What is the first thing you do when you land on a website? Nearly everyone will make a decision about whether or not the site is right for them. If someone doesn’t like the look of it they might leave without giving it a second thought, but for others they will attempt to have a look around. If they came from a link they will probably be on an internal page, so they would click on the link to your homepage to see what everything is about.

The next thing they usually do is look at the ‘about’ page. Because they already know the site is something they like it’s now time to find out about who is running it. You have probably realized that over the last few years the importance of customer relationships has skyrocketed. They don’t want to do business with a blank face and instead they want to do business with a real person. That is why your ‘about’ page is crucial and we’re going to look at how you can design it the right way.

What can you do for them?

When you design anything you need to take a step back and decide what someone wants. Your potential customers would like to know more about you, but first they want to know what is in it for them. This is the way we all feel because our time is precious and there are not many people who spend lots of time looking through a site if they get nothing in return. Tell them in simple words everything they can expect if they stick around.

Show yourself

Don’t you find it annoying when you read about someone but they don’t even show you what they look like? It’s hard enough building a relationship with words, but when someone can’t even picture your face when they read your articles it won’t be very effective. You don’t even need to run out and have a professional photo taken because you can use a regular one. Depending on what your site is about it will show someone you are a real human.

Your credentials

Why should someone listen to you instead of the other guy? If you have a good reason then this would be the perfect place to tell them about it. You don’t need to go into lots of detail, but when someone reads about your past accomplishments they will subconsciously think of you as a smart person when they read any of your content. You can even tell them about that time you won a sushi rolling competition in 1992 so it still has the human vibe going on.

Open up to them

Most people try to pretend they are superhuman and the only person they are kidding is themselves. They don’t like to open up and admit their past mistakes because it might make them look like a weak person, but it’s only making them a lot harder to relate to. If you’re the kind of person that always tries to put on a brave face then lower the mask once in a while. You will definitely be surprised by the results as long as you don’t go too far.

Ask them to sign up

They have probably spent the last 5 minutes thinking about you instead of their own family. If they have reached the bottom it means they must like you and the relationship has started. Now would be a good time to ask them if they’d like to sign up to your email list. They will be in a giving mood and your conversion rate will probably be a lot higher than it is on other pages throughout the site. It will eventually mean more money so it’s really important.

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Todd Ramos is founder and CTO at PenTech consulting. His approach towards web designing is very enthusiastic and has resulted in him opening an institute of web design in CT, for those people who are interested in making a career in this field.