The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about

by Matt Stratton on November 9, 2009

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to redesign/improvements to this fancy-pants blog here…and one area that I’ve always known to need improvement is my About page.

It’s pretty basic right now, as you can see.

about-page

Pretty sparse, right? And it certainly doesn’t tell you anything about me. Matt Cheuvront over at Life Without Pants has a GREAT post about improving your About page…and WHY you should put in the effort. Inspired by this, I am moving on with the process of making a truly rockin’ About page. But I need some help in figuring out exactly what direction to go.

What more do you want to know?

Content would be job one here – what more can I tell you about me? Should I include autobiographical information? Would a link to my résumé be interesting? Do you care about my family?

Format and presentation

It seems like having an introductory video on your About page is the new hotness. I suppose this is also way more popular if the person in question is a mondo-hot specimen, but I can see the value and engagement potential of adding video. What do you think? Do I need more pictures, maybe? What else can I do with the presentation of this page to really make it feel engaging and personal?

Speaking of engagement

I’ve got comments enabled on my About page. Does this make sense? Is this the kind of page people comment on? Or would I be better served just adding a link to my Contact page here?

I’m looking forward to any feedback you, my loyal readers, have on this topic. I really do want to open up this blog and make the experience more rewarding…and polishing up the About page seems like a great place to start. What do you think? What have you done with YOUR About pages? What do you like about other About pages you’ve seen?

  • Guest
    Saw your call for opinions from @doniree on Twitter. :)

    I think your about page is actually short, sweet and to the point. It works. It doesn't, however, tell me all THAT much about you. I think you could build it out a bit by telling perhaps things you like, dislike, a short and dirty life or career path history, etc. I think autobiographical info is great - but I also enjoy About Me pages that are kinda witty and funny. A bit of humor. Kinda like you did with the last sentence in your current one.

    If you're going for this being more of a professional or "get a job" About page - then I'd totally go for the link to resume and video expose. Both of which I hear are super popular and what I'm going to do in my "professional" Web site.
  • Thanks, Jeanna, for the awesome feedback. I definitely think that breaking out some more detail is going to be Job One - for example, I think that I allude being a "former filmmaker", but don't actually say anything about the films that I made. I say I'm a technologist, but don't really explain what that means.

    I'm not gearing towards a "get a job" type of page, as I love my job to pieces and have no interest in trying to find a new one. But I *am* thinking about adding a link to my resume, not so much for people who want to hire me, but as another piece of the "who am I?" puzzle.
  • I like random factoids on an About page. Some informative stuff, balanced out with some random things. I find that it makes people more personable, and relative if not only are they writing about their successes, but also what makes them just like everyone else.

    I.E. I'm a love of all things Netowrking, Social Media and Lima Beans"
  • Aw crap, I have no idea. I'm still struggling with my about me page. I'll be interested in seeing what you come up with, maybe it'll inspire me.
  • I will say that your About page needs way more of your self-portraiture. I think that you could tell a really compelling "about" story, illustrated by those photos!
  • Matt - my advice is to BE UNIQUE - do something different, something that you don't usually find on an about page - and make your about page VALUABLE to your customers. MY about page serves multiple purposes: 1) It lets people physically see who I am 2) It's unique in the video-format I use 3) It provides value to the reader by giving them a guidemap on what to look for around the blog. 4) It has some humor, and it's memorable.

    Keep that in mind moving forward - thanks for the shout out here, happy that my post served as a source of motivation toward you getting things done! Cheers!
  • Well, it was a delayed motivation, since I got the itch to do this right after reading your post (however many months ago), but only really started now. Heh.
  • I like a little bit of personal information in an about page, it adds personality to the information you present. I especially appreciate this when a blogger is pretty topical - sure they might be interesting and relevant, but if I know a little about who they are and what they like, I feel a stronger connection and trust to the information they present.

    I've toyed with this video idea. I've been wanting to do more video blogging in general, but have NO IDEA where to start. I encourage it, mostly because I want to see how other people tackle it :)
  • I know what you mean, re: video blogging. I love the idea, but I haven't been able to figure out what, in my usual content, translates well to video. Requires additional ponderage!
  • Jumping in... I'm not a fan of video blogging. Maybe it's just me, maybe it's sheer laziness... but I tend to skip past blogs where I have to PLAY the blog. I'd rather read, I'm a fast reader, and it allows me to start commenting immediately.
  • I think I tend to agree with you on this, Ari. Part of it has to do with the fact that I usually don't have my speakers on (when at work, for example)...or I'm reading on my iPhone, so again, no video for me as the reader.

    I think that having a video piece as a *supplement* is kind of useful though.
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