The Quiet Power of a Good About Page

When someone is about to trust a firm with a legal matter, a fund launch or a strategy that will shape the next five years of their organisation, they do something very human before they get in touch. They look for the people. In almost every analytics report we review for professional services firms, the about page sits among the most visited pages on the site, often second only to the homepage. It is also, very often, the page that has been updated least.

That gap is understandable. An about page feels like a formality, something written once at launch and left alone because the "real" work is described elsewhere. But for a buyer of expertise, the about page is where a quiet but decisive question gets answered: do I believe these people, and would I want to work with them? Here is what a good about page does, and how to make yours earn its place.

Why Buyers of Expertise Always Read It

When you buy a product, you can compare specifications. When you buy expertise, you are buying judgement you cannot inspect in advance. The only way to reduce that risk is to learn about the people who will exercise it. That is why prospects read the about page so carefully, and why they often read it more than once: first when they discover you, and again just before they make contact or put your name forward internally.

It is also increasingly read by people you never meet. A partner who has been asked to approve a new supplier, a board member checking a recommendation, a procurement officer building a shortlist: each of them will land on your about page with a slightly different question, and each of them needs to find a clear answer quickly.

What Belongs on the Page

A useful about page answers four questions, roughly in this order.

• Who are you, in a sentence a stranger would understand? Not a mission statement, but a plain description of what the firm does and for whom.

• Why does the firm exist? A short account of how and why it started, or what it believes about its field, gives the reader something to connect with.

• Who will I actually work with? Names, roles, photographs and a few lines on each person's background and focus.

• How do you work? A brief description of your approach, so the reader can picture the first months of an engagement.

Everything else is optional. Awards, office locations and company history can help, but they should support those four answers rather than crowd them out.

Write About Your Clients While Writing About Yourself

The most common mistake on about pages is that they talk only about the firm. "Founded in 2012, we are a leading consultancy with a passion for excellence" could describe thousands of companies, and it tells the reader nothing about whether you understand their situation.

A stronger approach is to describe the firm through the problems it solves. Instead of listing your values in the abstract, explain what they mean in practice for a client: that you reply within a working day, that a partner stays involved from first meeting to final delivery, that you will tell a client when they do not need you. These are commitments a reader can hold you to, and that is precisely why they persuade.

The same principle applies to the story of how the firm began. The founding story is worth telling when it explains something the reader cares about, such as why you specialise in a particular sector or why you chose to stay small. If it does not, keep it to a sentence.

Real People, Real Faces

For a firm that sells expertise, the team section is often the heart of the page. Use real photographs of the people a client will work with, taken in consistent light and style, rather than stock images or a single group photo from a distant office party. Readers notice the difference instantly, and a set of generic portraits quietly undermines everything else on the page.

Keep the biographies human and specific. A short paragraph that covers what each person focuses on, the kind of work they have done and one detail that makes them recognisable is far more useful than a list of degrees. "Leads our work with impact funds and spent eight years in development finance before joining" tells a prospect who to ask for. If your team members have their own pages or articles, link to them, so the curious reader can go deeper.

It is worth keeping this section current. A colleague who left a year ago, or a new partner who is missing, sends a small signal that the firm does not look after the details, and details are often what clients are paying for.

Making the About Page Work Harder

Once the content is right, a few practical touches make the page more effective.

Give it a clear next step. Many readers arrive at the about page when they are close to deciding, and then find nothing to do but scroll back up. A simple invitation to get in touch, or links to relevant case studies, turns that moment into an enquiry rather than a lost opportunity.

Make it findable and readable. Name it plainly ("About" or "About us") in the main navigation, give it a descriptive title for search engines, and keep paragraphs short enough to read on a phone. Clear, factual statements about who you are and what you do also help search engines and AI assistants describe your firm accurately when someone asks about you.

Finally, review it at least once a year, ideally when you review the rest of the site's strategy. Firms change faster than their websites, and the about page is usually the first place where that drift shows.

A good about page rarely gets praised, but it does a great deal of quiet work: it reassures, it qualifies and it makes the first conversation easier for everyone. If yours has not been looked at since launch and you would like an outside view on what it should say, get in touch and Filip & Philip will happily take a look with you.