‘3 Core Reasons Why The ‘About Us’ Page Matters’ – Sean D’Souza’s Article

When you land on a website, you often are like a shopper wandering
into an unknown supermarket

You have no clue what you’re specifically looking for, and you
stumble from aisle to aisle hoping you’ll find what you need. And
in these situations, you tend to look for the signs.

The signs tell you whether you’re in the bread aisle or the baby
food section. In the same way, the customer looks up at the signs
(these are the tabs on your website navigation bar) and they head
to what’s familiar.

And invariably one of the places they head to is the ‘About Us/Why
Us’ section. So why do they do that? And just what is the purpose
of the ‘About Us/Why Us’ section on your website?

The ‘About Us/Why Us’ works for three reasons:

1) It removes ambiguity’ and hence defines what you are and what
you’re not
2) It provides the prospect with a single point or uniqueness
3) It helps to pass on the message

Let’s explore further…

1) Removing ambiguity

When you’re buying something, one factor always sits on top of the
list. It has to be a good fit. And the ‘About Us/Why Us’ page
assists the prospect to see if you’re a good fit’ or not.

So they head to the page and they start reading. And if you’re
smart and you’ve driven home ONE idea on your page, then the
prospect gets it. But what happens if you don’t nail it down?

That’s when ambiguity decides to stomp through the door and create
a state of utter chaos. If you don’t define ‘why us’, then the
prospect has no direction. So they come to their own conclusion.

That’s rough. Really rough. Because you may be exceptionally good
at doing one thing and they may totally miss out on that one thing.
And they go away thinking you’re good at something else. So
removing ambiguity is critical. But that’s only the first reason
why you need that ‘About Us/Why Us’ page. The second reason is
simply uniqueness.

2) Defining your uniqueness

People don’t get uniqueness. They really don’t. They look up the
term in the dictionary, and there it is: Uniqueness means ‘ONE’. As
in o-n-e. But no, we decide to crowd our message with some other
benefits as well.  Besides, we reason, no one is ever good at just
one thing. So let’s put in several things that we’re good at.

And that’s a mistake. The prospect can’t focus as effectively on
several things. They can focus on one. And if you bring out that
one thing across in reasonable detail, the prospect gets it. They
then walk away with a clear idea of why you’re different. But
there’s more than just the prospect, there’s always someone else in
the background. That takes us to Point 3: pass on the message.

3) Pass on the message

In a fantasy world, we would all make decisions without any
consultation. In a real world it works a little differently. So
when we read about a company, product, brand, we want to justify
our decision. So we go to our spouses, lovers, friends, peers,
accountants  or board of directors. And we pass on the message,
because we know from experience that they will either agree, or
disagree.

Or that in most cases they’re going to have some sort of input. But
even if they volunteer any input into the matter, they are still
sounding boards. And this is why the message on the ‘About Us/Why
Us’ page has to be crystal clear. If you drive home a point that’s
single-minded, the prospect will be able to pass on that message
without too much (if any) distortion. This makes for quicker
decision making.

But let’s take an example, shall we?

At Psychotactics, we run an article writing course. Now admittedly
it doesn’t have its own website, and hence no ‘Why Us’ standalone
page. But let’s run these concepts across the course and see how it
all works.

The Article Writing Course is called the ‘Toughest Course in the
World’

Hah, take the first point of ambiguity and it knocks
ambiguity right out of the stadium. Does it say ‘Tough Course?’
Nope, it says ‘toughest.’ As in, you slog like crazy for the
duration of the course, if you want to be an outstanding writer. So
it’s defined what it is, and what it’s not. And so if you’re going
to be even slightly lazy or wimpy, this course is not for you.

Not surprisingly, the clarity of the statement, ‘Toughest Course in
the World’, also defines the uniqueness. It tells you clearly that
there’s something um, tough, about the course. That the people on
that course will be just as um, tough and resilient. There’s no
ambiguity and hence you get clarity. And because it doesn’t say
‘toughest’, ‘experienced teacher’, ‘lots of extra learning’ etc.,
the message stays unique. There’s no clutter. No add on stuff.

Hence ONE message gets across.

And because it’s so darned clear, you can bounce it off someone
else. You pass on the message with utter clarity, and
zero-distortion. And they may agree with you going ahead and
signing up for the course, or they may bring up objections. But
whatever the situation, it allows you to come to discuss the one
point, and then make a quicker decision.

But  isn’t the ‘About Us’ page supposed to be about us?

No it’s not supposed to be about you. It’s supposed to seem like
it’s about you, but in fact it’s all about the customer. If you are
crystal clear about what makes you different, then the message gets
across.

And it sticks. That prospect remembers your site and what you stand
for, and then comes back to have a second look, and then to buy. In
effect all they’re doing is trying to see if your product or
service is a fit. That’s really all they’re interested in.

So to summarise:

1) It removes ambiguity’ and hence defines what you are and what
you’re not
2) It provides the prospect with a single point or uniqueness
3) It helps to pass on the message

Without a ‘Why Us’ page, you’re throwing a monkey wrench into the
decision making. You’re trying very hard to confuse your prospect.
And if that’s the goal, then you’re on the right path. But if it’s
not the goal, heck you’ve got some work to do.

Quickly too!