand statement. Where you are from. What drives you. What makes you see this work the way you do. Authenticity builds trust in a way that professionalism alone cannot. Clients hire people they want to work with, not just people who are qualified.
How to write your story without making it about you
The personal story on an About page should always connect back to the client. The story of how you came to do this work is interesting to a potential client only if it explains something about why you are better at helping them than someone who took a more conventional path.
The question to ask while writing is: "why does this matter to the person reading it?" If the answer is unclear, cut it or reframe it so the relevance is explicit.
Remove from your About page: awards that don't demonstrate client outcomes, a list of past employers that aren't recognisable to your ideal client, jargon about your methodology, and anything that makes you sound like a company rather than a person.
Keep: your name, where you are, what specifically you do, who you do it for, evidence that it works, and why you care about this work. That is enough. In most cases, it is more than enough.
If you want to see this done well, read the About page on this site. And if you want help rebuilding yours — as part of a full website project that includes the strategy, the copywriting, and the design — that is what we do.
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