For the website of a company to be successful, it must have a professional looking bio of the company and the important people behind it. Most small businesses, start-ups and individuals who attempt to describe themselves and their products and services, often fail miserably. Even intelligent, educated and driven individuals can end up writing reviews that can drive away potential customers instead of attracting them. Bios on company pages of social networks too must sound professional and be informative. In a bid to sound relatable and friendly, people often end up describing themselves in an immature manner.
The services of copywriters are not always affordable to sole proprietors and small businesses. Such people often fall into the trap of black hat SEO techniques to gain visitors to their web pages without realizing that content is what matters. It doesn’t matter how many SEO tips and techniques you have managed to stuff into the bio. At the end of the day, only informative and professional bios can generate customers and leads. A good description of the company and yourself is the starting point of a successful online marketing and branding strategy. The following bio-writing tips will help you build your career and company.
Avoid First Person accounts and Write in Third Person
Industry experts recommend that people use the third person while writing bios as this gives a more professional feel to the whole piece. Instead of using “I” too many times, write about yourself and the company in the way your own PR firm would – if you could afford it. The description should sound more like a news article than an informal blog post. Make sure to place full names of people and the company at the beginning. You can use only the last names of people in subsequent mentions. First person reference like “we” is recommended when you have to talk about yourself or the team. This first person plural reference should be used even if only one person is responsible for the company.
Use Quotes
To explain company and individual philosophies and mottos, copywriters often use quotes. Use short and succinct quotes to tell clients and the visitors to your web pages about the ethics and passions that are followed and to describe products and services.
Keep it Short and Use Good Examples
Research and analyze properly, before you start writing bios. It is advisable to follow the pattern and style used by successful companies in their bios and descriptions. Pay attention to the words, phrases and paragraphs that stand out and try and imitate them without creating duplicates of the same. Another important thing to keep track of is the lengths of the paragraphs. To keep up with the shortening attention spans, keep all paragraphs as short and punchy as possible. Place information in a concise manner and avoid fluff and wordy sentences. It is also recommended that you keep technical and company related jargon to the minimum. Listing points with bullets is another way of giving your audience important information in a short span of time.
Read it
Lastly, read the bio out loud to catch grammatical and syntax errors. You will be able to pick out clumsy sentences, inappropriate words and punctuation errors when you read the piece aloud, allowing you to make much needed corrections. After this, step away from the article for awhile and read it again. This will allow you to look at it with a fresh perspective.