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I've been working with a company this month doing blogger outreach for a project. Part of my job is to vet blogs and determine their audience, their traffic, and whether they're a good fit for this particular project. Having spent several hours reviewing blogs in several markets, I've come to a conclusion: We all need to work on our About pages.
What is an About page?
Your About page is a page that explains who you are, what your blog is about, and how to contact you. If someone is new to your blog, they'll most likely click on your About page to find out more information. Likewise, if you're passing out business cards at an event or conference, when people return home and check out your blog, they'll likely click on your About page first just to get a feel for who you are.
These days a blogger can't ignore her About page. It's your online resume of sorts; your virtual "How do you do?" Whether you're using your blog as a way to attract PR and marketers, a resource for your new book, a way to attract publishers, or just as a hello to new visitors, you need to put some time and effort into this page.
Lani Rosales writes a blog aimed at realtors, AgentGenius.com, and has written an article with an example of a bad About page (generic and unpersonal) and then offers a few examples of better About pages (really focusing on the "you" of the blog). Her examples cut across niches and are relevant to all blogs. She explains why About pages are so important:
"A frequent offense we witness with bloggers is an outdated, useless, lame or ugly “about” page. When people visit websites, a shortcut for their getting to know you is to click on your “about” button, so this is your opportunity to capture them. Your about page needs to be catchy and capture the essence of who you or your company is, it should contain some sort of contact information and it should be like a handshake at a party with a quick introduction as to who you are and what you do."
What should a basic About page include?
Don't groan and tell me you don't know what to write about yourself. I'm not buying it. You just wrote an entire blog about yourself; now we just have to pare it down a bit.
- A picture of yourself. Including a picture helps your readers connect with you on a more personal level.
- An overview of what your blog is about. Share your elevator pitch (the short explanation of what your blog is about) and then expand the explanation. This is the perfect opportunity for you to explain why you're different from the other bloggers who write in your niche. What makes you special?
- Contact information. People are going to want to know how to contact you. Your e-mail address should be prominently displayed on your sidebar and in your About page. If you're worried about bots harvesting your e-mail and using it for spamming purposes you can make it harder for those bots by using a modified version of it (e.g., melanieDOTnelsonATbloggingbaiscs101DOTcom; most people are well-versed enough by now that they understand the DOTs and AT should be replaced with a period and the @ symbol) or making a graphic with your e-mail address on it (like a button). Including contact information is particularly important if you're hoping to be contacted by marketers wanting you to review their products. Don't bury your e-mail address inside the page either, make it as prominent as you can.
- Interesting information. When writing about yourself, it may be hard to determine what to share and what not to share. Since this decision will largely depend on you, your readers, and the goal of your About page, my advice to you is make it interesting. If it's not interesting or funny, people won't read it.
- Your goals. This can be your goals for your blog, your short- or long-term goals for your life (if it's related to what you blog about), or just the goal of the About page (to introduce yourself or encourage people to contact you or whatever).
What shouldn't your About page include?
Although you want your readers to gain an understanding of who you are and what you're writing about from your About page, you don't want to lay it on too thick. Your About page should be concise. Don't include
- Your list of 100 things. This is a cop-out and is
