Today, we are talking about creating your dietitian about page on your website. If you need some website inspiration, be sure to check out these dietitian website examples! When I’m working with website clients, many, many of them will tell me, at one point or another, “Oh my gosh. I don’t like working on an about page. I don’t know what to say. I don’t like talking about myself.” So today, I’m giving you the breakdown of what needs to be on your about page because, disclaimer, it’s not just a bio, and it’s not your life story either.
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Now, there are five key things that need to be on every about page.
There are things you can include outside of this, but these are really the must-haves. First, you need a photo of yourself on your dietitian about page. Yes, even if you hate having your photo taken. People want to know who you are. They want to know you’re a real person. The internet can be cold and impersonal, but there are simple ways to put a personal touch back into it. The personal touch goes a long way in building a trust and building those business relationships. So, stop taking selfies in bad lighting. A good photographer will bring out the best in you and help you feel comfortable. And honestly, having good photos across your entire website really makes you look professional.
Now, you could also include a video of yourself on your about page. I’m kind of lumping this in with the photo just because, obviously, you’re still on screen. It’s not necessarily a replacement for a photo, but it’s a great way to show yourself and connect with your audience. If you want to do this type of video, it just needs to be about a minute, maybe two. Think of it like a commercial for your business. So just introduce yourself, talk about what kind of work you do and who for, and that’s about it.
Now, the second thing you need to include on your page is your philosophy or your stance.
I’ve worked with a lot of dietitians in the last few months, and they all have different approaches. Some focus on vegan eating. Some focus on intuitive eating. Some focus on weight loss. So on and so on. There are a lot of different approaches to health and wellness work. Whether you’re a personal trainer or you’re a dietician, it’s important to share this so that you can attract the right kind of clients. If a client is dead set on wanting to lose weight, but you focus on intuitive eating and don’t agree with the idea of people needing to lose weight, you’re obviously not going to be a good fit. You’re going to save both you and the client time by putting that knowledge up front.
Now, in the example I just mentioned, this doesn’t mean you have to literally say whether you are for or against weight loss or whatever other topic you want to choose. But it’s those kinds of things that you want to be sure and mention on your dietitian about page. For example, my about page mentions WordPress and Squarespace. That should really tip people off that those are the only two platforms I design websites on. Now, do I get occasionally other people who are using another platform and still want to work with me? Yes, but it’s very, very rare.
To build off of that, something else you could include on your dietitian about page along those same lines is your core values. My core values are educate with heart, work hard, encourage others, and be generous. Again, this just helps you connect with your audience, and they get a deeper insight into your business.
The third thing you should include is your business affiliations and some features.
So if you’re a part of The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics or your state’s Association of Dietitians, those things could be mentioned on your dietitian about page. This information can help boost your credibility, but I do want to mention it does not need to be a big focus on your about page. It doesn’t need to be the first thing on the page. It doesn’t need to be in a huge font. It’s one thing to mention that you are a certified registered dietitian, because that gives you more street cred than just saying, “I like to make me a plan, so I’m calling myself a dietitian,” but just being a part of an organization isn’t, honestly, going to mean a whole lot to your audience, simply because they probably don’t know what these associations even are. They don’t know or, honestly, might not even care what it takes to be a part of those associations.
For example, there is an Atlanta AIGA chapter. Do you know what AIGA stands for? Probably not, unless you’re a designer. And honestly, I know what the group is, what they’re about, but I actually had to Google what the acronym means. It’s the American Institute of Graphic Arts. All you have to do is pay $150 a year. That’s it. So it’s not like I have to be of high importance or have some kind of credibility to be in that group. But, would it maybe will make me look more credible and professional online to my clients? Yes. But again, do they know what that means? Probably not. But it kind of looks, “Oh, okay. So she’s a part of these associations.”
Now, I also mentioned including features. There are a few places you can actually highlight features on your website. You can highlight major national brand features, like if you’re in Forbes, or CNN, or anything that 99% of people are going to recognize on your home page. Smaller features don’t need to be on the homepage, though, just the main major ones. If you don’t have any major features yet, yet being the keyword, but you have a few features from being on some blogs and podcasts that just might not have the recognition, then the about page is the best place to put them.
Now if you have more than 10 to 15 features, but none of those are major, then I would go ahead and make a dedicated press page for your website. When you get to that many links and having that many features, you’re going to start cluttering your about page. This is what I do. I have my major features on my home page, and then I have a dedicated PressPage with all of the links and features so you can go read my interviews and podcasts, et cetera.
Now, moving on, the fourth thing to include is some fun facts.
The about page as a whole is not meant to be your life story, your love story. It should truly be more about your business itself. Why is the work you do important? What is your approach? Why should people choose you? It’s about your business and your work, but it is also a little bit about you as a person, which can be about two to three sentences or more if you really want to share that much, which is basically what I have. I have about three sentences. It’s a really small paragraph.
But, some people choose to have fun facts that really infuse more personality into their dietitian about page. There are several examples of how different people have done this inside the free download I mentioned that’s linked in the show notes. But if you just want to keep it simple with some fun facts, just do a little heading that says Five Fun Facts and list five fun facts about you or however many you feel like listing.
And last, but not least, include a social media feed at the bottom of your dietitian about page. If they are reading through your about page and really feel good about you as a person and what your business is about, this is a great time to loop them into following you somewhere else. That way they can really connect with you on social media. Now, the key here is one. We want to show one social media feed, not three, not five, one. We don’t want to clutter the bottom of your about page. We don’t want to just dump all these different feeds and say like, “Choose one, and follow me,” or, “Choose all of them. Follow me all of these places.”
I recommend for most people just use an Instagram feed. It’s very clean. Usually, I do about four squares in one row. But if you’re on YouTube, like me, you can also feature your most recent videos. Even though I love Instagram, I want to push people to YouTube more because I love video content, and I just want to grow my YouTube channel. That’s my focus. And again, I chose one because I didn’t want to clutter my about page. I don’t really recommend putting a Twitter or a Facebook feed just because, honestly, it’s not as visually engaging or pleasing, and it tends to look kind of ’90s-ish.
So to recap, the five things you should probably include are a photo of yourself, your philosophy, your affiliations and/or features, fun facts, and a social media platform or feed.
Again, if you want some visual inspiration for how to lay out all these elements and create your own about page, be sure to download the guide that’s linked in the show notes. If you have other questions about your website or your about page, be sure to DM me on Instagram @JessCreatives, and I will see y’all next week.
