Why your about page isn’t working…
and what to do ABOUT IT
Here's a fun fact nobody asked for: your About page is probably the second most visited page on your entire website. Second only to your homepage, it's where people land when they've looked at your work, thought okay this is GOOD, and then immediately gone looking for the human behind it.
And yet. AND YET. For most creative business owners, the About page is the one that took four times longer than every other page to write, still doesn't feel right, and gets quietly ignored every time a website refresh comes up.
We see you. We are you. (Well — we were you, before we sorted it. More on that later.)
Here's the thing: this isn't a character flaw. Writing about yourself is genuinely, objectively difficult — especially if you're a designer, photographer, illustrator or creative founder who would much rather let the work do the talking. The problem is, the work can't do it alone. People buy from people. And before they buy from you, they need to feel like they know you.
So if your About page is currently a slightly anxious paragraph that was written at 11pm the night before your site launched, let's fix that, shall we?
5 common ABOUT PAGE MISTAKES
Before we get into what works beautifully, let's name what really, truly doesn't. These patterns show up constantly… even on the websites of incredibly talented, legitimately established creatives.
1. It reads like a LinkedIn profile
A tidy list of credentials, qualifications, and years of experience. Impressive? Sure. Memorable? Not even a little bit. Your About page is not a job application, it's an invitation. A very good one, ideally. Treat it accordingly.
2. It's actually, literally all about you
This is the counterintuitive one that tends to blow people's minds a bit. The most effective About pages keep circling back to the reader: their frustrations, their goals, why you specifically are the right person for them. Your story is the vehicle, not the destination. (Sorry. It's true.)
3. It's vague where it desperately needs to be specific
I'm passionate about helping brands tell their story" could apply to roughly 40,000 people on Instagram right now and we are not exaggerating. Specific details — who you work with, what problems you actually solve, how you work — are what make someone think oh. THIS is the person. Vague is forgettable. Specific is magnetic.
4. The tone has gone stiff
Your About page was written by the slightly formal, trying-very-hard version of you, and everyone can feel it. If you're warm and funny and real on a call, but your page sounds like a press release, people notice the gap, even if they can't name it. The goal is to sound like yourself on a very good day, not like your nervous-self at a job interview.
5. It was last updated in 2021 (or earlier, yikes!)
Your business has grown. Your offering has shifted. Your ideal client has changed. And your About page still mentions that service you quietly phased out eighteen months ago. An outdated page doesn't just look a bit neglected, it actively erodes trust. No thanks!
what a great about page ACTUALLY DOES
Hint: It’s not about you.
Here's the reframe that changes everything: a great About page isn't really about you. It's about making the right person feel completely and utterly seen.
When someone lands on your About page, they're not there for a biography. They're there to answer one very specific question: Is this the right person for me?
Your job, the entire job, is to answer that question as quickly and clearly as possible, in a voice that sounds like an actual human being rather than a brand deck.
A well-written About page does four things, and it does them all at once:
Builds trust by showing the person behind the brand (not just the services)
Filters your audience so the right clients feel pulled in and the wrong ones self-select out (which is a GOOD thing)
Sets the tone for what it's like to work with you before anyone has spent a cent
Earns the next click to your services, your contact page, or anywhere else you want them to go
It doesn't need to be long. It doesn't need to be exhaustive. It just needs to be considered, specific, and unmistakably yours.
what the difference LOOKS LIKE
Here are two About page openings for the same fictional brand: a graphic designer named Mia.
Before:
Mia is a Brisbane-based graphic designer with over eight years of experience in brand identity, print design, and digital assets. She holds a Bachelor of Design from QUT and has worked with clients across retail, hospitality, and the arts.
Accurate. Tidy. Completely forgettable. You could close the tab right now and remember nothing about Mia except that she exists (maybe not even that).
After:
Mia designs for brands that are ready to be taken seriously. After eight years working across retail, hospitality and the arts, she's developed a sharp eye for what makes a brand stick, and an equally sharp instinct for when something's not quite landing. If your work is genuinely good but your visual identity hasn't caught up yet, that's Mia’s jam.
Same person. Same experience. Completely different effect. The second version tells you who she's for, what she believes, and what problem she solves — all in three sentences. No CV required.
That's what a great About page does. It doesn't just describe you. It positions you. (There's a big difference, and it's worth sitting with.)
think about this BEFORE YOU WRITE
Most About pages fail not in the writing, but in the preparation stage. People sit down and try to write without having actual clarity on what they want to say — and then wonder why it feels like pulling teeth.
These are the questions we ask every client before we write anything. Work through them properly (no rushing, no skimming) — your answers are the raw material:
Who is your ideal client, specifically? Not "small business owners" — get granular. What do they do? What do they care about? What's keeping them up at night?
What do you actually believe about your work? What's your genuine point of view — the thing you'd argue for in a room full of people who think differently?
What makes the way you work distinct? Not your qualifications — your approach. The thing clients mention in reviews without being prompted.
What has shaped you professionally? Not your entire career history, but the moments that genuinely changed how you think or work.
What do you want people to do after reading your page? Where should they go next — and does your page actually lead them there?
Take your time with these. The good answers won't arrive in ten minutes, and that's completely fine. The goal is to get underneath the surface-level stuff and find the things that are genuinely, specifically, unmistakably yours.
a quick word on ABOUT PAGE LENGTH
No universal rules here, but most About pages that work land somewhere between 200 and 450 words. Long enough to build real connection and credibility. Short enough that people actually read the whole thing.
If yours is sitting at 80 words, it's probably underselling you significantly. If it's at 800, you're likely losing people before they get to the good bit. The goal isn't completeness, it's connection. Those are very different things.
so, you're FINALLY READY TO SORT THIS
If you've made it this far nodding along and thinking yes, this is exactly what's wrong with mine — firstly, hello, you're in the right place. Secondly, awareness is step one. Actually writing the thing is the harder part.
For a lot of creative founders, the issue isn't that they don't have a great story. It's that they're too close to it to see what's worth keeping, what's worth saying, and how to shape it into something that sounds like them and works.
That's exactly what we do at Studio Chevell.
We start with a real conversation — not a questionnaire — and from there, we shape your story into copy that feels true, reads beautifully, and does its job without you having to explain it in the follow-up email. If your About page has been sitting on the to-do list for long enough, it might be time to hand it over to someone who does this for a living.
(That's us. We do this for a living.)