Online, competition in every sector of business is fierce. Even if you’re looking to build a brick-and-mortar business locally, you still probably aren’t the only game in town. Either way, consumers who are already overwhelmed with choice need a reason to choose your independent garden center.
In order to choose you, they first have to trust you. Maybe they found your website through your blog, or through Google Maps, or through a link on social media. They have become aware of you, and now they are moving onto the next step in the customer journey: consideration. They are comparing your products and services to those of competing businesses. While we would like to think we base our decisions purely on logic—price, quality, and durability—we also desire an emotional connection. We have to be able to trust the person or company we are buying from.
Know Your Customers
Writing an About page starts with knowing your ideal customer. What do they want from a garden center? What do they fear? What problems might they have faced that you can solve? Better service, an expert staff, seasonal items appropriate to the local climate, or whatever it is you’ve pinpointed as the things that make you better than the competition. Even better: make it personal. “I started this business because I saw this particular problem that no one else was addressing.”
Knowing your customers is the key to everything in business. That is to say, you have to know what kind of customers your business can attract. What kind of person will look at you and your business (the two are often inseparable in small business) and say, “wow, it’s like that place was created just for me”? That’s who you are trying to build trust with in everything you do, including your About page.
Get to the Point
“About Us” doesn’t mean “Everything About Us.” Pare it down to your most significant achievement and 3-4 statements that assuage your ideal customer’s fears. The page is called “About Us,” but the question you’re answering is, “Why Us?” Think about how much time you want to spend reading anything when you just want to find a place to shop. It’s probably not much! Your About page doesn’t have to be a memoir. Know your ideal customer, know what you want to say to them, and say it as briefly as possible.
Visual Aids
As we’ve said before, one advantage that independent garden centers have online is that they are beautiful. That’s part of the fun of this business. Include professional photos of your space, and, ideally, you and your staff at work in that space. The About page isn’t just about what the business does; it’s about how it makes your ideal customer feel. Images can express a lot of the feeling you want to get across.
Prove It
The About page is also a great place for a few customer testimonials. But don’t put up just any glowing five-star review. Make sure that the reviews you choose align with and support the main points you are addressing on the page.
It’s About Them
Just like your product pages, your blog, and your social media presence—indeed, just like your store itself—your “About Us” page is an opportunity to connect with a potential customer and show them why they can trust you. The page is called “About Us,” but remember, it’s about “them”—the customer (apologies for reusing this particular rhetorical construct). It’s about what they need, and how you can give it to them.
