I guarantee that readers will visit your about page as soon as they get to your site or finish reading whatever got them there in the first place. We want to know more about who we are reading; it helps with getting their trust. So having a well-crafted about page is super important.
What To Call It
I’ve seen some bloggers suggest calling it something other than “About”, such as “New? Start Here!” or some variant of that. Now, this is totally subjective, but I say to just call it about because then I know where I am going and know what to look for when I want to learn more. About is also a more common term, so it will cross different audience groups easier for understanding what that page is about.
Put It In The Sidebar
If you have a sidebar on your blog, I definitely recommend adding a quick about snapshot at the top of it. Include a photo of yourself (if you are okay with that being public) and a quick snippet of information about you and then link to your about page for readers to get the more detailed info. Since sidebars are usually on every page of your blog, this snapshot will be too and attach a face to the content.
Talk About You, Not Just Your Blog
The about page is not just telling us what your blog is about and what your goals are with it, although those should definitely be included. You should also talk about yourself as a person, it helps to be authentic when all we can see is what’s on our desktop. It doesn’t have to be a huge paragraph telling us your highest education level and the names of all of your pets, but just a quick look at who you are. Talk about your passions, interests, and hobbies outside of blogging.
Tell Us Why You Are Blogging
Another thing I think is a must to have on your about page is an explanation of why you are blogging. This really goes for any form of content creation. It’s nice to be able to connect the person to why they are doing something, especially when it is a passion.
An example of this would be:
I started this blog in 2015 as a place to be openly geeky about the things I love, and I hope you come here and enjoy being a geek too. The world is more fun when you can openly geek out about things.
Yep, that is the why section of my about page here on A Geek Girl’s Guide. It’s ok to keep it short and sweet, and most readers will probably prefer it that way.
Disclaimers
On my about pages, I include the opinion disclaimer, which is pretty much clarifying that I am writing my own experiences and opinions, not facts. It helps protect myself from trolls, but also gives me the freedom to say what I actually want to say. This is also an opportunity to link to terms of use and privacy policy pages for your site, which you should definitely have.
Link It Up
The about page is a great place to link both within your blog and outside of it. I have a list of my guest posting appearances listed on there, as well as linking to my work with me page for brands and others looking to do so. Your about page is a good hub to use to link up other pages you want people to see, as well as different posts. Promote yourself in various ways through links.
What do you include in your about page? Share with a comment below.
Good advice! I need to update mine, it hasn’t really been updated since I started the blog!
This is one thing I’m trying to draft again so I can update it. You are right, it’s so hard to talk about yourself but I will be keeping g these tips in mind! Thanks for these tips.