Your about page is not about you

Most about pages start the same way. A name, a title, a photo, and then several paragraphs about how passionate the business owner is about what they do. Sometimes there’s a list of qualifications. Often there’s a timeline of career highlights. Occasionally there’s a fun fact about loving coffee or owning a dog.

None of this is why someone visited your about page.

Why people actually visit your about page

When someone clicks through to your about page, they’re not there to read your biography. They’re there to answer a specific question: is this the right person for me?
They want to know whether you understand their situation, whether your approach feels like a fit, and whether they can imagine working with you. They’re making a trust decision, and they’re making it quickly.

Your about page has one job: to help them make that decision confidently.

The mistake most about pages make

The most common about page mistake is leading with yourself instead of your reader. Opening with your name, your credentials, or your origin story puts the focus in the wrong place. Your reader doesn’t yet care about your journey. They care about whether you can help them.

This doesn’t mean your story doesn’t belong on your about page. It does. But it belongs after you’ve established that you understand your reader and what they’re looking for. Once someone feels seen and understood, they’re genuinely interested in who you are and how you got here.

What your about page should do instead

A good about page opens by speaking directly to the person you most want to work with. It describes their situation clearly enough that they recognise themselves in it. It explains what you do, how you work, and what makes your approach different — not in a boastful way, but in a specific, honest one.

Then it earns the personal story. By the time your reader gets to the part about your background and experience, they’re already interested. They’re reading it through the lens of someone who has already decided you might be the right fit.

A question worth asking

Read your about page and ask yourself: within the first few sentences, does your reader know that this page is for them? Do they recognise their own situation, their own frustration, or their own goal in what you’ve written?

If not, that’s usually where to start.
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