One question we get asked when we’re building business websites, is, “Should we have employee bios?” Webpages with lists of staff are often one of the most-viewed pages on a company’s website.
However, some companies don’t have any people represented in detail. They say it’s too much work to maintain, they receive spam emails, or that they’re worried other companies will pilfer their best employees. Those are indeed risks, but the bigger risk is leaving your business faceless. The benefits of website employee bios outweigh the risks.
We recommend adding bios to your business website, and here’s why.
Customers Are Getting to Know You
Today’s users want to do more than just purchase from a company. Many consumers – especially younger consumers – want to see who they’re doing business with, to put faces with the names, and to get to know more about who they’ll be meeting. Studies show that younger generations want to do business with a company that aligns with their personal values, such as giving back to the community. They are looking for a company with an easy-to-use website with people that are approachable, friendly, and accessible.
Employee profiles can help achieve all those goals and build trust with your users.
For companies that do have a “Meet the Staff” page with photos, titles and bios, these pages are often among your most popular pages, and can mean that your prospect is looking to do business with you. What does that tell you? People want to know who you are. Whether they’re looking for a job, want to start a project with you or buy your widgets, people want to know the source of their purchases and investments. Help them get to know you.
Bios are Great for Conversions and Good for SEO
These pages are also a prime indicator that people are close to converting on your site – that is, filling out the form, adding to their shopping cart, tapping a phone link, or something else. They want to get to know you before they take the next step.
If a prospective client met a company staff at an event, he or she may look at the online bio before reaching out again. Staff bios put faces with names and titles, so people don’t just know who to contact, but gain a sense of comfort before they even pick up the phone, knowing the face behind the name. What expertise do they have? What certifications and awards have they achieved?
Not only do bios help your users familiarize themselves with your company, but it can help your SEO when you pair industry keywords with your people’s expertise.
How to Write an Employee Bio for a Website
Ready to write some bios? Let’s do this! Having your people’s names, titles and faces is a great start. But adding personal and professional details can help, too. This gives you and your company additional expertise, authority, and trust.
Who should write the bio? Let employees write a first draft of their bio, but make sure your marketing team keeps them brief and consistent. Great employee bio pages align with the company’s brand tone.
What Should I Include in an Employee Bio?
THE BASICS
- Name and Title – These are obvious, but make sure you include the correct names and spellings and the correct titles, which can change. Update them when needed.
- Date of Hire – Use the year they were hired “John joined in 2016” instead of “John has worked here 8 years.” If you put the number of years they’ve been with your company, you will have to update it every year, and who wants to remember that detail for all your employees?
- Portraits – These photos are more important than you think. It could be the first – and lasting -- impression of your company. Don’t just let your employees submit a photo or use old company portrait from 10 years ago. Invest in professional portraits. Think about your company’s style and the image you want to convey. Make sure the photo is of good quality for website and as professional or casual as matches your brand.
- Tone – Again, think of your company culture. Are you ultra-casual? Mega professional? Super friendly? Formal? Bios should be written in the same style as the rest of your website. (Hint: casual but professional is the best, conveying that you are approachable, but know your stuff.)
- Keywords – Staff bios are low-hanging fruit for a little SEO boost. Don’t stuff keywords but think about what keywords you could naturally insert into bios based on the staffer’s skills. For example, if you have an employee with 10 years of grant-writing experience, or certification in Human Resources Management, or expertise in environmentally-sustainable engineering, that can be valuable for SEO and make you attractive to potential clients. They’ll have more confidence in the team when they can see the breadth and depth of skills that match their needs.
- Structure – Avoid long paragraphs of text. Users prefer to “skim” through text. I favor bulleted lists for easy reading. But you may consider a mix of a couple of short paragraphs, followed by bullets.
- Social Media – Be careful about adding links to an employee’s social media accounts. You don’t want to mix personal social media with professional expertise. Your employees’ personal social media pages may not align with your company’s values. And back to personal privacy, they may not want to share it on their workplace page. For SEO purposes, you want your viewers to stay on your site as long as possible. Avoid taking them offsite to read your employees’ opinions on Twitter or see them doing a dance on TikTok. In most cases, it’s best to keep social channels out of your employee bios.
- Internal Links - While people are interested in who you are, they really want to know what you can do for them. What service or product pages align with the employee? Add internal links to those pages to keep people on your site after they’ve looked at your staff. Also, link to that employee’s blog posts, white papers, projects, speeches, office location, etc.
How Should We Organize Company Bios?
Should you separate out your leadership, management, and staff or group everyone together in alphabetical order? Really, it’s up to you. Think about your business strategy and brand. What makes the most sense?
Some prefer to only list the leadership, to promote those brand ambassadors. Some companies list everybody in alphabetical order, hiding the hierarchy. Or you might want to break it down by department. Find the right structure for your company. Think about who will be using your page and who they might be looking for. Think of your clients first, and design the page to please them.
Resumes/CVs - Some companies will post pdfs of their experts’ resumes. Avoid this. Resumes can often contain a deluge of personal data that identity thieves love: home addresses, family statistics, birthdays, professional certification numbers, etc. You’re opening your staff to strangers. For example, a doctor might receive calls from patients to his home. If you really want to have resumes available, ask the employee to create an abridged version for the website that omits personal data.
How Personal Should the Bio Be?
Now that you've got the basics and eliminated private info, what should be included in a company bio?
Many companies favor a mix of professional and personal. The percentage depends on how you want to present your company. Consider a 70/30 percentage of business and personal.
Be careful with asking employees for personal details. They may be concerned about their personal privacy for themselves and their families. Don’t force staff to share more than they’re comfortable sharing with the world.
Offer several questions for them to consider when they write their bio. Tell them they don’t have to answer all of them. The top 3-5 answers will be used on the website, and they can change them at any time.
Get Creative With Portraits
Bio pages don’t have to be boring. Depending on your brand style, go casual (or business casual) or get creative with employee photography.
A lot of collections of “best employee webpages” give kudos to marketing and creative agencies, who may have exceptionally creative portraiture, animations, illustrations or off-beat photos. Fun, but that style may not work for all companies. Financial and other business industries may want to be a little more traditional in their approach. Here’s where hiring a professional photographer is critical to have quality photographs that match the quality of your business. A professional can create engaging visuals with professional, yet unique backgrounds, including office environments or other indoor workspaces. You might show off your building’s exterior and landscaping with outdoor portraits.
Office backgrounds add visual interest with a casual, yet professional feel.
Black and white duotones with an overlay and rollover animation looks professional and also is interesting.
Simple colored backgrounds bring unity to the page design. Note also the whimsical introductory text.
Showing more than just a basic headshot adds style and elegance.
Personal details can allow your employees individual personality to shine through without giving specifics. One example I liked asked employees about what they do in their free time. One executive’s response makes me chuckle:
When I’m not working, you will find me: “Doing what my wife tells me.”
Show the lighthearted side of your employees and business. What personal question could align with your company’s business? For example, a landscaping company might list a staff’s favorite flower. A financial firm might ask about the best piece of financial advice. If you sell products, what’s your staffer’s favorite item?
Your bio’s big goal is to show your prospects that they should do business with you. If you were looking for your company’s services, what information would convince you choose your company above the others?
Your bio’s goal is to persuade your prospects to do business with you. If you were looking for your company’s services, what information would convince you to choose your company above the others?
Add Videos
To really make your staff page stand out, add 1–2-minute videos of your leaders or high-profile staff. This really adds good insight into who the people are, and users love them. It’s especially useful for doctors and lawyers, but can give an edge to bankers, investment professionals, engineers, small business owners – really any industry to show off personality, values, and expertise.
Invest in Your People Pages
Your users want to get to know your company, and for some companies, they claim that “our best product is our people.” So why not show them who you are? Remember that Meet the Team pages are often one of the most viewed pages. So be sure to invest time and effort in creating a team page that will wow your customers.
Sources
belocallyseo.com/blog/how-to-create-engaging-employee-bios-that-boost-seo/
advisorwebsites.com /blog/how-to/how-to-write-an-engaging-biography-for-your-financial-website
smallbusiness.chron.com/write-bio-work-website-37472.html
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