Good Karma Socials

The Problem With Most About Us Pages

“Founded in 2012, we are a leading provider of innovative solutions committed to excellence, integrity and customer satisfaction.”

If you’ve just cringed a little, that’s because you’ve probably read some version of that sentence a thousand times before. (hopefully not on your own website.)

The irony is that the ‘About Us’ page is often one of the most visited pages on a website. People click on it because they want to know who they’re dealing with. Yet many businesses use it as an opportunity to sound as corporate, polished and personality-free as possible.

The Psychology Behind Memorable Brand Stories

It’s a strange decision when you consider how human psychology actually works. According to the talk ‘Harnessing the Power of Stories’, by Stanford marketing professor Jennifer Aaker, people remember stories up to 22 times more than facts alone. In one study, only 5% of people remembered statistics from a presentation, while 63% remembered the stories being told.

So why are so many businesses filling their About pages with dates, mission statements and industry jargon?

The answer is often fear. Fear of appearing unprofessional. Fear of being too personal. Fear of showing the messy, human reality behind the business. But here’s the thing: people don’t connect with organisations, they connect with the people behind them. Nobody has had their mind blown by a mission statement. What people remember is the founder who started a business after becoming frustrated with an industry problem. The community project that began around a kitchen table. The social enterprise that almost failed before finding its feet.

I remember comparing two clinics that were almost identical on paper. Same qualifications, similar reviews, nothing to separate them. Then one mentioned something small about the doctor enjoying long walks with his seven sausage dogs before work. That tiny detail had nothing to do with his expertise, but I found myself trusting him more. (Who wouldn’t trust a man with seven sausage dogs?)

And that’s the difference. Stories create context. They give us something to relate to. They help us understand why a business exists in the first place. Research into storytelling has also found that narratives engage far more of the brain than facts alone, helping people form emotional connections and remember information more effectively. The best ‘About’ pages don’t read like corporate brochures, but like a conversation with a friend.

How to Write an About Us Page People Remember

Perhaps the biggest mistake businesses make is treating their ‘About’ page like a biography. Most visitors aren’t conducting historical research. They’re trying to decide whether you’re the sort of person or organisation they want to work with. That’s why honesty is often more persuasive than perfection. A business that openly shares its journey, including the bumps in the road, will usually feel far more credible than one that presents itself as flawless. Here are some questions to help you get started:

• Why the business exists.
• What problem the founder wanted to solve.
• What they believe in.
• What they’ve learned along the way.
• Why they genuinely care about their work.

For ethical businesses in particular, this matters. Consumers are increasingly looking beyond products and services to understand the people, values and motivations behind a brand.

So if your About page currently sounds like it was written by a committee in a boardroom, it might be time for a rewrite!

Good Karma Socials is a digital marketing agency based in Bath. We help businesses show off the human stories behind what they do (because that’s what people remember.) Get in touch with us today at hello@goodkarmasocials.com