How To Write An Interior Design Website About Page
Oh the dreaded About page. Many designers get hung up on About pages because we don’t feel comfortable writing about ourselves. We don’t know what to write, and we’re especially uncomfortable tooting our own horns. Even if we’re seasoned design pros with lots of experience and happy clients under our belts, the process of creating our About pages can feel a bit weird.
About pages can be tough to write and are sometimes met with - ahem - avoidance. We jot down a few lines about our backgrounds, throw in some fun facts that make us unique such as our undying love for coffee…, throw up a headshot, and call it done. (Been there and bought the t-shirt)
You may be thinking “It doesn’t matter much anyway” to justify treating your About page as a bit of an afterthought. If so, this next stat may cause you to rethink that attitude: the About page is one of the most visited pages on a website.
If a visitor is serious about you and your services, they will go to your About page to learn more about you/your business. It’s a key piece of real estate in establishing trust and credibility with your audience.
People work with and buy from people they know, like, and trust. Especially if that person is going to work in their home. So yes, your About page matters.
Knowing this, it’s my goal to reframe the dreaded About page for you so it seems less, well, dreadful. I’ll break down the website About page step by step, including a client case study.
About the About Page
Here’s another secret that might help ease some of your anxiety: your About page is really about your AUDIENCE much more so than it’s about YOU.
Think “Why,” not “I.”
Your main job with your About page is to make the reader feel like you understand them at their level, and in turn, to make them feel comfortable with you stepping into their world (literally in the case of interior design) to the point where they’re willing to pay you for your services/products.
You want to provide a brief, compelling reason for your audience to learn more about your work and then take the next step, whatever it may be: book a discovery call, sign up for your newsletter etc.
About Page Tips
NOTE: there’s more than one way to craft an effective About page; here’s one strategy:
Start with a strong headline
Instead of the usual “Hi, I’m Maddie!” write something that lets the reader feel understood by you. Then write a sub-headline that reassures your potential clients they’re in the right place.
Here’s text from digital education guru Amy Porterfield’s About page. Her headline reads:
HEADLINE: How I went from overworked “yes girl” to helping thousands of online entrepreneurs build a life and business they love.
SUB-HEADLINE: Before there was a top-ranked business podcast. Before the best-selling online courses. Before the multiple 7-figure revenues and 250,000+ loyal subscribers…there was a corporate “yes” girl.
Amy’s headlines try to reassure her audience that she was once where they were, (addressing their pain-points) and if she can do it, so can her audience.
Here’s a quick cocktail-napkin sketch of how that could translate into an interior design headline:
It’s time to turn your house into a home, but you don’t know where to start.
A home renovation can be stressful but it doesn’t need to be. With years of interior design experience and expert project management, Linden Studio excels at handling all of the moving parts and decisions to be made. In our skillful hands, rest assured your house will be transformed into a home you love, on time and on budget.
I’m not saying that’s award-winning copy, but you get the idea.
Next, introduce yourself and follow up with your creative credentials
Write a short bio about who you are, what you love to do, and how you got here. Be sure to include a picture of yourself looking at the camera.
Then introduce your reader to what it would be like to work with you
What’s your design process?
What makes you a great fit for your ideal client’s unique needs?
State it and show it in a simple, clear way.
Include social proof: testimonials, “featured in” or other accolades. If you don’t have social proof yet, don’t worry! Just include some of the things you’ve personally accomplished. If you renovated or decorated part of your home for example, cite that as social proof.
Additional imagery showing you in your element, doing what you love to do is always a positive too.
ALWAYS include a CTA (Call To Action)!
What do you most want them to do now?
Visit your Portfolio or Design Services page?
Book a discovery call?
A lot of digital marketers would say to include your CTA “above the fold” meaning the part of the page that’s visible when someone first lands on it without having to scroll. Sometimes this may feel premature (I’m on the fence about it for my own About page). I say do what feels right for you and your business, but make no mistake, you must include a linked CTA.
CASE STUDY: Karla Garcia Design Studio
I worked with Los Angeles interior designer Karla Garcia Design Studio to improve SEO (Search Engine Optimization) along with a website refresh where I zeroed in on the About page.
The “getting to know you” bio portion of Los Angeles-based interior designer Karla Garcia’s website About page.
01 - Navigation
Instead of having separate About pages - a bio page for Karla and another one introducing the studio, I combined them into one. The purpose was to simplify the header navigation and to reduce confusion to website visitors.
02 - Narrative - Karla Garcia Studio Intro & Principal Bio
Then we created a cohesive narrative that starts with introducing visitors to the studio itself where she discusses her overall design philosophy and describes the services offered.
Next is the introduction to Karla Garcia, Principal Designer where she describes how she came into interior design and early experiences that influence and inform her current design style.
03 - Testimonial / Social Proof
Next I included social proof about Karla Garcia Design Studio with a quote from Architectural Digest Pro Directory.
The bottom part of the Karla Garcia Design Studio About page transitions to design services, ensuring the content is kept relevant to the ideal client’s needs, and then provides a clear Call To Action.
04 - Transition into Design Services specifics
For the last section, we described specifics about KDDS design services. The descriptions are brief but sufficient to entice the visitor to find out more.
05 - CTA (Call To Action)
The About page is concluded with a clear Call To Action inviting visitors to learn more about their design services.
Tips On Writing Your Story
One of the key ways to set yourself apart from others who do similar design work is your story. You are the heart and soul of your business. People are naturally curious and want to know more about the person behind the curtain so to speak. Especially if they’re considering having you work in their most intimate environment - their home.
Why do you do what you do?
How did you get here?
Who do you do it for?
I’ll say it once more: People work with and buy from people. People they know, like, and trust. Especially when they want those people to work in their homes!
At this point, are you convinced your About page is important? If you’re ready to go but want more examples, check out Search Engine Journal and Shopify’s roundups of About pages. Next, take a look at your own About page and see if it needs some tweaking.
Delve into your ideal client’s wants, needs, and desires. Tell your story. Include your Call To Action.
Finally - sell your special sauce, because nobody else will!
Check out these other helpful design business-building posts:
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If you have any questions or comments, please drop me a note below. Be sure to check back for my response (I always respond) since no notification is sent.
