Crafting An "About Us": Using Your Website to Tell Your Brand's Story

On the table before you is a book. A beautiful book with a captivating cover and stunning illustrations inked across the double spread. There’s a boy in a wolf suit. A boat that sails across an imaginary ocean. A forest full of wild things. 

Yet, as you flip through the pages, you notice something very important is missing. There are no words to tell you what the story is about. Where is the boy going? What is his name? Why does he aspire to become a wild thing himself?

In the end, a blank page can only leave us guessing. We could say the same about any website without a well-crafted “About Us” page. 

No matter how stunning your product pages are, a lack of storytelling can leave your readers wondering why your brand exists and what it’s working toward. That’s why learning how to write an About Us page that tells your story—wild things and all—is essential for any brand’s success. 

Building the Story of Your Brand with Compelling Copy

If you’ve ever read Where the Wild Things Are, you might already know what happens in the book described above. But imagine it’s your first encounter with the classic tale—much like a customer encountering your webpage for the first time ever. With no words to tell us what the story’s about, we’re left with only questions. 

To tell your brand’s story and satisfy the customer’s curiosity, we’re going to need to fill in that blank “About Us” page on your website with some words. But here comes the first obstacle of your plot: how do you choose the right ones?

To start with, it can help to understand the pieces that make up a good story—and how the words within can entice your reader to care about what you have to say. We’ll distill these story elements into five simple steps.

Step 1: Build the Setting

The setting of your story is where it all takes place. In Wild Things, Max’s story has a home, ocean, and forest, while yours entails an enticing world of web copy, visuals, and code. Either way, what matters is how you use that setting. It defines the structure of your story, how easy it is for people to read, and how interesting it is to look at.

Think about your favorite novel, news site, or magazine. Now imagine each page you open as one giant wall of text—no paragraphs, white space, or places for your eyes to rest.

Sound as scary as a terrible beast? A text wall is one easy way to turn your About Us page from protagonist to antagonist and have your readers inching towards the back button.

In that regard, use the setting of your website to structure your story. Here are some tips to avoid losing readers in your ramblings:

• Be bold – Keep your content snappy, precise, and easy to read.

• Sum it up – Use bullets and clear call-outs for lists, numbers, and key information (like we’re doing right now).

• Make it a page-turner – Break up text with images and white space to propel the reader forward to the next thought.

Your page’s images and design may play some part in this, but ultimately, the way you layout the words matters most. 

Step 2: Introduce the Characters

Can you picture the illustrations of Wild Things with no Max? Without even one terrible beast? Yep—it leaves a lot of empty space. In the same way, your About Us needs characters too. 

Without people behind the products or services, your website might start to feel a bit surreal (kind of like Garfield Minus Garfield, a remake of the classic comic without the titular character—a wild thing in his own right). 

Sure, the background art is there. But without that cranky orange cat, it’s just Jon, talking to himself and having existential crises.

Introducing yourself and your team is a key element of gaining your reader’s trust. How so? It shows you’re human. It also tells the reader who they’re supporting by buying your product, signing up for your service, or spending time on your website.

As you build your About Us page template, start with one or two lines that answer the following:

• Who are you? – Talk about the people behind the promise. Don’t be afraid to show your faces in photos, to share something personal, or to level with your readers. Today’s Internet users value honesty and authenticity.

• What do you do? – Explain what your brand produces, sells, organizes, and so on. Sounds simple, right? Still, it doesn’t hurt to be specific here. Odds are, even if someone has already browsed your offerings, they’ve clicked your About page to find the answers to their yet-unsolved questions.

• What do you believe in? – In other words, why do you do what you do? What’s your mission, your vision, your values? Why does this site—and, by extension, your entire business—exist in the first place?

Of course, you can (and should) use creative, compelling wording in your approach. These bullets are just intended to help you put the first lines of ink on the page. 

Step 3: Establish the Problem

You’ve crafted an inspiring setting and introduced your characters. The next step is to establish why you’re here in the first place—the conflict or problem you’re aiming to solve.

Okay, maybe your problem is less about taming wild beasts and more about making waves in pet fashion or shaking up the astronaut food industry. Whatever your niche, you have your reasons for crossing that imaginary ocean to make your brand’s vision a reality. That’s exactly what we’re aiming to share here.

To get to the heart of that conflict and how it motivates you, answer these questions:

• What’s your problem? – Hey, hey—we’re not trying to start a fight. We’re genuinely asking. Detail the problem your brand seeks to solve, and why it matters. This includes any pain points or gaps in other existing solutions. Be specific about what they are, but keep it concise.

• What’s your personal connection to it? – In other words, what brought this problem to your attention? How did it impact your life?

• What made you decide to confront it? – This is the turning point of your story—that part where you said, “Something must be done.”

As you write about the problem your brand hopes to solve, remember to speak to your audience. 

Unless you only sell molecular clock calibration technology to paleontologists who’ll know exactly what you’re talking about (a niche someone should really snatch up), keep your explanation on a level the average consumer can understand.

Step 4: Push the Plot Forward

Here’s where you share your ingenious solution to the problem. It’s what you, the main character, were born to do—your mission, your purpose, your raison d’être. 

It’s also a perfect place to plug your products. How? By answering these questions:

• How does your brand seek to solve the problem? – It’s time for your products, services, and solutions to shine. Be specific about what sets your brand apart from the rest and how your unique approach differentiates your offerings.

• How did the solution come about? – Maybe you spent hours struggling to find the perfect ingredients. Perhaps the inspiration struck with literal lightning. This is one of the most compelling parts of your story, so use your literary razzle-dazzle to paint the picture.

• What’s your process? – A customer might not need to know what shenanigans go on in your product development meetings. However, a brief explanation of your business model, such as how your brand’s offerings are made, organized, or fulfilled, does more than just inform. It shows that you, the writer of this brand bio, aren’t just the person cashing in on the profits. It shows you’re connected to the products and services you’re selling, you care what goes into them, and you believe in their integrity.

• What value does your solution offer, compared to others? – Here’s where you include your value proposition. That includes a summary of your brand’s benefits and what experience the customer can expect throughout the process. It’s your brand’s overall promise to the consumer. 

Step 5: Offer the Resolution

Perhaps your products themselves are a resolution. But just as Max changes throughout his story, your brand is an evolving creature, and your story doesn’t end with a single solution. 

The resolution of your story is an opportunity to show your brand’s potential moving forward, envision what’s next, and invite the reader to imagine their own future with you.

Craft this by answering the following questions:

• Where is your brand heading in the future? – Perhaps you sell hand-embroidered heirloom aprons or select luxury organic fruits and veggies. Even if your products are perishables, however, your customer’s purchase is an investment—both of their money and their trust. Support that investment by communicating your vision for the brand’s future. Depending on your goals, that might entail describing how you hope to continue growing, improving, or innovating within your industry.

• What should the reader do now? – If they’ve made it this far, your reader just might be willing to commit. You could include a standard call to action: a button that allows them to subscribe, jump back into your products, or contact you for more info. But why not keep the thread going, as well? Invite them to see their participation as an extension of your story, and their purchase, time, or investment as a step into your brand’s narrative.

Tell Your Story With Copycat Copywriters

You know who you are and how far you’ve come. Just like how Max knew that sailing over an imaginary ocean, confronting a forest of terrible beasts, and (spoiler) being crowned the king of wild things himself changed him forever. 

But producing an About Us page that awes and inspires requires more than just a knowledge of what, how, and when. You also need the right words to share it. And what if those letters always seem to tumble off the page? 

What if, like an empty book or comic strip, something important is clearly missing?

Allow us to introduce ourselves. We’re Copycat Copywriters—your word-wielding team of writers. We learn your brand from the inside out, then curate the perfect words to share your narrative the way it was meant to be told.

Ready to fill that empty page? Share your story with Copycat.

Sources: 

Scholastic. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. https://shop.scholastic.com/parent-ecommerce/books/where-the-wild-things-are-9780060254926.html  

Garfield Minus Garfield. https://garfieldminusgarfield.net/