How to Write A Killer About Page that Will Attract New Followers

By: | April 19, 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , |
Nail Your About Page

If you nail your About page, you can get more blog followers.

Exciting isn’t it?

You receive notification that you have a new follower.  You experience a rush of emotions.  You feel validated, complimented, and like your voice has been heard and acknowledged.  You feel driven to make your new follower’s faith in you well placed.

Other bloggers have the opposite experience when their efforts do not garner them new readership.

There are still others who feel a mixture of confusion when they have both experiences but can not rationally explain why sometimes they get new followers and sometimes they don’t.

This post will explain it.  The key factor rests on the strength of your About page.

When people consider following your blog, they want to know more about you, so they look at your About page.

An About page is a page on your site where new visitors find out about you and what your blog can offer them.  Important elements must be included on this page, so the visitors stay and become followers.  By including those elements, you can convert them.

These are actions you can consciously take to remove the element of luck from whether visitors become followers or leave never to return.

If organic traffic, which  comes from Google searches, sends visitors to your site, you need to be ready with a strong About page.

What to Include on Your About Page to Turn Visitors into Followers

There are eight important criteria for an About page listed in order of importance.

Screenshot About Me

1. A name for the page. 

I’ve been referencing it as your About page, but you don’t have to call it that.  Should you call it that?  As you can see by the screenshot, I didn’t.

What is this page about?  (No pun intended.)

  • Is it about you?  Perhaps you also want to call it About Me.
  • Is it about you and the co-authors of your blog?
  • Is it about you and your business or organization?

The bottom line is–be specific.

2. Reasons people should follow your blog

Ironically, this is the one element, the most important element, bloggers leave off their About page!

There are more than 152 million blogs on the Internet.  Why should busy people read yours?  Start the content on the page by explaining what your blog can do for them.  Will it inform them?  If so, what information will they receive?  Will it entertain them?

Do not worry about appearing spammy or self-promoting here.  This is the place to promote yourself.  You might have seconds that they spend skimming your About page to convince them your blog is worth reading.  This is not the place to mince words.

Screenshot About page

Offer your help to visitors on your About page.

Look at the underlines in the screenshot.  At very top of the page, I tell visitors what they can gain from following my blog.

3. A free item people will get for following your blog.

Since there are over 152 million blogs on the Internet, bloggers offer their readers an incentive for following their blog.  (Did someone say bribe?  Not me.)

It should be something relevant to your topic that they can only get for following your blog.

Bloggers should offer visitors an incentive to follow their blog.

Offer visitors an incentive to follow your blog.

Does this add to your plate when you’re already so busy?  Yes, it does.  How badly do you want new followers?

You do have an option.  You can pay a service like MailChimp $10.00 a month to automatically shoot out your incentive to your new followers.

4. A way for people to follow your blog

Now that you’ve convinced your readers your blog is the place for them, get their Email before they change their mind and leave.

If you self-host, include an opt-in page, so visitors can put in their Email and follow your blog.

If you are like me, and you don’t self-host, your visitors unfortunately will have to take an additional step to sign up.

Mail Chimp

Get the visitor’s Email before they leave your About page.

When visitors click my link, it will take them to Mail Chimp where they can sign up for my blog.  Mail Chimp notifies me when someone has followed me, and I send the new follower my incentive.

If you self-host, where my link is will be your opt-in box.

5. Your name

I read an article about the importance of having your name on the About page.  It sounded like common sense to me, but when I checked, my name wasn’t there!  (It’s there now.)

Visitors want to know you’re a real person.

6. Testimonials

There is a technique used in persuasion called “countering”.  It entails thinking of an objection and telling your audience why they are wrong to have that concern.

If their objection is they have many choices of blogs to read, and they are not sure your blog is the one for them, testimonials will help you counter their concerns.

By using the names of real people and linking back to their sites, visitors know you haven’t made up the testimonials yourself , and they have more confidence in you.

7. A picture

You need a picture, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be a picture of you.

A good friend has devoted his site to promoting his graphic design business.  I would expect he’d have an image of a graphic he’s designed.

If you’re DIY blogger, have a picture of something you’ve made.

I’m toying of replacing my top graphic.  Pinterest is a great source of traffic.  Graphics of people don’t do as well on Pinterest.

8. Information about you

This element is last since it’s the least important part of your About page.

You should include this information because people want to know that you are indeed a real, relatable person.

However, of all the reasons they have to read your articles, that is the last.

I have repeatedly asked in this post why people would choose to read your post over the 150 million others out there.  Is it because you have a dog?

I realize how harsh this sounds.  If you have read my About Me page, you know that I love dogs.

Look, tell your visitors whatever you want, your favorite food, which celebrity you met as a child, your hobbies…  Just put it last.

Overview

The About page is your visitors’ first view of you.  Put your best foot forward, or at least, the best About page you can write.  By including these eight elements and the instructions for incorporating them, you’ll be doing just that.

If you think bloggers and other content creators can benefit from these tips on how to write an effective About page, please share.

Readers, have you checked your stats?  Do many people read your About page?  Have you thought about using Google Adwords to see how many people searched for you?  I’d love to hear your experiences.

 

Source: NeilPatel.com

 

 

 

  1. Island Traveler

    Wise and priceless advice my friend. A must read for any blogger. Personally, I noticed that followers like an About page that they can so relate themselves, something they too go through in life. Also something that comes from the heart and just an extension of who we are. Lots of pictures, a sure winner too. So many readers wants to relate words, especially if there are lots of them with pictures. Makes them feel like they were there, also keeps them very engage. Last but I think is very important, initiate the blogger friendship. Visit their page first, leave comments, share their post, reciprocate…in no time, we will have a community that consistently are there for each other.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi,
      My husband saw your glowing comment this morning, and brought it to my attention. I was so flattered I put the first sentence on my testimonial page and linked back to your site.
      As far as your insightful comments, I completely agree with you. I even wrote a post about it. I had interviewed 19 blogging experts who gave varied responses about the key factor. In response I explained why I feel it is networking. I wrote it before we met. Here is the link if you’d like to read it. http://wp.me/p5jxvv-yr
      Thank you again. Your comment made me feel fantastic. What a nice way to start my Sunday.
      Janice

    • Janice Wald

      Thank you so much. Hopefully if people don’t adopt all the ideas, there’s enough for people to at least modify their About page. Nice meeting you.
      Janice

    • Janice Wald

      My pleasure. Thank you for writing. Thank you as well for the reblog. I wrote you on your site.
      Janice

    • Janice Wald

      Thank you so much for the compliments. I was afraid when I said to put dog loving at the bottom of the About page, people would rebel, LOL. Color me relieved! =).
      Nice meeting you once again this weekend, and again, thank you for following my blog.
      Janice

    • Janice Wald

      Hey Evelyn, (May I call you Evelyn?)
      Thank you so much for the kind words about my blogging tips for the About page. Thank you as well for following my blog. I received notification today. Welcome!
      Janice

  2. lindasblogs

    Oh my gosh, it did it! I updated my About page, added a picture, thanks for the inspiration! Oh, and I love your header picture, the perspective is unique.

    • Janice Wald

      Hey Linda, Girlfriend!
      Thanks for writing me today. I am so glad my post inspired you. You might want to check yesterday’s stats and then compare your stats after you made the change.
      Thank you so much for your compliments on my new theme. That camel that used to be there wasn’t working for me.
      Thanks for writing. Let me know what your stats end up showing, before and after the page was updated.
      Janice

  3. Claire aka Coffeeholic Bookworm

    I realized the importance of this page (About Me) when I noticed the increase in the number of my followers. I’ve received emails asking for more info about me. So I have mine updated a couple of months ago, and so far, so good! From about a hundred readers, now my number of followers have doubled 🙂

    Thanks for this wonderful post. I hope you don’t mind if I share it on my page, too?

    Gracias 🙂

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Claire,
      Do you mean that you want to reblog my post about how to write an About page? Please reblog it. You never have to ask me. I am always excited to have my writing get new exposure. Thank you so much. I am so flattered.
      Janice

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  5. MaryHill

    Thanks for these great tips. Headed to my About Page to put it to use. 😉

  6. Jennifer Burby

    Janice- great suggestions here, I never put a lot of focus into my about me page. I started a lifestyle blog back in January and am new to blogging. I noticed that your About Me focuses on your business and your skill set in helping bloggers to succeed. What suggestions do you have for someone with a lifestyle blog like me whose main purpose is providing relatable entertainment? I don’t really have a business focus like you do. What are your thoughts?
    Jennifer Burby
    The Champagne Supernova

    Thanks for having me participate in your Inspire Me Monday linky party. Cheers.

  7. Elle Knowles

    Great post Janice. I always see a jump in my stats when I update my about page. (My backstory) I try to do this every few months to keep it fresh. Another good idea to get traffic to your about page is to advertise it on Twitter or FB. As in – Hey folks! My backstory has been updated. Come take a peek! – then add your link. ~Elle

  8. gilliansnotebook

    In my case, …and some other cases, it might be a matter of inconsistency. I know I’m not the most reliable person when it comes to blogging so that will likely be what accounts for my lack of an audience.

    • gilliansnotebook

      I’ve tried to be a bit more consistent, what with my down time, but come fall, that might drop off again, when I’m back to work. Or maybe I’ll have more to write. We’ll see. 😀

      • Janice Wald

        Hi Gillian,
        It is hard when you work outside the home to get the networking in. Thank you for your comments.
        Janice

        • gilliansnotebook

          You’re welcome. For now, I’m going to scribble while I have the time.

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  10. D.G.Kaye

    Excellent post and info here Janice. Of course I’ve shared all over and I intend to reblog it soon! 🙂

    • Janice Wald

      Hi,
      I think I thanked you from my phone, but I feel it’s official when I thank you so much for all your kindness from the computer. You have been so supportive; I’ve enjoyed getting to know you the last few weeks.
      Janice

      • D.G.Kaye

        Thanks so much Janice and the feeling is mutual. I was happy to find your site. You will see me around here. 🙂

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  12. Godivaworld

    Talk about “News you can use”….this was great information! Ironically I’ve been thinking alot about my “About Godivaworld” page because that is where I seem to get most of my views and likes which made me think about analyzing the page. This is great information to consider during my analysis. Thank you Janice!

    • Janice Wald

      Hey!
      So glad you could use the tips! I really has resulted in more traffic for me–more followers.
      Janice

      • Godivaworld

        Yes and thanks for sharing. I couldn’t figure out why my “About” page was getting the likes vs other pages…..your tips resonated or maybe my visitors just like the page lol either way great tips….great site all around!!!!

  13. Heaven

    Thank you for this sage advice! I’m on my way to take another look at my about page. 🙂

    • Janice Wald

      Hi,
      Apparently many people found the post valuable. The instructions have resulted in far more followers for me.
      I’m sorry I didn’t respond sooner. Thanks for the kind words.
      Janice

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  16. Marsha Ingrao

    Great post, Janice. I just read your 87 hints, and am working my way through them. So this was the first A. As you can see, I’ve a long ways to go, but I revamped my About page for the umpteenth time. I’d love a testimonial from you if you feel you know me well enough.

  17. Enathi Sitonga

    I’ve been blogging on and off for a few years, but this year I’ve decided to take it more seriously. This article has helped me so much in understanding the basics of blogging.

    Thank you.

    • Janice Wald

      Hi Enathi,
      You’ve come to the right place. I help bloggers here. May I ask where you found my article? It’s several years old now, so I always wonder. Thanks for your comments; I am glad I could help.
      Janice

      • Enathi Sitonga

        I subscribed to your blog a few years ago. So I get an email every time you post.

        • Janice Wald

          Thank you for your readership! Thank you as well for your comments today. It’s nice to see older articles still generating interest.
          Janice

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