The First-Round Handshake: What Your About Page Owes a Stranger

Most About pages are written backwards. Someone opens a blank document, thinks ‘what should people know about us?’, and starts listing the company story: founded in a certain year, grown to a certain headcount, mission to [verb] [industry]. All true. All sensible. All a bit like handing a stranger your CV at a networking event and walking off before they can ask a question.

That is the problem. A CV is a document for a decision already in progress. It assumes the reader has a role in mind and wants the chronology. Your About page usually meets someone earlier than that. They have landed there from a footer link, a search result or a moment of curiosity. They are not yet asking ‘are you qualified?’ They are asking something blunter: ‘Do you understand my problem, and can I trust you with it?’

That is a handshake, not a CV. And a handshake does not recite your life story. It signals recognition, intent and a reasonable chance of a second meeting.

The CV reflex is understandable—and expensive

Founders write CV-style About pages because they are close to the details. The founding year feels important. The awards feel reassuring. The mission statement feels necessary. So the page becomes a cabinet of achievements, arranged in the order that makes sense to the people inside the business.

But a stranger does not read in that order. They scan for themselves. If the first two paragraphs are about your journey, they have to work out whether you are relevant to theirs. Most will not bother. They will click back to the homepage, or worse, to a competitor who got to the point.

The fix is not to hide your credentials. It is to sequence them properly. Lead with the handshake. Keep the CV for later.

What a stranger actually needs from an About page

Before you rewrite anything, read your current page through three questions:

1. Do you understand my problem? Not my industry in general—my specific, boring, recurring problem. The one that made me search for help.
2. Can I trust you with it? Trust comes from specificity, proof and a sense that you have done this before for people like me.
3. What happens if I take the next step? A clear, low-friction action beats a vague invitation to ‘get in touch’.

If your About page answers those three questions in the first screen or so, it is doing its job. If it answers ‘where did you come from?’ first, it is still a CV.

A practical structure: who, proof, human, next

You do not need a radical redesign. You need a better order. Try this four-part structure.

1. Who you help, in recognisable terms

Start with the visitor’s world, not your timeline. One or two sentences is enough. Name the kind of client and the problem you solve, using the language they would use themselves.

Before: ‘Founded in 2011, [Firm] is an award-winning accountancy practice dedicated to delivering excellence across the UK.’

After: ‘We help owner-managed businesses in the Midlands get through year-end without a last-minute scramble. Most of our clients come to us after a growth spurt makes their old bookkeeping arrangement creak.’

Same firm. Same credibility. Very different handshake.

2. Proof that sounds like evidence, not applause

Proof is not ‘passionate about what we do’. Proof is a specific outcome, a client type, a number you can stand behind, or a process you follow. If you can name clients, do. If you cannot, describe the pattern: ‘We have spent the last eight years helping independent retailers move from spreadsheets to proper stock systems.’

Keep it short. One strong proof point is better than four vague ones. And if you are going to mention awards, put them where they belong: as supporting evidence, not the opening act.

3. A human detail with a job to do

Every About page needs a human detail. But not just any detail. It should explain how you work, what you care about, or why someone would enjoy dealing with you. A photo of the team is fine. A line about the founder’s dog is only useful if the dog somehow explains your customer service.

Better: ‘The same person who answers your first email stays on your account. We do not have a call centre, and we do not hand you off after the sale.’ That is human and operational at the same time. It gives the reader something to trust.

4. A clear next step

‘Get in touch’ is not a next step. It is a shrug. Tell the reader exactly what happens if they raise a hand. ‘Book a 20-minute fit call.’ ‘Send us your current site and we will reply with three quick notes.’ ‘Call the office and ask for [Name].’

Make it feel small enough to do today. The second meeting starts with a first step that does not feel like a commitment.

The CV material still has a home

This is not an argument for deleting your history. Founding year, team size, accreditations and client logos all have a role. Put them lower down, or on a separate team or company page. The About page can still contain a short ‘the details’ section once the handshake has done its work.

Think of it like meeting someone at a conference. You do not open with your employment history. You say what you do, who you do it for, and something that makes the other person want to keep talking. The CV comes later—if there is a reason to send it.

The handshake test

Before you publish, read only the first 50 words of your About page. Then ask:

• Does this mention the reader’s problem, or only our company?
• Would a stranger be able to repeat what we do to a colleague?
• Is there one detail that makes us sound like real people?
• Is the next step obvious, specific and small?

If the answer to the first question is ‘only our company’, you have written a CV. Rewrite the opening until it feels like a handshake.

The Content Crib view: sharper About copy is not more flattering. It is more useful. Give the stranger a reason to stay for the second sentence, and you have earned the right to tell them the rest.