What Belongs On Your "About Me" Page?

dgridley · 10-22-2008, 10:48 PM

What are the essential requirements for a really good About Me page? What questions should you answer for your readers? Here are a few suggestions:

What does the blog have to offer?

You might begin by telling your reader the intended focus of the blog and what you have to offer.

It's important here to consider your audience. Who are you writing for?

What are the benefits to subscribers?

You might suggest that visitors subscribe to your RSS feed and let them know how they might benefit from doing so.

What are your credentials?

What qualifies you to write your blog? Give some background here. Here's your opportunity to introduce yourself, rather than the blog.

Don't forget that the About Me page is probably the second most read section of your blog besides the most recent posts. In some cases, it may be the first page read and your visitor's first impression of your blog.

Remember, you rarely get a second chance to make a "first impression".. make sure your readers see you and your blog the way you intend from the beginning. A good About Me page can translate into alot of quality traffic.

WebForging · 10-24-2008, 07:03 AM

Great post, Dave!

I would add this:

Motivation Plainly state your reason for blogging. Hobby or professional? Are you trying to sell something? I like it when people speak plainly about where they're coming from.

Affiliations Much like the credentials you mention, your professional and civic memberships say something about who you are, and who you're involved with in the 'real world'.

Images Good images add visual impact and of course are "worth a thousand words".

What else would our WebLoggers recommend?

Regards,
Keith

dgridley · 10-25-2008, 05:34 PM

Some more good points, Keith.. and, while we're on the subject, is an About Me page always required in your opinion? Are there some categories of blog that might be exempt?

iowadawg · 10-25-2008, 06:46 PM

Blogs that are pulling content from other sites (videos, content, etc) why bother unless you state "nothing original here folks".

Blogs that pull all content from a database.
Again, why bother since nothing original is going to show up.

WebForging · 10-26-2008, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dgridley

Some more good points, Keith.. and, while we're on the subject, is an About Me page always required in your opinion? Are there some categories of blog that might be exempt?

Definitely some exempt. PostSecret for example

Quote:

Originally Posted by iowadawg

Blogs that are pulling content from other sites (videos, content, etc) why bother unless you state "nothing original here folks".

Blogs that pull all content from a database.
Again, why bother since nothing original is going to show up.

Agreed, except that anyone doing that (just repeat other into) might want to do an 'About' page to differentiate content and load keywords.

Regards,
Keith

iowadawg · 10-26-2008, 11:19 AM

True about differentiating when you have a blog that is not original content.

One thing I find in so many blogs, even old blogs, is the about page is the standard wordpress set up.
Like the blog owner never bothered checking into his about page.

dgridley · 10-26-2008, 12:52 PM

Alot of users don't even know the option of pages exists.. don't forget there are different levels of users from new to expert.

Quote:

Originally Posted by iowadawg

True about differentiating when you have a blog that is not original content.

One thing I find in so many blogs, even old blogs, is the about page is the standard wordpress set up.
Like the blog owner never bothered checking into his about page.

iowadawg · 10-26-2008, 01:00 PM

I can see a new user, but one would think anyone who has a blog that is 3 months or older would have found it by that time.

dgridley · 10-26-2008, 02:14 PM

Depends on their interest level too.. I actually could care less about an About Me page for the most part. I'd probably only use on for a truly focused blog.

WebForging · 10-27-2008, 09:01 AM

I would add another item for the About Us page of many blogs:

Geographic Information It is often nice to know what part of the world/country/state, etc., someone is from

Complete Contact Information is important for many commercial blogs.

Regards,
Keith