How to Write an About Us Page for a Small Business

Most small business About pages read like a tombstone: “Founded in 2015, [Company] is a family-owned business dedicated to quality and service.” Nobody finishes that sentence, and nobody calls because of it. Your About page is one of the most-visited pages on a small business site — usually second only to the homepage — and it’s where a stranger decides whether you’re worth a phone call. Here’s how to write one that actually earns it.

Your About page is a sales page, not a résumé

Visitors land on your About page for one reason: they’re close to hiring you and want to know if they can trust you. They’re not auditing your history. They’re asking one quiet question — Are these people competent, and are they the kind I want in my house or on my account?

That makes a list of dates and services the wrong tool. Trust comes from specifics, proof, and a human you can picture. Write for the nervous customer comparing three quotes, not for a brochure.

The 5 blocks of an About page that converts

Strong small business About pages follow the same skeleton, in this order:

• The one-line promise — Open with who you help and the outcome, not your founding year. “We keep North Austin’s older HVAC systems running so families aren’t stuck in a 95° house in July.”
• The origin story — Two or three sentences on why you started. The more specific the reason, the more it lands: “I left a big franchise after watching it bill customers for parts they didn’t need.”
• Proof — The trust block: years in the trade, license numbers, certifications, a real review count (“6,000+ jobs, 4.9 stars across 310 reviews”). Numbers beat adjectives every time.
• The people — A name, a face, a sentence of personality. Service customers hire a person, not a logo. A photo in work gear outperforms a stock team shot.
• The next step — End with one clear action: book, call, or get a quote. An About page with no CTA leaks every visitor it earns.

A full example (annotated)

Here’s the skeleton filled in for a house-cleaning company:

“Santos Clean keeps busy North Austin households spotless without the guesswork of who’s coming to your door. I’m Maria Santos — I ran housekeeping for a downtown hotel for eight years before starting this company in 2015, because I was tired of watching residential crews cut corners no hotel would ever allow. Today my team has cleaned 6,000+ homes, every cleaner is background-checked and bonded, and we hold a 4.9-star rating across 310 Google reviews. If you’re not happy with the first visit, the second is free — that’s been in writing since day one. Ready for a quieter Saturday? Book a free in-home estimate and we’ll quote you in under 24 hours.”

That’s 120 words: promise, origin, proof, people, and a CTA — no filler, every sentence earning trust. Swap in your own numbers and the same shape works for any trade.

Mistakes that quietly kill your About page

• Leading with the founding year. No one hires you because you opened in 2015. Lead with competence.
• Writing “we” with no faces. A team of anonymous “we” reads like a call center. Name someone.
• Stacking adjectives instead of numbers. “High-quality, reliable, trusted” proves nothing. “310 five-star reviews” does.
• Burying or skipping the CTA. If the page ends with a paragraph instead of a button, you’ve wasted the visit.
• Copying a competitor’s template. Google sees it and customers feel it. Specifics can’t be copied.

How long should it be?

For most small businesses, 150–300 words is plenty — long enough to cover the five blocks, short enough that a phone visitor reads to the end. Break it into short paragraphs, add one real photo, and put your CTA where it’s visible without scrolling on mobile. If you serve multiple trades or locations, add a short bullet list of services rather than padding the prose.

FAQ

First person or third person?

First person (“I started this company because…”) for owner-led service businesses where personal trust is the product. Third person works for larger or B2B teams. Pick one and stay consistent across your site and directory listings.

What should the page headline say?

Not “About Us.” Use the on-page headline for the customer benefit — “The team behind every spotless home in North Austin” — and keep “About” as the nav label only. The headline is prime real estate; don’t waste it on a filing label.

Do I really need a photo?

Yes. A clear, well-lit photo of the owner or crew in work gear beats stock photography for service trades. It answers the silent question of who’s actually showing up. Smartphone shots are fine — bad lighting is not.

How often should I update it?

Refresh your numbers — reviews, jobs completed, team size — every few months. Stale stats (“500 jobs” when you’ve done 5,000) quietly undersell you and date the page.