An About page should explain who is behind the business and why the company is qualified to do its work. A Contact page should make reaching the right business easy and set expectations for what follows.
These pages are not magic ranking factors. They are authoritative places to publish identity and operational facts that customers, search systems, and AI tools can use.
What a useful About page contains
Include the public business name, people responsible, relevant history, real experience, location or region, audience, and important qualifications. Explain the path that makes the company credible without turning the page into a trophy case.
Be precise. “Twenty years working in stone fabrication and construction” is different from “twenty years designing websites.” Both may inform the company’s perspective, but they should not be blurred.
Use real photos when possible. Identify people pictured and write useful alt text. Link to licenses, memberships, project evidence, or author profiles when they help verification.
What a useful Contact page contains
- Correct business name
- Primary phone and domain email
- Street address only when customers can visit it
- Truthful service-area explanation otherwise
- Business hours and holiday guidance
- Contact options and accessibility alternatives
- Expected response window the company can meet
- Information the customer should provide
- Emergency or after-hours limitations
- Privacy explanation for submitted information
The page should work with a keyboard and on a phone. Labels should remain visible; placeholders alone are not adequate labels.
Keep identity information aligned
The About page, Contact page, footer, Business Profile, and structured data should agree on core facts. Google recommends Organization and LocalBusiness markup properties that are useful to people, such as name, URL, logo, address, and phone, and says structured data should reflect visible content.
Do not publish a residential address simply for consistency if customers do not visit it. Service-area businesses should follow platform guidance and protect private information.
Avoid generic filler
“We are passionate about excellence” identifies no one. Replace it with facts, judgment, and boundaries. Who does the work? What kinds of clients fit? What experience informs the approach? Where does the company operate? How does it handle the first conversation?
Likewise, a contact page with only a form forces visitors to trust a black box. Offer a phone number or other suitable alternative and say what happens after submission.
Audit these pages after business changes
Review them after a move, rebrand, ownership change, new phone system, staffing change, new service area, or policy update. Check links, schema, map embeds, forms, confirmation emails, and directory profiles too.
Clear About and Contact pages give the business an identity and a doorway. That value exists before any search benefit.
A practical About-page outline
- 1.One clear paragraph stating who the company is, what it does, whom it serves, and where.
- 2.The owner or team’s relevant experience, stated without blurring personal and company history.
- 3.How the business approaches its work and what it does differently in practice.
- 4.Verifiable credentials, affiliations, or licenses where relevant.
- 5.Real photos and links to representative services or projects.
- 6.A suitable next step for someone who wants to learn more or make contact.
The page can still have personality. Specific details create a stronger story than a generic mission statement.
A practical Contact-page test
Submit the form as an outsider using a phone. Call the displayed number. Check the map or service-area wording. Verify today’s hours. Read the privacy notice. Confirm that the success message and email receipt set accurate expectations.
Then ask a keyboard-only tester to reach, complete, correct, and submit the form. W3C guidance emphasizes visible labels, keyboard access, clear instructions, and effective error handling. A form that works only with a mouse or replaces labels with disappearing placeholders creates an avoidable barrier.
What about multiple locations or departments?
Provide a main Contact hub with clear routes to each real location or department. Location pages should state address, hours, phone, accessibility or appointment information, and services specific to that site. Avoid one generic form that gives the customer no idea which office will respond.
For service-area businesses, explain where the team travels without implying that customers can visit a private or unstaffed address.
How much personal information belongs on About?
Enough to establish accountability and relevant expertise, not a private biography. Owners can choose whether to publish family details, exact home location, or personal social accounts. Do not expose employee schedules, private contact information, or information that creates a security risk.
Review these pages quarterly and after staff, phone, location, hours, ownership, or service changes. An owner can handle ordinary factual updates. Accessibility, structured data, form delivery, privacy requirements, and multi-location architecture may call for the relevant specialist.
Related reading
Why a small business still needs a website
Match your Business Profile and website information
What information AI needs about your business
Distinguishing businesses with similar names
Sources
Google Search Central: Organization structured data
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative: Labeling controls
Start with the two-page audit: use About to verify who runs the company and what qualifies it, then use Contact to test how a customer reaches the right person and what happens next. Correct unclear facts and broken paths before adding more copy.
