Your About Page Is Losing You Customers + Industry News and Insights
Field Tips is a biweekly email series bringing you the latest marketing trends and topics directly to your inbox. Covering everything from digital marketing and social media to content strategy and more, we curate the industry’s top stories and present them as easily digestible insights. The content contained within this post comes directly from our September 9, 2026 issue. If you’d like to receive Field Tips, subscribe to our email or on LinkedIn.
When visitors click on your website, your About page is often one of the top three most-visited pages. Yet, many businesses treat it as a corporate afterthought; a dumping ground for dry company histories and mission statements that read like boilerplate text.
Here’s the secret: your About page isn’t actually about you, but about how your experience, team and values solve your customer’s unique problem. And, when designed with purpose, a great About page transitions curious visitors into confident buyers by establishing immediate trust and human connection.
If you want your About page to do real heavy lifting for your business, here are 4 non-negotiable elements it must have.
- A customer-centric headline. Instead of leading with “Welcome to Our Company” or “Founded in 2010,” anchor your opening around the specific outcome you deliver. Frame your identity around the core problem you solve for the reader right away.
- Real human faces and real stories. Stock photos instantly kill credibility. Include high-quality photos of your actual leadership and team members, paired with a brief origin story that explains why you do what you do.
- Social proof tied to results. Validate your claims with verifiable proof. Work in hard metrics, notable client logos, brief testimonials or industry awards that back up your expertise without sounding like a humblebrag.
- A single, clear call to action. Never let a reader reach the bottom of your About page without telling them what to do next. Whether it is scheduling a consultation, exploring your services or joining your newsletter, guide them to the logical next step.
Is your website telling the right story to turn prospective leads into long-term clients? Check out our About page for inspiration, or reach out to learn how our website design and messaging strategies can help your digital presence shine.
Why Google AI Mode Demands Its Own Commerce Strategy
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
Recent research tracking over two million product pages shows that Google’s AI Mode surfaces vastly different products and prices compared to its traditional search engine. Only 1.28% of products appearing on traditional search engine results pages (SERPs) also show up in AI Mode for the exact same query on the same day. Furthermore, when the same items do appear across both experiences, prices differ more than 38% of the time. This stark divergence highlights how AI Mode relies on distinct ranking criteria, real-time data feeds and synthesis algorithms rather than standard organic search signals.
WHY IT MATTERS
For e-commerce and retail marketers, optimizing solely for traditional Google SERPs is no longer enough. Because AI Mode filters products using separate logic and price inputs, brands risking invisibility in AI-driven answers need to develop parallel optimization strategies. Capturing high-intent shoppers in AI Mode requires e-commerce teams to ensure product data feeds, dynamic pricing and structured entity data are specifically tailored for AI synthesis rather than relying strictly on legacy SEO tactics.
“Topical Gravity” Is the New Currency of Search
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
Semrush introduced a new search strategy framework called Topical Gravity, which shifts focus away from individual keyword tracking toward owning complete, high-revenue subject areas. Because search engines and AI assistants assemble single answers from dozens of related queries, overall domain metrics matter less than a brand’s focused depth across an entire topic. Semrush’s data shows that market leaders with a comfortable topical advantage retained their top position a month later in 90% of cases, highlighting how topical authority compounds over time across both Google and generative AI platforms.
WHY IT MATTERS
For digital marketers and SEO strategists, evaluating organic performance through standalone keywords or prompt lists is no longer sufficient for understanding AI visibility. Building true topical authority requires creating comprehensive content that covers buyer questions, comparisons, and use cases, while also establishing presence across the third-party platforms (like reviews, communities, and media) that answer engines cite. Shifting from isolated query targeting to a topic-first strategy ensures your brand remains part of the synthesized response when buyers research your industry.
72 Signals Powering Google Maps Local Rankings
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
A deep dive into Google’s inner workings has revealed that Google Maps relies on at least 72 distinct ranking signals and a complex multi-layered architecture to deliver local search results. Rather than depending on simple proximity or business category matches, the system evaluates signals ranging from user intent and temporal relevance to implicit feedback like click-through rates, call triggers, and direction requests. The architecture processes real-time geographical data alongside deep entity understanding to dynamically rank local businesses for each unique search context.
WHY IT MATTERS
For local SEOs and marketers, this confirmation shifts local search optimization from a simple numbers game to an ecosystem strategy. Basic optimizations like NAP (Name, Address, Phone) consistency and target keywords are table stakes; driving visibility now requires optimizing for user interaction signals, engagement, and entity clarity. Understanding that Google Maps operates on an interconnected grid of behavioral and context-based signals allows marketing teams to build more holistic local search strategies that go beyond surface-level profile optimization.
More to Explore
Your AI Stack Is Not the Problem – Your Handoffs Are
Sales and marketing handoffs often break down when context gets lost, but AI is increasingly being leveraged to bridge the gap by automating lead scoring, summarizing key interactions, and surfacing real-time buyer insights. Aligning teams through unified AI workflows ensures that lead intelligence translates to closed revenue. Read more about how handoffs are holding you back on MarketingProfs.
WTF is a Ghost Creator?
A “ghost creator” is an uncredited content creator who produces social media videos, posts and visual assets behind the scenes for brands, agencies or higher-profile influencers. For marketing teams, leveraging ghost creators allows brands to maintain a consistent stream of authentic, native-feeling social content without the higher costs and talent-licensing headaches often associated with public influencer partnerships. Read more about this trend on Digiday.
How Marketers Can Navigate Machine Bias as AI Takes Over Media
Google and Meta’s AI platforms prioritize maximizing publisher revenue over client cost efficiency, introducing subtle machine bias into automated ad spend recommendations. For marketing professionals, letting AI run campaigns on autopilot risks wasting budget on platform-aligned goals rather than business outcomes. See how human oversight and performance validation safeguards your media investments on Marketing Dive.
Australia to Let Users Kill Algorithm Feeds
Australia has introduced draft legislation that would require platforms like Meta and TikTok to let users over 16 opt out of algorithmic feeds in favor of a purely chronological feed from accounts they follow. As legislation trends toward more user control, organic reach will increasingly rely on direct follower growth, active audience loyalty and subscriber retention strategies over viral recommendation engines. Read more about it on TechBuzz.
The Case for Right-Sizing Your CMS
Many marketing teams are saddled with enterprise CMS platforms that are overly complex, costly and slow down publishing workflows. Right-sizing your CMS aligns your technical infrastructure with your team’s actual capabilities and goals, freeing up resources while improving site speed and agility. See how choosing a platform that fits your current needs ensures future success on Responsory.

About the Author
A prominent marketing strategist and nationally recognized thought leader, Grant A. Johnson is president and CEO of Responsory. He is a sought-after public speaker, direct marketing trainer, copywriter, award-winning author and the creator of Direct Branding℠, Responsory’s method for producing sure-fire measurable results.


