The Story Behind Your Business: Why Your About Page Is a Sales Page
Updated: 6 days ago
That mismatch — heavy traffic, zero intention — makes the About page the most wasted real estate on most sites. Because look at when people visit it: right before they contact you. It's the final gut-check, the "but who are these people" click. Which means it isn't a biography. It's a sales page whose product is trust.
Write It for Their Decision, Not Your Scrapbook
The customer on your About page is asking three silent questions: can I trust these people, do they know what they're doing, and are they my kind of folks? Every sentence should serve one of those. The company history matters only where it answers them — "twenty years fixing foundations in this clay" is credibility; the timeline of office moves is scrapbook. The reliable structure: open with why the business exists (the problem you saw, the standard you couldn't find, the thing you believe about the work), ground it in the specifics that prove competence, and let the customer glimpse themselves in it — who you serve and what they can expect.
First person, in your actual voice. "I started this company because..." outsells "The company was founded with a vision to..." every single time, because one sounds like a person and people hire people.
Faces Are the Whole Point
The About page is where the behind-the-scenes trust gets its permanent home: real photos of the actual owner and team, ideally doing the actual work — not stock handshakes, not the logo again. For a local business this is disproportionately powerful, because the customer's underlying anxiety is letting strangers onto their property or into their care, and faces convert strangers into specific people. Names and a line about each person compound it; the wellness clinic's rebuild leaned on exactly this, because trust purchases are decided by who as much as what.
Say What You Believe About the Work
The strongest About pages stake a small claim: how you think the work should be done, what you refuse to cut, what you've decided to be known for. "We'd rather lose a bid than rush a prep job" tells a customer more than three paragraphs of values-speak — it's a filter and a promise at once, and the right customers recognize themselves in it. This is also where pricing confidence quietly gets built: people pay more for businesses that visibly stand for something.
Close It Like the Sales Page It Is
Here's the near-universal miss: the About page builds all this trust and then... ends. No ask, no path, a dead end at the exact moment the visitor is warmest. Finish it the way you'd finish a service page: a line of proof (a review, the towns you serve), and one clear next step — the free consult, the call, the quote. The visitor who just decided they like you should never have to figure out what to do about it.
And keep it alive: new team, new photo, new belief sharpened by experience — the About page should age like the business, not like the founding brochure. It's a twenty-minute update twice a year for one of your most-read pages; few edits on the whole site pay better.
Frequently Asked Questions About Your About Page
What should a small business about page include?
The story that explains why you're credible (told for the customer's benefit), real photos of real people, what the business believes about doing the work, and a clear next step. It's a trust page with a call to action, not a biography.
How long should an about page be?
Long enough to make a stranger comfortable, short enough to read in two minutes — for most local businesses, a few honest paragraphs, faces, and proof. Cut anything that serves the owner's nostalgia more than the customer's decision.
Should the about page have a call to action?
Absolutely — it's often the last page people read before deciding. End it with the same clear next step as your service pages: a consult, a call, a quote. Trust built and not directed is trust wasted.
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About the Author
Brandon G. Wallin Owner & Founder, Trio Assist
Brandon G. Wallin is the Owner and Founder of Trio Assist, a marketing agency based in Minnesota serving Stillwater, the St. Croix Valley, the Twin Cities, and businesses across the United States. He helps service-based companies build structured, high-performing marketing systems rooted in technical SEO, authority building, and long-term strategy.
Brandon believes growth isn't about chasing algorithms — it's about installing the right foundation. His work focuses on helping businesses rank where it matters, convert more consistently, and scale with clarity instead of guesswork.
When he's not building digital ecosystems, Brandon stays closely connected to the local business community throughout Minnesota and Western Wisconsin.
