Is Your About Page Crammed with Jargon?
Bore Your Readers with Mindless Drivel, or Tell a Story and Engage Them
Does your “About Us” page tell a story? If not, you’re wasting a webpage.
Whenever I go through the website of a potential client, I make notes on what I see. What they’re saying. What they’re not saying.
I always visit the About page too.
After the homepage, it’s the most frustrating. Because 9 times out of 10, it’s just like all the others.
Is Your About Page “Unique Like Everyone Else’s?”
The core purpose of an About page is to tell readers what you do. And who’s doing it.
You’re introducing the people you think customers should know about. Who they’ll have a working relationship with.
The sort of information that shows you’re a good fit for them.
Thing is, most companies wind up wasting the page.
They throw up some names, add bios, and think that’s enough. All that does is create a clone of every other About page.
Worse still, a lot of these pages are written using the same thoughtless, jargon-choked statements.
Here, some examples. Any of these look familiar?
“We are committed to the highest quality service.”
So’s everyone else. Meaningless claim.
“We’re constantly upgrading our skills.”
So you don’t have any time for work, then?
“Real people who pick up when you call.”
(Ever notice that when they say this, it’s really hard to get a callback?)
“Your best choice for XYZ.”
Bold claim. Got any proof?
Oh, and see my “thought leader” post about why this type of thinking is bunk.
“Redefining quality service through world-class innovations.”
Wow. You took 7 words to say nothing at all.
An About Alternative: Tell Your Readers a Story
Chances are, “About Us” is the 2nd or 3rd most-visited page on your site. So why not give people content people would enjoy reading?
Like a story. You do know your company’s story right? How the business came to be, where the people came from, what motivated them to join your company?
This is the place to tell it.
Your story is your guiding principle. The sails for your ship.
Here’s an example of what I mean. This is an “About Story” I wrote up for a 2-man software startup. It was completely redone before it went live, so this version should be safe to post. (Some details altered/removed, of course.)
LicenseHound is a software license tracker app for Windows and Linux. Made by Jeff B and Mel C.
Jeff and Mel met through a mutual graphic-designer friend. Jeff wanted to start a side business doing specialty programming in C#. Mel worked for an SEO agency.
They hung out for a while, beat each other at videos games, and talked their way through lots of ideas. Eventually they found one they both liked. So they pooled their talents to make the app, and a website to sell it.
It’s now on the Android Market. (That’s probably how you got here.)
Welcome! Head to the App Details page to see how LicenseHound works.
I see this happening more & more with startups and newer companies.
For instance: “What is Spotify?”
This is a prime example of Clear Content. The About page tells you exactly what to expect from Spotify’s service. They show it to you with images & word paintings. And they encourage you to try it all out.
Another About Us example is MailChimp.
That giant monkey might scare a kid or two, but the content is great. Short, lively, and it talks casually about which customers are a good fit for them.
Both these examples also link off to subpages, too. Getting more specific. Guiding the reader on to further information.
In other words, they start telling you their story.
Does your About page do that?
Next post, I’ll share a framework to help you write your own “About Us” Story.
Unsuck-It.com: A Clear Content, Anti-Jargon Resource
I took a break from a new post to listen to Content Talks. Episode 9, with Mike Monteiro, to be precise.
The topic was the business of design. But along the way, they mentioned UnSuck-It.com.
I’d never heard of it before. (Which, given this blog, is outright bizarre!)
So of course I checked it out. The site is a database of witty common-sense alternatives for jargon terms. Rewritten – “unsucked” – so they make sense.
I am ecstatic to see this. Not only did we badly need this out there, but it means I don’t have to build it myself! (I did have a similar idea in my notes.)
Whoever wrote the ‘unsucked’ explanations deserves a medal. Lots of great sarcasm to quash any jargon-user’s (self-)righteous fury.
I’ll quote a few examples:
Gamification
-Unsucked: “A popular product strategy fantasy about turning every mundane task into Farmville.”
My Comment: While balancing work and play is healthy, the fact that ‘gamification’ exists worries me.
Red Flag
-Unsucked: “Concern.”
My Comment: If you’re in Texas, you can use this. (It’s in the state business code, I think.) Everywhere else? It’s just a concern.
Social Media Strategy
-Unsucked: “Typing into text areas.”
My Comment: Heehee! Hey, wait a second…
Solution
-Unsucked: “Software. Please, just call it software.”
My Comment: Yes! We even have extra add-ons to make it clearer! Software program, software application…a “solution” is what you reach after USING the software!
Take It to the Next Level
-Unsucked: “Improve it.”
My Comment: Hatred of this term has sustained me for years.
“Unsuck” Your Content Before Posting It
I happily recommend this site to everyone writing content. If you’re using a term that’s listed on UnSuck-It.com, reconsider.
Can you be clearer? Chances are you can. Then your content won’t suck.
Next time I’ll write on content development for startups. (Product’s not the only thing you’ll need to work out!) Watch for it soon.
While you wait, why not follow me on Twitter or add Blue Ferret’s Clear Content Writing to your RSS?
How to Create Your Own BOGs
(And Why Your Company Needs Them)
Creating business guidelines unique to YOU makes your company trustworthy.
What evokes more trust: Content full of generalities, or content that explains precisely how you (and only you) work?
Last month I wrote a post about the term “best practices.” How too many businesses use it instead of detailing how they do things, expecting their readers to “just get it.”
I argued for writing out specific guidelines. If not for your industry, then at least for your company. Last week I created a name for them: Business Operating Guidelines.
BOGs for short.
I promised a how-to on creating your own BOGs. A set of guidelines on…how to make guidelines.
Now, these guidelines I’m recommending are what spur the beginnings of trust among your customers. They must reflect what you actually do–not what you imagine you do.
Don’t just dash off one-liners for each guideline and call them done. Roll these around in your workplace. Ask employees what they would say. Get feedback from customers.
Make sense? Okay, let’s go for it.
CAVEAT: This is a prototype document. It will change as time and business moves along. Bookmark it and check back.
Guidelines for Writing Guidelines: How to Create BOGs
- List out the industries, locations and sizes of your clients. Include prospects too (add buyer personas if you have them). All BOGs must address these people.
- Detail your “typical project.” Go step-by-step, from first contact to final billing. Be as specific as you can without naming (client) names.
- Write out exactly what you do in the event of a problem. Do this for the 3 problems that first come to mind.
- Identify which communication channels you prioritize (email? Phone? IM?). Then identify which ones your customers prioritize. Do they match? If not, why not?
- Write out your initial BOG ideas. THEN discuss them with employees. Ask questions, and let the conversation bring up more questions.
- Write down the things your customers ask for. Address all of the problems.
- Frame your BOGs in terms of a conversation with your audience about these topics. Don’t preach or rattle on. What frustrates them? Is there something you do that’s different from other companies? (Do the customers like that?)
- Include examples. Examples of your documentation, your procedures…the conversations you have. Things like:
- Project Quote Documents
- Names & Contact information for specific tasks (customer service, issues, department heads)
- Your Interactions with Partners, or Vendors
- Examine competitors’ websites. Is there helpful content you could offer that they don’t? Write a BOG pointing this out.
- Post the BOGs prominently on your website. Include them in company documents. Make them easy to find.
P.S. – Always use Clear Content for BOGs. Simple, human language.
Now, what do we have after all of that? A bunch of specific, relevant content!
(This one activity could generate dozens of ideas for even more content, too.)
The BOG Advantage to Business: Differentiation
My bet is that BOGs will help you build authority in your industry.
You define how others see you with this content. Everyone else has to follow that.
“But we can’t define how our whole industry works! That’s rude!”
You don’t have to define BOGs for your industry. Just define your own guidelines. It can be a big differentiator for small businesses looking to garner a wider audience.
Specific Guidelines VS. “Best Practices”: Why BOGs Win Out
Posting guidelines on how you work helps you (the business owner/VP/manager) get information out of your head and in front of your audience. People who’d love to know how you work, before they do any business with you.
Instead of wondering what you mean by “best practices,” they have an idea of how you work right up front. Readers get the sense of, “Hey, these are human beings. We can build a good relationship.”
Let me give you a visual on BOG value.
Some of my clients are industrial manufacturers. They know their equipment and their parts inside & out.
But they almost never write out their procedures. It’s all ingrained; they don’t think to tell customers how their business works. They just expect us to trust them (in fairness, most of us do).
As a result, their sites are barren. BOGs give them a chance to beef up their site’s content. Explain what their customers get.
And the customers have that much more reason to trust them.
Want to write out your own BOGs? Tell me about it!
In a future post I’ll share a BOG set for my own business (content creation/editing). Watch for it!
In the meantime, what would you put into BOGs for a B2B Software Development Firm? Or an IT Security Vendor? (Or even a Web Writer?)
What’s a “BOG” and How Does it Relate to Content Creation?
I finally decided on what I want to call my “best practice alternative” concept.
I’ll call them Business Operating Guidelines. Or…
BOGs.
This is important because, for one, it’s an easy-to-recognize acronym. Two, it tweaks the brain a little bit.
Admit it, when you read “BOG” you thought of some large murky messy patch of land with lots of vegetation and mud that wants to eat you.
(Come to think of it, that’s a lot like the content on most websites.)
So, to poke a little fun at all the Confusing Content out there, I’m naming my Business Operating Guidelines concept BOGs.
BOGs are an alternative to this scenario:
1. Company puts the phrase “best practices” in their website content.
2. Company doesn’t bother adding details of how they actually work with customers.
3. Company wonders why people ask them how they operate. Over and over.
By creating your own BOGs, your own operating guidelines, you can differentiate yourself in your industry. And carve out the beginnings of trust with your audience.
Next week I’ll post a how-to on creating your own BOGs. And how to avoid getting BOGged down in the details.
(Sorry, had to.)
What do you think? Decent enough term to add to the business lexicon?
