Most About pages are wasted SEO real estate. Here's how to turn yours into a local trust signal that actually helps you rank and convert.
Most local business "About Us" pages are wasted SEO real estate. They tell the founder's origin story, list the team's names, and end with a vague mission statement. From a search perspective, they rank for nothing and convert no one.
A well-optimized About page for a local business does something different: it ranks for brand + location searches, builds trust with first-time visitors, and reinforces the geographic and topical relevance signals that Google's local algorithm needs.
The About page is one of the highest-authority pages on any website, it's the page Google uses to understand who the business is and what it represents. It's also one of the pages most likely to appear when users search for your business name or "[business name] [city]."
What Google uses your About page for:
What searchers use your About page for:
A well-crafted About page serves both audiences simultaneously.
Every About page for a local business should contain these location signals:
City and region mentions: Your city, surrounding service areas, and region should appear naturally in the content. Not forced ("We are a plumbing company serving Austin TX and Austin TX customers who need Austin TX plumbing"), but genuinely woven in: "Based in South Austin since 2014, we serve homeowners and businesses across Travis County."
Neighborhood or area specifics: References to local landmarks, neighborhoods, or community context reinforce your genuine local presence. "We've been part of the Midtown community for 12 years" tells Google and customers that you're a real local business.
Local credentials: Chamber of commerce membership, local awards, community involvement, regional certifications, these are both trust signals for customers and local relevance signals for Google.
Your physical presence: If you have a physical location, mention the address or location context on the About page. "Our shop is located at the corner of 5th and Main in downtown Boulder, with on-street parking and light rail access."
Google's quality guidelines emphasize Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). Your About page is the primary place to build these signals.
Experience: How long have you been doing this? How many clients, jobs, or customers have you served? Specific numbers are better than vague claims. "We've completed 3,200+ HVAC installations in the Phoenix metro since 2009" demonstrates experience far better than "we're experienced."
Expertise: What credentials, certifications, or training distinguish your team? For trades: license numbers, certifications (NATE, EPA 608, etc.). For healthcare: board certifications, medical degrees. For professional services: professional association memberships, relevant degrees.
Authoritativeness: Awards, recognition, press mentions, and industry associations. "Voted Best Plumber by Austin American-Statesman readers 2023 and 2024" or "Member of the National Association of Realtors since 2007."
Trustworthiness: Photos of real staff (not stock), real location photos, association logos, BBB rating, clear contact information. Transparency builds trust.
💡 Pro Tip: Include a team photo where people are clearly at your actual location, not standing in front of a generic white background. Location-specific photos reinforce your local presence to both users and Google.
Personal narratives on About pages serve a dual purpose: they humanize your business for customers and they generate natural keyword-rich content for search.
What to include in your founder story:
What not to include:
Team bios: For each team member, include their name, role, and years of experience. For service businesses, include relevant certifications. For specialists, include their area of expertise. Team bios aren't just nice-to-have, they're E-E-A-T signals and can help pages rank for individual team member name searches.
Add LocalBusiness schema to your About page (or ensure it's on your homepage and inherits to About). Key schema elements:
{
"@type": "LocalBusiness",
"name": "Your Business Name",
"address": {
"@type": "PostalAddress",
"streetAddress": "123 Main St",
"addressLocality": "Austin",
"addressRegion": "TX",
"postalCode": "78701"
},
"foundingDate": "2014",
"numberOfEmployees": "12",
"areaServed": ["Austin", "Round Rock", "Cedar Park"]
}
The foundingDate and areaServed fields are particularly relevant for local SEO, they explicitly communicate your longevity and geographic service area.
Your About page should show the exact same business name, address, and phone number as your Google Business Profile. Even minor formatting differences can dilute citation value.
Check these for consistency:
Use Flento's Business Listing Management Software to audit your NAP consistency across your website and all directory listings.
The About page is the right place for photos that build trust specifically:
Most effective photos for About pages:
What to avoid:
Common mistakes that make About pages useless for SEO and conversion:
Vague mission statements: "We're committed to delivering excellent service", this describes every business. Remove it or replace with a specific value proposition.
No location information: About pages that never mention the city or region they serve miss the primary local SEO opportunity.
All text, no visual proof: Text-only About pages feel less credible. People want to see who they're dealing with.
Too long: About pages that turn into 3,000-word company histories lose readers. 400–800 words is typically optimal, enough substance for SEO, not so much that visitors bounce.
Should the About page target a specific keyword? The About page naturally targets "[business name] [city]" and "[business name] about" searches, brand + location queries. It shouldn't be forced to rank for competitive service keywords. Those belong on dedicated service pages.
How long should an About page be? 400–800 words is typically right. Enough to provide genuine substance and local signals, not so long that it reads like a company manifesto. Quality of content matters more than length here.
Should I include staff photos? Yes. Real staff photos significantly increase trust and conversion from first-time visitors. Businesses with visible human faces in their marketing consistently outperform those that show only logos and equipment.
Your About page is one of the few pages on your site where Google is actively looking for signals about who you are and whether you're a real, trustworthy local business. A few hours spent optimizing it, adding local context, credentials, real photos, and schema markup, compounds into better rankings, more trust, and higher conversion from every visitor who lands there.