What Should a Small-Business About Page Include?

The short answer: answer “Who is behind this business, and why should I trust them?”

Customers visit an About page when they want context that service and product pages do not fully provide. They may be deciding whether the business is real, local, experienced, accountable, aligned with their needs, or safe to contact. Give them specific answers.

A useful About page often includes a concise company identity, origin story, people, relevant experience, operating principles, credible proof, location or service model, original imagery, and a next step. It should not pretend every business has a dramatic founding story, a large team, or decades of history.

The business does not need to sound bigger than it is. It needs to make its real strengths easier to understand.

1. Define what the About page must accomplish

The page may support several audiences: a prospective customer checking credibility, a referral learning more, a job candidate considering the team, a journalist confirming background, a partner evaluating fit, or a search system trying to understand the organization. Prioritize the primary customer decision while providing accurate context for the others.

Write a one-sentence brief

Use this structure: “This page helps specific audience understand who operates the business, what makes its approach relevant, and what to do next.”

For example: “This page helps homeowners understand who leads our family-run renovation company, how occupied-home experience shapes our planning, and where to review our services.” That brief is more useful than “Tell our story.”

Identify the trust questions

• Is this a real, active business?
• Who is responsible for the work or customer relationship?
• Does the team understand my type of need?
• What experience, process, or evidence supports its claims?
• Where does the business operate?
• Are its values reflected in concrete decisions?
• What is the most useful next page or action?

2. Start with a plain-language company identity

The opening should identify the business before telling its history. State the company name, what it does, whom it serves, and where or how it operates. This gives the rest of the story a useful frame.

A concise opening can include:

• The business type and primary service or product category
• The customer, industry, community, or need it serves
• The city, service area, market, or remote-delivery model
• The owner-operated, family-run, partnership, studio, shop, practice, or team structure when relevant
• One grounded difference in approach that the page can support

“We are passionate about excellence and customer satisfaction” says little. “We are a two-generation custom framing studio serving residential and commercial clients in western Massachusetts” provides a verifiable identity.

Use the legal company name where customers need it, but write in the name people recognize. Explain a trade name, former name, merger, or ownership transition when failing to do so could create confusion.

3. Tell the part of the company story that helps customers understand the business

An origin story is useful when it explains why the business exists, how it developed expertise, which problem it chose to solve, or why it works differently. It does not need cinematic conflict or a heroic founder narrative.

Build the story from facts

1. Before: what experience, unmet need, local condition, craft, customer problem, or opportunity existed?
2. Beginning: when and why did the business start?
3. Learning: what did real work teach the company?
4. Change: how did the offer, team, location, process, or customer base develop?
5. Today: what does the business now provide, and what remains consistent?
6. Next: what is the company responsibly building or improving?

Choose details that connect to the current customer experience. A framing shop's first hand-cut mat, a contractor's transition from subcontractor to licensed owner, or a consultant's experience inside the industry can explain present capability. Childhood hobbies, unrelated jobs, and long personal histories belong only when they clarify the work.

Use dates carefully. “Serving customers since 1998” should describe the actual business or explain what the date represents. Do not combine unrelated personal experience into an inflated company age.

4. Introduce the people customers are likely to encounter

Customers do not always need a complete staff directory. They often benefit from knowing who owns the business, leads the work, answers inquiries, provides the service, manages quality, or supports them after purchase.

For each relevant person, include:

• Name and current role
• Responsibility connected to the customer's experience
• Relevant experience, training, craft, or perspective
• Credentials only when current, accurate, and material
• A short human detail when it makes the person easier to understand
• A current photograph when appropriate and permissioned

A biography should explain why the person matters to the work. “Jordan manages every pre-construction walkthrough and change-order review” is more useful than a list of generic personality traits.

Respect privacy and safety

Do not publish personal addresses, private schedules, unnecessary family details, sensitive background, direct contact information, or employee information without a clear business purpose and appropriate permission. Some companies should introduce roles or leadership without listing every employee publicly.

5. Connect experience to the customer's current need

Years alone do not explain competence. Show what the business or team has learned to handle, what kinds of work it has completed, which constraints it understands, and how that knowledge affects delivery.

Experience can come from employment, apprenticeship, education, ownership, professional practice, community work, or repeated delivery. Describe it honestly. If a founder is transferring prior experience into a new company, distinguish personal history from the age or performance of the new business.

6. Show how values change real decisions

Words such as integrity, quality, innovation, community, and service appear on countless About pages. A value becomes meaningful when the customer can see how it affects behavior.

Translate each value into evidence

• Transparency: written scopes, visible exclusions, documented changes, and clear pricing assumptions
• Craft: material standards, preparation, inspection, process records, and repair practices
• Accessibility: inclusive design, communication options, usable spaces, and ongoing testing
• Local commitment: real hiring, sourcing, partnerships, sponsorships, volunteering, or service-area history
• Sustainability: specific material, packaging, energy, waste, repair, shipping, or purchasing practices with supported claims
• Customer care: response ownership, expectation setting, issue resolution, warranties, or follow-up

Do not list a value the operation cannot demonstrate. Avoid broad social, environmental, safety, quality, or performance claims without evidence. A short set of well-supported principles is stronger than a wall of aspirational words.

7. Add evidence that belongs on the About page

The About page should complement—not duplicate—the portfolio, reviews, service pages, and case studies. Choose evidence that supports the organization's identity and credibility.

Useful evidence may include:

• Photographs of the real team, location, equipment, process, products, or historical milestones
• A timeline with supported dates and meaningful business changes
• Relevant licenses, certifications, insurance, memberships, or professional affiliations stated precisely
• Representative customer, project, publication, or community recognition with permission
• Links to detailed case studies, reviews, work, services, policies, or technical resources
• A clear explanation of ownership, quality control, support, or customer responsibility
• Specific operating numbers only when current, material, and documented

Avoid badge collections that customers cannot verify, client logos used without permission, testimonials edited beyond clarity, and vanity metrics with no context. If a claim would influence a reasonable buying decision, confirm the evidence before publishing it.

8. Build trust honestly when the business is new

A new company may not have years of company history, hundreds of reviews, a large portfolio, or a full team. It can still create a credible About page without inventing scale.

Use the proof that genuinely exists

• Founder or team experience described with clear boundaries
• Why the business was formed and which problem it is equipped to address
• Original examples, demonstrations, prototypes, samples, or self-directed work labeled accurately
• Training, credentials, licenses, or partnerships that already apply
• A documented process for estimates, delivery, communication, quality, or support
• Clear service scope, location, policies, availability, and limitations
• Real photographs of the owner, workspace, tools, products, or preparation

Do not use stock team photos, false office addresses, fabricated origin dates, invented customer counts, borrowed portfolios, or vague “we” language to imply a larger organization. An owner saying “I” can feel more established than a fictional team because it establishes accountability.

9. Use original photography as information—not decoration alone

Real photographs help customers connect names, places, work, and history. They can show what the business looks like, who may arrive, how a shop is organized, what materials are used, or how the company changed over time.

Create a useful image list

• Founder or owner in a real working environment
• Team members performing representative work with permission
• Storefront, office, shop, studio, vehicle, or service environment when customers may encounter it
• Tools, materials, products, archives, or process details that explain the craft
• Historical images with accurate dates, context, ownership, and usage rights
• A current group photo only when it can be maintained as the team changes

Avoid using stock models to represent employees or customers. Do not stage unsafe work, expose private records, publish customer property without permission, or leave sensitive information visible in the background.

The W3C Images Tutorial explains that informative images need alternatives that convey their essential information, while purely decorative images should use a null alternative. Write alternative text based on the image's purpose in context rather than listing every visible object.

10. Clarify where the business is and how it operates

The About page can establish the organization's real-world and operational context. Include only information customers need and the business can maintain.

Relevant details may include:

• Primary city, region, storefront, office, studio, or workshop
• Real service area or remote-delivery model
• Whether visits require appointments
• Owner-operated, family-run, mobile, distributed, remote, or multi-location structure
• Business hours or contact routes when not already clear elsewhere
• Languages, markets, or customer types served
• Important licensing, jurisdiction, delivery, or geographic boundaries

A service-area business should not imply it has offices in every city served. A home-based business does not need to publish a private residence. Use an appropriate mailing or service-area approach and follow the current requirements of platforms, regulators, and local law.

11. Choose first person or third person—and sound like the same business

First person can feel direct for a founder-led business: “I started the studio after…” or “We built the company around….” Third person can work for a broader organization: “North Street Framing was founded….” Neither voice is automatically more professional.

Keep the writing human

• Use words the owner and team would actually say.
• Prefer short, specific sentences over corporate abstractions.
• Explain industry terms or replace them with customer language.
• Use “I” when one person is responsible and “we” when multiple people truly are.
• Let the business's character appear through choices, details, and evidence.
• Read the page aloud to identify unnatural phrases.

Do not imitate a multinational company if the strength is direct owner involvement. Do not force casual jokes or a quirky tone when the service requires seriousness. Match the stakes and audience while preserving a recognizable voice across the About, service, contact, email, and social content.

12. Audit every claim, credential, date, and implied promise

An About page is marketing content. The FTC's small-business advertising guidance states that advertising claims must be truthful, non-deceptive, and supported by evidence. Review both literal statements and the impression created by words, images, numbers, badges, and omissions.

Verify before publishing:

• Founding dates, years in business, and combined-experience calculations
• Customer, project, location, employee, or production counts
• Licenses, certifications, degrees, insurance, awards, memberships, and affiliations
• “Local,” “family-owned,” “veteran-owned,” “woman-owned,” “minority-owned,” or other identity claims
• Environmental, sourcing, safety, health, performance, quality, and outcome claims
• “First,” “only,” “best,” “leading,” “largest,” and other comparative statements
• Customer logos, quotes, photographs, results, and implied endorsements

Keep supporting records and assign someone to review the page as facts change. Specialized industries and claims may require qualified legal or regulatory guidance. A disclaimer cannot repair a false central claim.

13. Use the About page to clarify identity—not to replace service content

The About page helps search systems and people understand the organization behind the site. It should connect the company name, location, people, experience, and subject matter to the rest of the website.

Useful search foundations

• A unique, descriptive title and meta description
• One clear page heading with meaningful section headings
• Business name, identity, location, and operating model stated accurately in visible text
• Links to relevant services, work, industries, locations, resources, contact paths, and policies
• Original images with stable URLs, appropriate dimensions, and useful alternative text
• A readable canonical URL and inclusion in the site's navigation or internal links
• Organization or appropriate LocalBusiness structured data that matches visible facts
• Consistent business details across the website and controlled external profiles

Google's Organization structured-data guidance says organization markup on the home page or a single organization page such as an About page can help it understand and disambiguate administrative details. Add only properties that apply, use the most specific appropriate type, and keep the markup consistent with the visible business.

The About page cannot rank every service merely by listing them. Each important service, product, location, and customer question still needs the appropriate useful page. Use the small-business services page guide to build those commercial destinations.

14. Help search and AI systems connect the organization to its content

AI assistants and answer systems benefit from the same qualities customers do: explicit identity, consistent facts, clear relationships, supported claims, visible authorship, descriptive links, and accessible text. There is no separate “AI About page” that should be hidden from customers.

Make the entity easier to understand

• Use one consistent business name and explain genuine alternate or former names.
• Identify the people or organization responsible for content and services.
• Connect biographies to relevant services, articles, projects, or credentials.
• State location, service area, ownership, and contact information accurately.
• Link to controlled external profiles only when they are current and official.
• Use complete sentences that answer common identity and trust questions.
• Distinguish company history from individual experience.
• Keep structured data, visible content, profiles, and citations aligned.

Google's people-first content guidance asks whether content shows clear sourcing, evidence of expertise, background about the author or publishing site, and links to an About or author page. The purpose is not to manufacture expertise signals. It is to make the real source and experience easier to evaluate.

15. Make the story readable and usable for more people

An About page can become difficult when it relies on image collages, animated timelines, decorative script fonts, inaccessible carousels, or biographies hidden behind hover effects.

Review the page for:

• Logical headings and a clear reading order
• Readable text size, spacing, contrast, and line length
• Keyboard-operable links, accordions, galleries, timelines, and video controls
• Visible focus and descriptive link names
• Suitable alternative text for informative portraits, historical images, and diagrams
• Empty alternative text for purely decorative images
• Captions, transcripts, or audio description where media requires them
• Responsive reflow without hidden biographies or horizontal scrolling
• Reduced motion and control over auto-advancing content

Do not put essential biographies or history only inside images. Automated tools can find some problems, but manual keyboard, screen-reader, zoom, mobile, and content review are still important. Seek qualified accessibility and legal guidance for applicable obligations and conformance claims.

16. End with the next step that fits the reader's new context

The About page has established identity and trust. Guide the visitor toward the action most consistent with that information.

Useful next steps include:

• Explore the primary services
• Review representative work or case studies
• Visit the shop or view service areas
• Read the process or pricing guide
• Meet the team or review credentials
• Submit a project inquiry
• View appropriate job openings
• Contact the correct department or owner

Do not end with several equally dominant buttons. Choose one primary customer action and offer a small number of contextual alternatives. If the About page serves hiring, press, partnership, and sales audiences, route each clearly without turning the entire page into a directory.

17. Use this practical About-page template

Adjust the order to match the business, but this sequence provides a strong starting point:

1. Opening identity: what the business is, whom it serves, where it operates, and one grounded difference.
2. Useful origin: why it started and which real customer or craft problem shaped it.
3. Development: meaningful milestones, learning, or changes that explain the present operation.
4. People: owners, leaders, craftspeople, or customer-facing roles with relevant biographies.
5. Approach: how experience and values affect decisions, process, quality, or customer care.
6. Proof: original photographs, credentials, work, timeline, recognition, or documented facts.
7. Operation: location, service area, structure, and practical customer context.
8. Next step: the service, work, location, or inquiry path that matters most.

Final review questions

• Can a stranger explain what the business does and where it works?
• Is it clear who is responsible?
• Does every major claim have support?
• Does the story connect to the current customer experience?
• Are the photographs real, permissioned, and current?
• Would the page still be credible without adjectives?
• Can the team maintain every date, role, credential, link, and number?
• Is the next useful action obvious?

Overtime Innovations can build or improve the About page

Overtime Innovations helps small businesses turn their real people, history, experience, process, and proof into clear website content. A focused engagement can audit the current About page, identify unsupported or missing information, organize the company story, plan original imagery, improve page structure and calls to action, and connect the page to services, work, local search, resources, and contact paths.

We can also support broader branding and visual identity or plan, design, and develop the wider website when the current system cannot present the business credibly. Website work can include content organization, basic copy support, responsive page design, accessible implementation, on-page search foundations, appropriate structured data, analytics, testing, launch preparation, and ongoing support.

The right scope depends on the business history, people, proof, available photography, current brand, services, platform, accessibility requirements, timeline, and budget. We will not invent founders, customers, awards, locations, credentials, values, or milestones to fill the page.

Explore our website design and development services, or send us the current page and the parts of the business story customers need to understand.

Frequently asked questions

What should a small-business About page include?

Include the company identity, useful origin story, relevant people, applicable experience, demonstrated values, credible evidence, location or operating model, original imagery, and a relevant next step.

How long should an About page be?

Use enough content to answer the customer's trust questions without unrelated biography or filler. A team, long history, regulated service, or complex operation may justify more detail than a simple owner-operated business.

Should it be written in first person or third person?

Either can work. First person often suits a founder-led business; third person can suit a larger team or formal profile. Choose one voice, remain consistent, and prioritize natural clarity.

Does an About page help with SEO?

It can help people and search systems understand who operates the site, what the organization does, where it works, and why its content or claims may be trustworthy. It does not replace detailed service, product, location, and resource pages.

Should we include team photos?

Use current original photographs when they help customers understand or recognize the people, work, or location. Obtain appropriate permission, protect privacy, maintain the page, and provide suitable alternative text based on each image's purpose.

Can Overtime Innovations improve the About page?

Yes. We can audit the current content, organize the company story and evidence, support basic copy and imagery planning, improve design and customer paths, add appropriate search and accessibility foundations, or build the wider website when needed.