An About Us page is often the first quiet credibility check after somebody has read a service description. The visitor has seen what the business promises; now they want to know who stands behind that promise. A polished headline and a cheerful photograph may create a pleasant first impression, but neither answers whether the organisation is real, relevant or capable of doing the work. An effective About page uses verifiable facts, clear responsibilities and useful routes to further evidence. It does not need a fabricated founder story or an impressive-looking timeline. For a UK business, the page should help a cautious reader establish identity and judge fit before making contact, whilst remaining easy for the team to update when people, services or locations change.
Answer the trust question before the company slogan
Imagine somebody comparing two agencies after receiving a recommendation. One About page says that its team is passionate about innovation. The other clearly explains what the company does, whom it serves and how the responsible people can be contacted. The second gives that reader more material for a sensible decision. Begin by naming the actual business activity and audience. State what sort of work is undertaken, including important boundaries. This is not an invitation to invent specialist expertise or imply a professional qualification where none has been confirmed.
Review the page from the perspective of someone unfamiliar with the brand. Does it identify the organisation rather than simply repeat the homepage's sales copy? Can a reader distinguish its role from a partner, directory or freelance contributor? If the website publishes educational articles, explain how the business connects to that material without claiming that every editor personally performed the described work. Google encourages useful, reliable, people-first content, but does not provide a fixed ranking reward for the mere presence of an About page. Its publisher guidance supports substance and transparency, not an invented trust score.
Describe the organisation's actual work in plain English
Many businesses understand their services internally through departmental labels or technical acronyms. Prospective customers may not. Translate the work into terms somebody evaluating a provider can follow. A digital agency might distinguish marketing strategy from website implementation and ongoing reporting. A product company might explain whether it designs, manufactures, distributes or supports what it sells. This prevents the About page from presenting a larger operation than the business truly has.
Include relevant geographical context only when it is factual and useful. A remote-first team should not imply a staffed office in every city it serves. If customers can visit a premises, explain the correct contact arrangements rather than manufacturing addresses for SEO. Avoid a long catalogue of target phrases. The services already have their own dedicated pages; the About page establishes who the organisation is and why those services belong to it. Check the terminology against the current service catalogue and approved operational records before publication.
Give company history its proper size and evidence
An origin story can be memorable when it explains a genuine change or purpose. It can also become the least convincing part of a site when dates, founder anecdotes and milestones are invented to fill a page. Only publish a founding date, expansion, award or merger after verifying the underlying record. If there is little history to tell, describe the present method of working. There is nothing inherently inadequate about a young organisation being clear about what it is still building.
Distinguish public corporate records from promotional claims. For a registered UK company, Companies House's public register can help verify certain official filing and company details. That register does not certify the quality of the company's service or confirm that its marketing claims are true. A statement about the team's current capabilities needs separate, approved operational evidence. Do not paste private personal information from official records into an article merely because it is publicly discoverable. Choose information that genuinely helps a prospective customer.
Introduce people and responsibility without invented credentials
For some services, the buyer needs to know who will make decisions, deliver the work or answer a problem. A short explanation of actual roles can clarify accountability: who handles enquiries, who owns the project process and who provides support after delivery. Use authorised names and genuine professional qualifications only where confirmed and appropriate. A stock photograph is not proof of a team, and an illustrative organisation chart must never be described as the company's real reporting structure.
The layout should work even when the team changes. An organisation with a small staff might prefer role descriptions and an up-to-date contact route rather than portraits that nobody maintains. If a named biography is useful, assign an owner to review it after departures or changes in responsibility. Avoid personal anecdotes presented in an editor's voice as though the author has direct employment experience. The editorial persona on a website shapes its writing tone; it does not establish professional credentials or create a real employee biography.
Connect significant claims to relevant supporting evidence
Good About pages need not reproduce every piece of documentation. They should offer a sensible path to it. If the business says it performs website accessibility reviews, a page describing the actual method, scope and limits can support that claim. If it refers to an accreditation, link to appropriate verification when available and authorised. If it promises a maintenance process, explain the stages and where customers can find service terms. The link should resolve to the relevant material rather than an unrelated homepage.
Choose evidence according to what is claimed. A company-registration record supports certain identity details; a genuinely documented project can illustrate delivered work; a published service description sets out an offer. These are different evidence categories. Google Search Central's link best practices encourage understandable links, but do not guarantee ranking gains from adding more internal anchors. Do not fill the page with badges, certifications or customer quotes that the business cannot support. A small number of meaningful, current references gives the reader more than a gallery of decorative trust symbols.
Make the route to contact clear and proportionate
After understanding the organisation, the visitor should be able to take the next appropriate step. An About page might link to service details, contact information or a clear enquiry route. Make the distinction between general questions and existing-customer support where those requests enter different systems. Tell people what sort of information is needed and avoid collecting passwords or confidential account details through an ordinary enquiry form.
Test the real route rather than assuming a button is working because it appears in the design. Check keyboard access, visible labels, error feedback and whether an authorised test enquiry actually reaches the intended destination. W3C's forms guidance is relevant to the accessible interaction, not proof that a specific site's backend is working. A contact link that redirects through obsolete pages or opens an inappropriate service does little to strengthen trust. The page's credibility extends to the practical experience immediately after the visitor clicks.
Use metadata and structured data to reinforce the same identity
The HTML title can identify the About page and business clearly. The H1 can use natural wording suitable for the website, but both should refer to the same organisation and page purpose. A meta description might summarise the organisation in one informative sentence without promising a search snippet will display it verbatim. Avoid using the About page as a catch-all commercial landing page packed with unrelated service keywords.
Where appropriate, Google's Organisation structured-data guidance explains how markup can communicate approved identity information. That machine-readable object must agree with the site's visible details. Schema vocabulary does not permit creating nonexistent offices, awards or qualifications. The content editor and technical owner should share a source of truth for the company name, website address and any applicable logo. Passing a structured-data test is not a substitute for an accurate visible page or a guarantee of enhanced Search presentation.
Keep the About page accurate as the business changes
An About page is a maintained record, not a one-time launch decoration. Review it after material changes in leadership, locations, service scope, professional status or contact arrangements. Remove obsolete people and broken links. When a claim no longer matches current operations, revise or delete it rather than retaining a flattering but misleading paragraph. Record who approves factual changes so responsibility does not disappear between marketing and operations.
After an update, inspect the actual public page. A saved CMS field may differ from the live renderer, and internal editorial notes should never appear alongside public copy. Check the displayed editor card, image source, navigation and contact destination on mobile as well as desktop. An About page earns its place by helping someone make a defensible assessment of the organisation. The best final test is uncomplicated: can a cautious customer identify who the business is, understand its genuine work, find support for material claims and contact the correct team without being misled?
Does an About page need company-registration facts or evidence of the actual service?
These are complementary forms of trust information, not interchangeable proof. A registration record can substantiate particular legal identity details; service evidence addresses what the organisation offers and can responsibly claim.
| Decision criterion | Official company-record evidence | Actual service and operational evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Question answered | Which registered entity and filing information is recorded? | What services and responsibilities does the business actually provide? |
| Suitable source | Relevant UK Companies House public records, where applicable | Approved service terms, methods and genuinely documented work |
| Important limitation | Registration does not independently certify competence or service quality | Marketing claims require separate factual approval and maintenance |
| Change trigger | Company identity or relevant official-record change | Service, personnel, eligibility or operating-process change |
| Reader's next action | Verify material identity information without oversharing | Read the relevant offer and use a functioning enquiry route |
Source A — registered identity: UK Companies House, Find and update company information (UK register; relevant only to actual registered entities; live service checked 31 October 2026). Its records should not be portrayed as proof of good service. Source B — useful public copy: Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content (general publisher guidance, checked 31 October 2026). It supports reader-useful information but does not verify any particular company's qualifications. Practical decision: publish only facts appropriate to each source, then provide current, verifiable service information and a usable contact route.
About Us pages: frequently asked questions
Does an About Us page guarantee better search rankings?
No. Its value is helping visitors understand the real organisation and assess its claims. Google does not promise a fixed ranking reward for including such a page.
What should a small business include?
Explain what the business actually does, whom it serves, relevant responsibilities, verifiable history where useful and a clear route to further evidence or contact.
Should every team member have a biography?
Only where approved, accurate and maintainable. Explain responsibilities without inventing qualifications, personal experience or company history.
Does registration prove a company is trustworthy?
Official registration can substantiate particular identity details, not service quality or the truth of every marketing claim. Verify capabilities separately.
How often should the page be reviewed?
Review it after significant changes to people, service scope, locations or contact arrangements, with an owner responsible for keeping claims accurate.