Today’s post is all about the basics of crafting an effective Bio / About me page. What should the purpose of this page be, and what does it need to include to guide your visitors toward your conversion goals?

Let’s break it down together.

A good photo

We need to see your face! Ideally this should be the same photo you use elsewhere online, so that people don’t have to work too hard to start remembering who you are.

My best tip is to have a professional take your photo and to make sure the emotion in your expression matches the way you want your clients to feel about your brand. So a fierce, confident gaze could work for a personal trainer, and a crinkly-nose laughing portrait would be great for a photographer whose work and personal voice exude joy. Just be you!

Basic context

Your bio should give visitors a basic idea of how you came to be connected with this particular mission or business.

While this could be as simple as a sentence on what you offer and what sets you apart, I also like to think of it as your origin story. Can you frame your past experiences into a narrative that makes sense of how you landed here and why you’re the perfect person to be offering this product / service? Doing this ties a stronger sense of purpose into your brand that wasn’t obvious before.

Credibility

Your bio should also establish credibility. These people know nothing about you. How are they going to believe you’re the answer to their problem if you don’t brag a little?

You can talk about how long you’ve been in business, the type of training you’ve done, how many customers you’ve served, or any other special awards or distinct honors you’ve earned.

You don’t need to include everything. A passing mention of your most impressive accomplishments is fine – just something to establish a baseline level of confidence in you, since that’ll be necessary to turn these visitors into customers later on. Just starting out? Even one glowing, sincere testimonial will do wonders for your credibility. You can email past clients with one or two specific survey questions designed to get website testimonials.

Personality

Sometimes personality can be as subtle as the way you write – your voice just comes through so obviously that there’s no need to include a huge list of facts about yourself. Other times, depending on how “personal” your business persona is, you might consider a website feature like a list or collage revealing the less professional, more fun side of your life.

There are some businesses that use their whole About page as a personality showcase at the expense of establishing credibility or context, so beware of that. But no matter what personality you happen to have (subdued, calm, and professional are every bit as good as good as zany, quirky, and irreverent, so be yourself!), it’s good for that personal voice to come across in your bio somehow.

Next steps

Once your prospects know who you are, what you do, how you’re different, why you’re qualified in this topic, and a little about your personality, what’s left?

Invite them to engage further with your brand / content with a call to action. You can invite them to explore the content where you really shine (maybe direct them to a few of your best-ever blog posts, or to the Instagram that’s basically your online home). You can invite them to read about your services or browse your portfolio or even contact you for a free consultation. You can invite them to join your email list.

Just make it something simple – ask them to take one action, not five – and let them decide where to go next. It’s like meeting a friend for coffee. You don’t just to talk about yourself; you offer chances for them to engage with you, too. Always give them a way to go further with your brand if they want to.

And that’s all I have for you today! Hope these tips help you craft an effective, credibility-boosting About page!