I was looking at the site of an event planner today, someone who had contacted me about working together on weddings. On their site was an “About Us” page. Yay! I could read and learn a bit about her.
Or not. Other than the opening sentence, which was launched with a typo as well, it only included their names and nothing more. That isn’t “About Us” – that is “About our company”.
In the Internet age, people want to know about YOU. And what is really amazing is that while 10 years ago, I used to point out to clients that the awesome thing about the web was that you could make your business seem as large as you wanted, now people want to connect with the people they are working with. All around, you can see huge corporations wanting to act as if they are small mom & pop shops. They want to be personable. They want you to connect with them. To embrace their brand as your own. They want you to be loyal to them and only them.
So go look at your about page. Does it tell your reader about you? Really about you? Is it full of a lot of “we” puff up text where you try to make your business sound like there are many employees when it is really just you? Big brands are envious of the advantage you’ve got. Stop trying to be something that you’re not. Be yourself. Be real. People want to work with people they like – and that “About Us” page? It is the door to them liking you. Give people that chance.
One reply on “Read Your Site – What Does it Say About You?”
I definitely agree with you about how people are more interested in artisan merchants, being that big business has deteriorated product quality and relationships to an almost unbearable level.
But what if you want your site to remain anonymous? What if the site is small or if one thinks that business and personal life have to be separated at least a little? The site is an extension of the information a person wants to share, whether that be personal or information.
As you said in the article, the sites are manifestations of peoples ideas and desires of expression…in digital format.
What I want to say: if I want people to get to know me, I will create a blog and give my opinions, etc,. The site has a different purpose; to cover a specific topic or topics and take it as deep as possible all the while staying as objective and unbiased as humanly possible. And then hope that people benefit from it.
Of course, I am new to the game.