What Happened to About Us?

From time to time someone will tell me about a cool new website (usually trendy or social media-y) and when I go there I can’t tell what it is or why I should care about it. Sometimes, these sites don't even have an “About Us” page. Just to be clear, every website should have an “About Us” and a “Contact Us” page. Without them, the user is left to assume either (1) you are hiding something (like a scam or trying to look larger and more experienced than you are) or (2) you are talking to yourself (because you don’t know how to talk to strangers or you assume you are so cool everyone will already know about you).

This is just an extreme example of mistakes that most everyone makes with their website when they, for example, use jargon or assume a given level of subject matter knowledge. Your website should be interesting and understandable to those who know you best as well as those who have never heard of you before. Try to pretend you don’t know you and read your website. Can you easily tell who this is, what they do, and why you should care? Better yet, ask a stranger to read your website and then tell you who you are. You might be surprised.