If you're building a new website, you're excited and ready to go online. As the website building process moves forward, there are many decisions to make. The home page, product page and the contact us page are important. However, if you really want to build trust with your customers the "about" page is perhaps the most important. The page tells visitor who you are and what your business is all about. This guide explains what should be on this page and how it establishes trust and keeps customers coming back.  

The Story of Your Beginnings

Take the time to construct your story in a couple of paragraphs. Tell customers as much as you can in these paragraphs concisely, yet thoroughly. Here are some items to include in this section:

• how your idea came about
• who you are
• where you came from
• why you started the business
• charities you're involved with
• small family tidbits

Including your story on the "about" page helps visitors know that you're real and that you've worked hard over the years, or have a great idea, and that you are there to help them.

Photos of People Involved

Snap some photos of yourself, your family and your staff. Ask the website builder to place these photos on your page. Your customers see the people behind the business, and this creates more trust and leaves them with a sense that they are doing business with a real person.

Note: Create a brief bio for each staff member as an introduction to customers. Remember, online shoppers often deal with people who they will never meet, and many might be nervous about handing over their credit card information to someone who hides behind a website.

Links to Other Pages

The about page should be clean and crisp, without a lot of clutter hiding important information. However, it's helpful to have a few links going back to other pages on your site. Here are some keys links to add to the about page:

• main product page
• contact us page
• customer review page
• home page

Having a few links to other areas of your website on the about page, helps customers feel as if they haven't reached a dead end on your site. Trust is established when your site is easy to navigate and seems straightforward.  

Keep the about page brief and clean, but be sure to add the appropriate components. Have a link to this page on every other page on your site, so that potential customers can see who are at any time. Ask your website builder for other ideas on what should be included on your about page and concentrate as much energy on it as you do other pages.