Company Profiles
Whether you call it a ‘Company Profile’, ‘About Us’, or use another expression, it is important to say something about your company. Depending on your industry, somewhere between one out of twenty and one out of two prospects viewing your web presence will want to know about your firm in some detail. A Company Profile is a great way to give viewers ‘warm fuzzies’ about your firm at precisely the time their checkbook is open and they’re evaluating potential suppliers. Your Company Profile should positively reflect the character of your company.
Your Company Profile provides insights about you, not only to your customers and prospects; but potential employees and partners will view your ‘About Us’ page to evaluate whether or not you’re the kind of company they’d like to work with as well.
Mission Statement
If you have a mission statement, this is the place for it. If you don’t, at least be explicit about your company’s focus. Viewers want to know the scope of your business with at least an overview of your area(s) of expertise.
Company History
How did your company come to be the company it is today? Who founded the firm? When, why and how? What are the significant events in the history of your firm?
Company Principles
Your Company Profile should tell who the firm’s principals are, and should include a brief biographical sketch of these key players. Photos are a good idea. Standard headshots are fine. My firm uses caricatures of our staff on our Our Team page that lend some personality to our company profile. Email addresses (spelled out) for these individuals should be included next to their names. Let visitors know who your principals are so they know who to contact both before and after the sale for a greater comfort level in dealing with you.
Staff
Whether on the Company Profile page itself or as a link from the Company Profile to its own page, a staff overview is a good idea. For very small companies this can be skipped to downplay company size. For most companies of any size, it is a good idea to at least give an idea of the makeup of the staff: how many and what departments comprise the company, the kind of depth you have in key areas, etc.