Before people hire a local service business, a lot of them go looking for one thing: who is actually behind it.
That's the job of your About page. It matters most for the kind of work where trust is the whole decision: someone coming into your home, handling your money, working on your car, or representing your business to your own customers.
Yet most small business About pages read like a résumé. Founded in 2009. Committed to excellence. Family owned and operated. Our mission is to provide quality service at a fair price.
None of that is wrong. It just doesn't answer what the visitor is really asking: Can I trust you, and are you the right fit for me?
This post covers what a service business About page should include, what to cut, and a simple template you can fill in this week.
Why People Check the About Page Before They Hire
Think about the last time you hired someone you'd never met for something that mattered. A contractor, a lawyer, an accountant. You probably looked at their reviews, then their website, and somewhere in there you went looking for a face and a name.
That's not idle curiosity. It's risk reduction. People are trying to answer a few quiet questions before they pick up the phone:
- Is this a real business with real people?
- Do they work with people like me?
- Will this be a hassle?
- If something goes wrong, who am I dealing with?
Your homepage and service pages answer what you do. The About page answers who they'll be dealing with. For a small business, that's often your biggest advantage over larger competitors, and the About page is where you get to show it. Our post on what pages a small business website needs covers how it fits with the rest of the site.
Make It About the Customer, Not Your Company History
The most common About page mistake is writing it for yourself.
Your history matters to you. The year you started, the name change, the first truck. To a visitor, most of that is background noise unless it connects to something they care about.
Here's the test: for every sentence on your About page, ask "so what?" from the visitor's point of view.
- "Founded in 2009." So what? "We've been fixing roofs in Stark County since 2009, which means we've seen what a Northeast Ohio winter does to every kind of shingle." Now it means something.
- "We're family owned." So what? "When you call, you get me or my brother, not a call center." That's a real benefit.
- "We're committed to quality." So what? Everyone says this. Cut it, or replace it with something specific you actually do.
Your story still belongs on the page. It just needs to work for the reader.
The Five Things Every Service Business About Page Needs
1. A real photo of a real person
This is the single most important element, and the one most often missing. Stock photos of smiling people in a conference room actively hurt you, because visitors recognize them instantly.
Use a real, reasonably current photo of you, your team, or you at work. It doesn't need to be a professional headshot. A clear, well-lit photo on the job site or in your shop often works better because it looks like what the customer will actually get.
2. Who you help
Be specific about who you work with. "We help homeowners" is a start. "We work with homeowners in Canton, North Canton, and Massillon who want the job done right the first time and don't want to chase a contractor for updates" is a page someone can see themselves in.
Being specific doesn't scare off customers outside that description. It makes the right customers feel like they've found the right place.
3. How you work
Uncertainty is one of the biggest reasons people delay hiring. Spell out what working with you looks like:
- How the first conversation works
- How you quote or price
- How you communicate during the job
- What happens when the work is done
Three or four short steps is plenty. The goal is that nothing about the process surprises them.
4. Proof
Your About page is a natural place for a few short testimonials, especially ones that speak to how you work rather than just the result. "He explained everything before he started and called when he said he would" says more about you as a person than "great job."
You can also include credentials that matter to your customers: licenses, certifications, insurance, years of experience, or associations. Keep it to what a customer would actually care about. Our post on what makes a website convert covers where proof does the most work across the rest of the site.
5. A clear next step
Many About pages just end. The visitor has read your story, decided they like you, and then has to go find your contact page on their own.
End with an invitation: a button to call, book, or request a quote, with one sentence about what happens next. "Give me a call or send a message, and I'll get back to you the same day" is enough.
Common Mistakes That Quietly Cost Trust
- No photo, or a stock photo. This is the big one.
- Writing in a voice that doesn't match how you talk. If you're a no-nonsense one-person operation, a page full of corporate language makes you seem less trustworthy, not more.
- "We" when it's just you. There's nothing wrong with being a solo business. Pretending otherwise usually shows, and many customers actively prefer working directly with the owner.
- Outdated information. Team members who left years ago, an old service area, a photo from a different decade.
- A wall of text. Short paragraphs, a few subheadings, and white space make the page easy to scan on a phone, which is where most people will read it.
- No way to act. Covered above, but worth repeating.
A Simple About Page Template You Can Fill In This Week
You don't need to start from scratch. Fill in these sections in your own words, then edit for length.
Headline. Who you are and who you help, in one line. Example: "Honest plumbing for North Canton homeowners, from a local team that picks up the phone."
Opening paragraph (2 to 3 sentences). What you do, where, and why someone should care.
Photo. You, your team, or you at work.
Your story (one short paragraph). Why you started or why you do this work, connected to what it means for the customer.
Who you work with. A sentence or two, or a short list.
How it works. Three or four steps from first contact to finished job.
Proof. Two or three short testimonials, plus any credentials that matter.
Next step. One sentence and a clear button.
That's roughly 300 to 500 words. Long enough to build trust, short enough that people read it.
The Short Version
Your About page isn't a history lesson. It's where a stranger decides whether they trust you enough to call. Show a real person, say clearly who you help and how you work, back it up with proof, and give them an easy next step.
If your website as a whole isn't turning visitors into calls, the About page is often one of several pages that need the same treatment. That's the kind of work we do in our web development service, built around what your customers actually need to see. If you'd like to talk through your site, book a call and we'll take a look together.