Of all the pages on your campaign website, the About page is among the most visited, but most campaigners only spend a fraction of the time building it as they do their homepage. Rather than wasting this valuable real estate as an afterthought biography, you should build an About page that drives action for your campaign.
Focus on Your Visitor
The About page should be written for the benefit of your visitor – the voter, volunteer, or donor – as though it is a one-on-one communication from the candidate. This means writing in a conversational tone and in the first person.
The copy should be a version of your stump speech adapted for the web. Apply the “jobs to be done” framework to your About page and consider the questions they want answered after visiting and make sure you make that information available.
Stand Out
Simply digitizing your palm card or direct mail onto the About page is a missed opportunity. Get more from the page by trimming your bio and avoiding platitudes that could be said by any candidate.
Incorporate statistics, charts, and other visual aids to describe concrete accomplishments.
Keep it Brief
Most of your About page visitors will be on a mobile device so you should write for scanning. That means section headings to organize the information and paragraphs of just a few sentences each.
Add Photos & Videos
Go beyond a static page and incorporate (and regularly update) photos and videos into your About page. Consider creating a series of informal Q&A videos to include on the page that complement specific sections.
Your campaign’s About page is the foundation of an effective website. It will attract more organic traffic than just about any other page – including those you push on email, social media, and with ads. Take advantage of that attention and transform visitors into allies.
