Writing about yourself fails because you’re trying to summarise rather than answer — replace the blank page with four questions and the page writes itself in about ten minutes. The problem isn’t writing ability; it’s that “tell us about your business” has no natural starting point.
The moment it happens
Why can’t you write two paragraphs about your own business? You’ve explained it a thousand times across a counter. You can pitch it in a lift. Then the developer asks for the about page and the sentence that comes out is “We are a leading provider of quality services with customer satisfaction as our top priority” — which you know is useless even as you type it.
That’s not a personal failing. It’s what happens when you reach for a formal register you never use, because writing feels like it demands one.
The four questions
Answer these out loud, ideally as a voice note. Don’t compose — just answer.
1. What do you actually do, in the words you’d use with a customer?
Not “integrated solutions”. “We make modular kitchens and we install them in about three weeks.”
2. Who do you do it for, and who is it not for?
“Mostly homeowners in Noida and Greater Noida. We don’t do commercial fit-outs.” The exclusion does more work than the inclusion — it makes the whole page believable.
3. How long, and how many?
“Since 2013. Around 400 kitchens.” Numbers and dates are the entire credibility budget of an about page, and they cost nothing.
4. Why do people choose you over the shop next door?
The honest version, not the aspirational one. “We’re not the cheapest. We finish on the date we give, and we’re still reachable after installation.” If you don’t know, ask two customers — their answer is usually better than yours.
What that produces
Those four answers, lightly tidied, are a better about page than most professionally written ones — because they’re specific and checkable. A pattern that works:
[What you do, plainly.] [Who for, and who not.] [Since when, how many.] [What you’re known for, including a limitation you’re comfortable naming.] [What to do next — call, WhatsApp, visit.]
Five sentences. That’s a complete about page for a small business. Longer isn’t better here; the page is read for reassurance, not entertainment.
What to leave out
| Common on about pages | Why to cut it |
|---|---|
| “Leading provider of quality services” | Says nothing; every competitor claims it |
| Mission and vision statements | Nobody reads them on a small business site |
| “Customer satisfaction is our priority” | Unverifiable, so it reads as filler |
| A long history nobody asked for | Two lines is enough context |
| Stock photo of a boardroom | Undermines the specific things you just said |
The test for any sentence: could a competitor copy it word for word and have it be equally true? If yes, it’s not doing anything.
If English is the obstacle
Say so, plainly. Two workable routes: record your answers in whatever language you think in and have them written up in English, or write the site in Hindi or bilingual if that’s what your customers read. Approving English text you can’t fully check is the worse option, and it’s more common than people admit.
Whichever you choose, the four answers come first. Language is a translation problem after that — a much smaller one than the blank page.
What to do this week
- Record voice-note answers to the four questions. Ten minutes, no editing.
- Ask two customers why they chose you. Use their words.
- Find one number and one date — years in business, projects completed.
- Name one thing you don’t do.
- Send it as-is. Polishing is the writer’s or developer’s job; sourcing is yours.
If you want it done the certain way
If the about page is what’s holding your site up, tell us — a ten-minute call answering those four questions usually replaces weeks of intending to write. Prices are published, the delivery date is written with a refund behind it, and content help is priced plainly rather than discovered mid-project. WhatsApp us; we reply in about five minutes between 9am and 7pm.
Related reading
- Who writes the text for your website?
- How to hand over content without writing a document
- Your website is stuck because it’s waiting for you
- Embarrassed to write your website in English?
FAQ
What should an about us page for a small business include?
What you do in plain words, who you serve and who you don’t, how long you’ve been operating with one real number, what you’re known for, and what to do next. Five specific sentences beat five vague paragraphs.
How long should an about page be?
Short. For most small businesses a few sentences to a couple of short paragraphs is enough — it’s read for reassurance before someone calls, not as an article.
Should I hire someone to write my about page?
Only after you’ve answered the four questions yourself. A writer needs your specifics; without them they’ll produce the same generic paragraph you were trying to avoid.
