Website housekeeping in lockdown: tips for optimising your About Us page

Website housekeeping in lockdown

If you’re a business that’s struggling through the Covid-19 lockdown (who isn’t?) then you may be in the unfortunate position where you are considering redundancies. The marketing and communications function is sadly often the first casualty of a crisis. I personally think it’s often short sighted that these roles go first as it could be argued that top notch, effective marketing and messaging is EXACTLY what a business needs right now to remain at the forefront of customers minds.

Finding ways to keep your marketing moving through dire times is hard, but there is always something you can do to keep momentum going until we’re out the other side.

Basic website housekeeping

Now is the time for some basic marketing housekeeping at the very least. The jobs that so often get pushed to the bottom of the list can now be prioritised.

Content audits to find gaps, reformatting and amending copy and updating your SEO are all worthwhile jobs to be doing right now. It’s time to dust off, amend and optimise your pages so they show you at your best.

Whilst the doors may be closed, you want to make sure that both your customers and Google don’t forget about you. When things open up again, you don’t want to find you’ve lost your top ranking to someone who kept going. You need to be ready and raring to go.

One key area that is often overlooked? Your website’s ‘About Us’ page. This is a key landing page and a heavily visited page which can convert traffic into leads.

Why is a well written About Us page important?

· An effective 'About Us' page sets you apart from your competitors – you might sell similar products or services but the story of how you came to be will be unique.

· It captures attention and drives leads.

· It shows you are a human being/run by human beings and brings your personality to life. People do business with people.

Five tips for optimising your 'About Us' Page

1. Tone of voice

Consistency in tone of voice across your entire site is important, but an 'About Us' page gives you an opportunity to let your brand personality shine a little brighter. A well written 'About Us' page should be accessible and clear, friendly and approachable.

2. Build trust

An effective 'About Us' page is one that creates and builds trust. By illustrating your expertise, being clear on your reason for being and showing customers what makes you different from your competitors, you will help cement your relationship. Consider using testimonials as pull quotes to illustrate this.

3. Be concise.

Summarize your journey – we don’t need your complete history. Remember you’re not writing this page for you, it’s for your customer. Always lead with the ‘benefit’ and talk to your customers, not at them.

4. Check your SEO

Update your meta titles and descriptions, check all your images have alt tags and don’t forget to format this page. Succinct and snappy paragraphs, subheadings and bullets will help break up longer sections of text making it easier to skim, for both your customers and Google.

5. Give direction

Lastly make sure there is a clear call to action – we’re not talking about a hard sell here, but a well written and formatted 'About Us' page can convince a potential customer to take the next step. So tell them what that next step is.

Prepare for the future

Whilst things are a little quieter for you right now, you have the time to prepare for the future. A well crafted, optimised ‘About Us’ page is important for the success of your website, so don’t disregard it. Take this time to really understand your audience and make changes to the things you’ve been putting off, so you are in a strong position when business returns.

Need some help?

If you need help with copy for any of your landing pages, product descriptions or email messaging, get in touch with ellie@elliejanecomms.co.uk. I'd be happy to help you optimise your pages so they are showing you in your best light.