How to Write an About Page for a Small Business (With Examples)
TL;DR: The About page is not about you. It’s the page where a nervous customer decides whether to trust you. Answer four questions — who you are, why you do this, why you’re safe to hire, and what to do next — in about 300 words. Put a real photo on it. Skip the mission statement.
Why This Page Matters More Than You Think
About is usually the second-most-visited page on a small business website, right behind the homepage.
Think about who’s on it. Not a browser. Someone who’s already interested and is now doing a final check: is this a real business, run by a real person, that isn’t going to disappear with my deposit?
That’s the whole job. The About page removes the last bit of doubt before someone contacts you. Written well, it converts. Written the way most are — a wall of corporate language about passion and excellence — it does nothing at all.
The Four Questions
1. Who are you, concretely?
Names, faces, years, and a location. Not “a team of dedicated professionals.”
“I’m Dana Whitfield. I’ve been fixing boilers in South Manchester since 2011, and since 2019 I’ve run Whitfield Heating with two engineers, Tom and Priya.”
Six seconds of reading and the visitor knows who they’d be hiring. That is the entire point.
2. Why do you do this?
One or two sentences of real reason, not a mission statement. The origin story of a small business is genuinely persuasive when it’s specific and true.
“I started out on my own after five years at a big firm where every job was rushed and nobody called the customer back. I wanted to run the kind of company I’d have wanted to work for.”
That paragraph does more than any list of values. It tells the reader what you’ll be like to deal with.
3. Why are you safe to hire?
The credentials, but stated as reassurance, not as a résumé:
- Years in business
- Licenses, insurance, certifications
- Number of customers or jobs
- Guarantees or warranties
- Anything verifiable — awards, memberships, accreditations
“Gas Safe registered, fully insured, and we’ve done around 3,000 jobs across South Manchester. Every install carries a two-year workmanship guarantee.”
4. What should they do now?
Every page needs an exit. Yours should be the same action as the rest of the site — call, book, message, request a quote.
“If your boiler’s playing up, call 0161 xxx xxxx or message us on WhatsApp. We usually answer the same day.”
A Structure That Works
- A one-line opener that says who you are and what you do. (1 sentence)
- The origin. Why the business exists. (2–3 sentences)
- Who you serve and what makes working with you different. (2–3 sentences)
- Credentials and reassurance. (2–3 sentences)
- A photo. You, your team, your van, your shop. Real.
- The next step. (1 sentence + button)
Roughly 300 words. Long About pages don’t get read; they get scrolled past on the way to the contact button.
The Photo Rule
Put a real photo on it. This single element does more for trust than the entire text above it.
A phone photo of you in your actual workspace outperforms a professional-looking stock image every time, because the stock image communicates one thing: this business had nothing real to show.
Team photo, workshop, van, storefront, you at your desk. Any of it. Just not a smiling stranger from a photo library.
Phrases to Delete
Every one of these is on thousands of sites and means nothing:
- “We are passionate about delivering excellence”
- “Our mission is to provide quality service”
- “We pride ourselves on customer satisfaction”
- “With years of experience in the industry”
- “We go above and beyond”
- “Your satisfaction is our top priority”
The test: could a competitor put this exact sentence on their site? If yes, cut it. It’s occupying space a specific fact could use.
Replace generic with concrete:
| Generic | Concrete |
|---|---|
| Years of experience | “Since 2011” |
| We serve the local area | “Didsbury, Chorlton, Withington, and Sale” |
| Highly rated | “4.9 across 180 Google reviews” |
| Fast response | “We answer messages within two hours, 7am–7pm” |
| Family-run | “My dad started it in 1994; I took over in 2018” |
Small Business vs Solo Business
If you’re solo, write in first person. “I” is warmer than “we,” and pretending to be a company when you’re one person is a trust cost the moment they meet you. Being one skilled person is an advantage — say it.
If you have a team, “we” is right, but still name the people. A team page with three faces and three names beats “our staff” every time.
How WebZum Writes Yours
WebZum writes the About page from research on your actual business — what’s online about you, your reviews, your Google profile — plus what you tell the chat during setup. That’s why it comes out with your years, your service areas, and your specifics in it rather than a paragraph about passion and excellence.
It won’t invent credentials. If it doesn’t know your license number or your founding year, it leaves the claim out rather than making one up — and you can add the real detail by asking: “say we’ve been running since 2011”, “mention we’re Gas Safe registered.”
If the tone isn’t right, that’s a sentence too: “make the About page more personal” or “shorter, and mention my dad started it.”
Want an About page that reads like your business instead of everyone else’s? Build it in five minutes.