How-To Guides

How to Write an About Page That Builds Trust

Most visitors don't open your About page because they're curious about your life story. They open it because they're one step away from spending money with a stranger — you — and they want one answer before they do: can I trust this business? If your page reads like a company brochure ("founded in 2015, we are a leading provider of..."), it answers a question nobody asked, and the visitor quietly leaves. A good About page does something much smaller and much harder: it proves, in a few honest paragraphs, that real people run this business, that they understand the visitor's problem, and that there's an easy way to take the next step.

The One Question Your About Page Has to Answer

Think about the last time you nearly bought from a small business you'd never heard of. You probably did the same thing everyone does: you clicked About, scanned for a face, a place, and some sign that the business was real, then you checked a review site to see whether strangers agreed. Research backs up that instinct. Nielsen Norman Group's usability research on About pages — three rounds of studies covering more than 70 users, 100 tested sites and 65 more reviewed — found that visitors use the page to work out an organisation's purpose, location, mission, values and how to contact it, and that they cross-check what they read against Google Reviews, Yelp and similar sites. In other words, your About page doesn't work alone. It works as the first half of a trust check the visitor finishes somewhere else, and any claim on it that contradicts what customers say elsewhere costs you the sale.

That changes how you should write it. The page isn't a biography and it isn't a sales pitch. It's evidence, presented in the order a sceptical stranger needs it: what you do, who you do it for, why you started, who you are, and what proof backs all of it up. If a sentence doesn't help a visitor decide, cut it — however proud of it you are.

Start With Their Problem, Not Your Founding Year

The most common About page mistake is also the most understandable: opening with yourself. "We were founded in 2018 by our founder, who has 15 years of experience..." tells the visitor nothing about whether you can solve their problem, and they've already decided you're like every other site they've bounced from. Flip the order. Name the problem your visitor walked in with, show you understand it properly, and only then explain how you got into solving it. A plumber's page might open with the frustration of waiting four hours for a no-show tradesperson; a bakery's with the gamble of ordering a celebration cake from a stranger. Your founding story still belongs on the page — it just belongs second, as the reason you care about that problem, not as the headline.

A simple structure that holds up well is spark, mission, proof, invitation: why you started (one or two plain sentences), what you're trying to do for customers today, one piece of evidence that you're actually doing it, and a clear next step. Notice what's missing from that list: adjectives about yourself. "Passionate," "dedicated," "customer-focused" — every business writes those words, so they carry no information at all. Specifics carry it. "We started because three friends in the same month asked us to fix websites their designers had abandoned" is a story. "We are passionate about excellence" is wallpaper.

Show Real People — With Real Photos

This is where most small businesses quietly lose the trust check, because a stock photo of a smiling office team feels harmless and looks professional. Visitors see through it. The Nielsen Norman Group research found users were sceptical of stock photography and responded instead to realistic photos of the actual people and products behind the business. The Stanford Guidelines for Web Credibility — based on research with more than 4,500 people — say the same thing in plainer terms: show that honest, trustworthy people stand behind your site, and show that a real organisation stands behind it too. A phone photo of your actual workshop, your actual shopfront, or the two people customers will actually deal with does more work than a polished stock image ever will.

A few practical rules keep this honest and safe. Use names and short bios for the people customers will interact with — if you have a team of thirty, show the handful who answer the phone and do the work, not a wall of headshots nobody reads. Get each person's permission before publishing their photo, and share work details only, not personal contact information. And if you're an online-only business, say so plainly: a registered business name, named founders and verifiable reviews prove you're real just as well as a street address does. Pretending to have an office you don't have is the fastest way to fail the cross-check, because someone will look.

Prove Every Claim, or Don't Make It

Here's a test worth running on every sentence of your About page: could a stranger verify this in under a minute? "Trusted by hundreds of happy customers" fails it. "4.9 stars from 120 Google reviews" passes it — and you can link straight to those reviews, which is exactly where the visitor was heading anyway. The same rule applies to everything else: a big warehouse claim wants a photo of the warehouse; a certification claim wants the certificate named; a "20 years of experience" claim wants a timeline that adds up. One detailed guide to About pages that build trust puts it bluntly — if you can't back a claim with a photo, a figure, a certification or a review, leave the claim out.

This matters more than it used to, and not just for reputation. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission's rule announced on August 14, 2024 bans fake or false consumer testimonials — reviews and testimonials that pretend to be from someone who doesn't exist or had no real experience with the business — and lets the agency seek civil penalties against knowing violators. Even where that rule doesn't reach, the logic holds everywhere: one invented testimonial, once spotted, poisons every true thing on the page. Balanced, real reviews — including the odd imperfect one, handled gracefully — persuade far better than a row of suspiciously perfect praise, because that's what real businesses actually look like.

Make Contact Easy, and Offer Exactly One Next Step

The Stanford guidelines list "make it easy to contact you" as a core credibility signal, and it's the cheapest one on the list: a phone number, an email address and a contact form on the About page itself, not just buried on a separate Contact page. Visitors who've just decided they might trust you shouldn't have to go hunting for how to reach you — that's the moment most likely to leak away. And resist the urge to offer five ways forward at once. "Call us, email us, fill in this form, book a consult, or visit our office" reads as indecision, and indecision makes visitors pick none of them. One clear step beats five vague ones: tell them what happens when they take it, and how soon you'll reply. "Tell us about your project and we'll send a fixed-price estimate within 24 hours" is a step. "Contact us today to learn more" is a shrug.

The same thinking applies to the rest of the page's design. Short paragraphs, clear headings, breathing room — visitors skim About pages the way they skim everything else, and a wall of text reads as a business that doesn't respect their time. If you'd like to see how this kind of trust-building fits into a full site, our portfolio shows real businesses presented this way, and our guide to making a website look trustworthy covers the design signals — layout, imagery, reviews — that work alongside the words.

How Long Should It Be, and When Should You Update It?

Here's a spot where the honest answer is that sources disagree, so beware anyone selling you a magic number. One SME guide suggests aiming for 400–700 words — enough to cover what you do, your story, your people, your proof and your contact details without losing a skimmer's attention. Other guides give no number at all and simply say: cover the essentials, then stop. Both are really saying the same thing: length is the wrong thing to measure. Count sections, not words. If your page answers what you do, who it's for, who you are, what proves it, and what to do next — and a stranger can scan all five in under a minute — it's long enough, whether that's 400 words or 900. If it doesn't answer those five, no word count saves it.

Freshness is the part everyone forgets. A page that still lists a team member who left two years ago, or services you stopped offering, tells the visitor the business behind the site isn't paying attention — and the Stanford guidelines note that people give more credibility to sites that show recent updates. Put a six-month reminder in your calendar: re-read the page as a first-time visitor, swap in your strongest recent proof, update the team and the numbers, and fix any link that's quietly died. It's a thirty-minute job, and it's the difference between a page that keeps working and one that slowly starts working against you.

A Quick Rewrite Checklist

Before you publish, run through this list with a red pen. Does the first paragraph name the visitor's problem, not your founding date? Does every claim have proof a stranger could check? Are the photos of your real people and your real place, with permission? Is there exactly one clear next step, with a reply time attached? Have you removed the stock "team" photo, the invented-sounding testimonial, and the adjectives doing the work that facts should do? And does the page still read true if someone cross-checks it against your reviews and social profiles — because they will.

If you'd rather hand the whole job over — the words, the layout, and the trust signals around them — take a look at our web design services and get in touch for a free quote. Tell us what you do, who you serve, and what a good month of new enquiries looks like, and we'll build you a page that answers the visitor's one real question before they even think to ask it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long should an About page be?

There is no magic number, and guides disagree on one. One SME guide suggests 400–700 words for a small business page, while other guides simply say to cover the essentials and stop. A better test: can a stranger scan what you do, who it is for, who you are, what proves it, and what to do next in under a minute? If yes, it is long enough.

Should I put team photos on my About page?

Yes, with each person’s permission — and use real photos of your real team, not stock images. Research from Nielsen Norman Group found visitors are sceptical of stock photography and respond to realistic photos of actual employees. For a small team, 3–5 faces work well; for a large team, show the people customers will actually deal with.

Does an About page help SEO?

It helps in the ways that matter most for a small business: it states plainly what you do, who you serve and where you operate, which helps search engines — and increasingly AI answer engines — describe you accurately. It also supports Google’s E-E-A-T signals by making authorship and expertise visible. It does not guarantee rankings on its own; no single page does.

What should I leave off my About page?

Fake testimonials, stock photos presented as your team, claims you cannot prove, and outdated details about people or services that have changed. In the US, the FTC’s 2024 rule bans fake testimonials and allows civil penalties against knowing violators — and even where it does not apply, one invented claim poisons every true one on the page.

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