Why your website needs a well-developed story page
BACKTrust takes a central role when it comes to online shopping. After all, customers don’t know you. In a physical store, they can talk to the person behind the counter to get a feel of where they are.
However, with an online store, the customer hands over money to someone they can’t see and for products they haven’t yet received. Therefore, it’s important that you create a bond with the prospective customers so that they trust you.
If you don't, customers might abandon their carts at the last stage because they still have lingering doubts about your brand. One of the best ways to fosters this sense of trust with customers is by adding an eCommerce website About Us page on your site.
This page allows you to tell your brand story. You can write out the inspiration behind the creation of the brand alongside any other tidbits that you believe can draw you in close to the customer.
Several brands also use this chance to show off the individuals behind the brand, telling their stories and roles in running the online store.
Creating an eCommerce website story page appeals to the customers’ emotions. If they feel a connection with the brand, they’re more likely to spend money in the store.
Therefore, it stands to reason that you should design an attractively appropriate page that appeals to your audience. After all, it doesn’t take much for you to make a mistake, causing near irreversible damage to your brand.
In this article, we show you why need to get everything right when crafting a story page. You’ll also find tips on how to ensure that your About Us page design for eCommerce website hits all the marks.
What role does a well-designed eCommerce website story page play?
A handful of online stores have made it without displaying an About Us page on their sites. However, they don’t really get ahead of the pack because they miss out on the advantages of a well-designed eCommerce website About Us page.
Below, we go through the different roles an optimized story page plays in getting your online brand to the top.
Story pages make your brand more relatable
Customer land on your site because they’re interested in the products you’re offering. However, they might want to know who they’re doing business with. Additionally, they might be impressed with the products they’ve gotten from your store to date.
Consequently, they might want to return for more or refer their friends and family. However, they can’t recommend a brand they don’t know much about.
Therefore, it becomes essential that they research your brand to see what you’re all about. They look through your site to find your About Us page because it provides this information they’re after.
Customers would rather buy from a brand whose story they know rather than one they know nothing of.
When they read your brand story, they’re more inclined to refer more business your way. This is especially more so if they can relate to the story.
An About Us page fosters trust between customers and the brand
Like we alluded to in the beginning, online shopping lacks the personal touch and physical contact that shoppers experience out in the real world. This contact can be the difference between buying an item and setting it back on the shelf.
Therefore, you should use this website real estate to introduce and talk about yourself and other individuals involved in the business. You can add professional qualifications and/or personal traits that will endear you to your target audience.
Not only do you assert your professionality, but you also make the brand more human and less of a distant entity. This puts potential customers at ease, allowing them to become paying clients.
Additionally, when customers trust the brand, they’re more willing to divulge their personal financial details when they proceed to the checkout page.
So, how can you benefit more from these story page roles?
How to make your eCommerce website About Us page more appealing
Despite your well-optimized site and persuasive marketing efforts, your online store’s growth might not be advancing as fast as you intended. One cause for this might be that people are still sceptical about your brand.
An About page goes a long way in erasing any doubts. Here is a handful of ways you can ensure that your story page captures your audience’s hearts and trust.
1. Tell your story honestly
This is the perfect place for you to let your target audience and prospective customers know what you’re all about.
Tell your customers about your history and what inspired you to start the online store. People who’re interested in the brand love to know about its origins and how it has achieved its present state.
Try telling the story in a way that’ll emotionally connect with the reader. For example, you can use a nostalgic tone to relay how the brand came about. The audience will feel more attached to you because they can picture themselves in that situation.
Alternatively, you can use humour to tell your story. By keeping it lighthearted, your audience can laugh along with you. Regardless of the tone you choose to take, the end product should be you endearing yourself to potential customers.
You can talk about your product line and what makes it different from what your competitors offer. Successful online entrepreneurs usually relate this back to why they started their eCommerce store.
When your target audience sees that you’re providing a solution to a problem they’re experiencing, they’ll be more inclined to browse your store.
You must be honest when telling your story. Being truthful humanizes your brand, making prospects more likely to buy from you.
In short, your story should include who you are and what you do. Additionally, you should state when you started the brand and why you did so.
2. Keep it simple and on-brand
Many eCommerce website owners feel the urge to wow their audience with creativity. And that’s not such a bad thing. After all, you want to positively stand out from your competitors.
However, sometimes your message gets mangled in all the creativity. Your audience might fail to understand what you’re talking about. Worse yet, they might get the impression that you aren’t being forthright.
Therefore, your story page content needs to be simple. For instance, instead of a creatively lengthy page title, you could simply say “Our Story”.
Nevertheless, keeping things simple shouldn’t mean that you use bland, generic text to tell your story. You should infuse the brand voice in your storytelling, keeping everything uniform with your other content across the website.
This shows your target audience that you’re a professional who knows what they’re doing.
3. Use relevant hi-res imagery
All the content you have on your eCommerce website does more than provide information. It also engages your customers. This shouldn’t be any different when it comes to the About Us page design for eCommerce website.
One way to make your story page more engaging is to add high-quality photos or videos. These draw the customer’s eye, breaking the monotony of the text.
The images should be relevant to the story you’re telling. Let’s say you’re talking about the handful of people who run the online store. Try adding photos of them smiling. The audience can finally put names to faces, making it more interested in your brand.
In some instances, you can add photos of some of your products. They make the page design pop, and at the same time encourage potential customers to take a look around the different product pages.
You can go the extra mile by using video content. The videos might portray you talking about your brand story. On the other hand, you can use the video to showcase your main product and show off its unique qualities.
Additionally, video allows your creativity to shine through, keeping your audience engaged more than they would with text.
To have success with video content, you need to invest in professional photography. This tells your prospective customers that you’re serious about your craft, evoking trust and confidence.
4. Plug your social media
Include social media icon links on your story page even if you placed them on other areas on your website. Your About Us page also receives a hefty amount of traffic. Therefore, you should leverage this to ensure that you gain exposure.
When your audience has gone through your story, they’ll feel compelled to share it with friends, family and colleagues plus followers.
By placing these icons on the page, you can make it easier to share. Your brand will create a buzz on the different social media platforms, leading more potential customers back to your store.
5. Add a call-to-action
After your customers have read through your story and watched the videos on your page, you should direct them to where you want them to go. Therefore, you need to add a call-to-action (CTA) at the end of the page.
You wouldn’t want to captivate potential customers with your story but then have them leave your site without doing anything else. Don’t leave them hanging. Use a CTA to let them know what you expect of them.
For instance, you can direct them to explore your product line once they’ve known why you started the store. Try adding “Browse Our Catalogue”. If they’ve been moved by the story, they’ll be compelled to see what you have to offer.
Alternatively, you can use this chance to collect leads. After the story, you can request the prospects to join your email list by subscribing to your newsletter. You can then use these leads in your remarketing strategy.
In a nutshell
Your online store benefits significantly from having an eCommerce website story page. Not only does it make your brand more relatable to your customers, but it also makes them trust you.
To ensure that you experience the benefits from the page, you should tell your story honestly, keeping it simple. Spice it up with hi-res images and videos, adding your social media as well as a CTA.
Most importantly, you need to test the different features to see what works and what doesn’t. Additionally, it’s wise to periodically update the page so that customers don’t find outdated information.