Does your Web site’s “About Us” section accurately convey your organization’s history and capabilities? Every two weeks we evaluate one example, grading it in three areas that are key to potential customers: Personality (Who are you?), Products/Services (What can you do for us?), and Accessibility (How can we reach you?). Today’s example was chosen at random; CorporateHistory.net has no ties to this company. Contact us if you’d like to have your site evaluated—there’s no charge and no obligation.
Center Rock is a Pennsylvania-based manufacturer of air drilling tools and products, in business for 12 years. They were in the news recently for providing the drill bit that helped rescue the miners in Chile. Their About Us page appears below, or you can visit it at http://www.centerrock.com/content/about-us.
OVERALL GRADE: A-minus
Personality: A
We love the bios of Center Rock’s leadership team: they give names and faces to the company. The direct quotes and the description of their careers tell us what drives them, and gives us confidence in the company.
A minor point about the layout: putting the names and positions of the leadership team as headings, rather than part of the narrative, would make the page appear less dense -- hence more readable.
Accessibility: A
Full contact info is at the foot of the page. If we read the whole page and decide to pursue doing business with Center Rock, they’ve made it easy to do so.
Products/Services: B
The page opens with a summary of the company’s products: a good way to begin. We particularly like the fact that Center Rock lists the continents their equipment has been used on. It tells us their worldwide scope without the vagueness of “worldwide.”
We’d like to see a brief comment on what’s unique or innovative about the company, the sort of one- or two-sentence summary that an intelligent nonspecialist (such as a reader of the Wall Street Journal) would understand. Information of this sort appears elsewhere on the site, but it’s important enough to be on the “About Us” page. This would also be a great place to mention awards or testimonials.
TAKEAWAY
Center Rock’s contribution to the rescue of the miners in Chile should be prominently mentioned on the About Us page, with a link to the Wall Street Journal story and to Center Rock’s own press releases. Any other major projects Center Rock has contributed to should be mentioned briefly here, with links to further information.
When writing the “About Us” page, it’s important to remember that visitors may not have time to browse the whole site. Give us the most important information and make it easy for us to find out more, if we need to.
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