I have sat down to write an About page three times this quarter. For different businesses, each time with a fresh mug of tea and the quiet determination of a person who is finally going to solve a recurring problem.
Each time, I produced the same four paragraphs.
Paragraph one: I am passionate about [noun]. Paragraph two: some history. Paragraph three: a photograph, badly lit. Paragraph four: a call to action that begins "get in touch."
Every time, I looked at what I had written and thought: this does not sound like a real person.
This happens to almost every founder. The reason is that we have been taught, quietly and for many years, that an About page is a biography. It is not. It is an answer to a question the reader is silently holding.
The question the reader is actually asking
When someone clicks About, they are not asking "who are you?" They are asking something much more specific. Usually one of these:
- Do you actually know what you are doing?
- Are you going to still be here in six months when I need you?
- Are you someone I would want to spend money with?
- Do you understand the specific problem I have right now?
Every good About page answers at least one of those. Most bad About pages answer none of them.
The move is to pick the question your best customer is probably asking, and write the page toward that question.
The About page is for the reader, not the founder. Write it that way and it writes itself.
Three rules that get you most of the way
1. Specific beats abstract, every time.
Nobody reads "I am passionate about great design." Everyone reads "I spent six years making wedding invitations by hand before I started doing this full-time." Specific facts are almost impossible to fake and almost impossible to ignore. Lead with one.
2. Proof beats adjective.
The page does not need you to call yourself "experienced" or "trusted." It needs one line of proof — a number, a name, a year, a body of work, a client. "We have built 40 websites in Kenya since 2024" does the work of a paragraph of adjectives. Use the number. Skip the adjectives.
3. Put the reader in the story.
Halfway down the page, the word you should start appearing more often than I or we. The About page is really about whether this business is a good fit for the reader. Say so directly. "If you are the kind of person who cares about X, this is who we are and why we might be right for you" is a legitimate About-page structure. Use it.
The photograph, briefly
The photograph is not optional in 2026, but it also does not need to be a LinkedIn headshot. A photograph of you doing the work you actually do beats a photograph of you smiling at the camera, every time. If you sell cakes, photograph yourself piping a cake. If you sell legal services, photograph yourself at your desk with the law books you actually use. People are trying to work out whether you are real. The photograph either helps them or gets in the way.
A useful test
Write your page. Read it aloud. Ask yourself: could this have been written about any other business in my category?
If the answer is yes, rewrite until it is no. Specificity is not a style choice. It is the entire point.
You do not owe the internet your biography. You owe it your clarity.
Editor notes (Claude → Alex)
Primary: how to write about page. Secondary: AI writing kenya, digital writing kenya. Slug: about-page-for-the-shy.
Internal links: "Specific beats abstract" paragraph → link to /services/content; closing paragraph → link to Article 8 (list-building piece) as a natural next-step read.
Scope note: this is the most practical / how-to piece in the slate. Lighter on the POV, heavier on actionable rules. Counterbalance to the philosophical pieces. A different beat is intentional.