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I spend a lot of time visiting different blogs, many through such things as Menu Plan Monday and Works for Me Wednesday as well as bigger events like the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival. When I click over onto a blog it is usually the design that grabs my attention first. There are so many unique and beautiful blog designs out there and I so appreciate the talent that goes in to creating them. A design done well gives me a real feel for the person behind the blog and leaves me wanting to know more.
That’s when I look for an About Me page and I am always surprised at how many blogs don’t have one. I’m anxious to know who the person is, what makes them tick, what ticks them off, what do they do, what country do they live in, how many kids do they have and most importantly what the focus of their blog is. Information that is often exchanged during a first meeting in real life. I’m always so disappointed when I don’t find such a page and I’m left feeling like nothing more than an intruder.
I think it’s safe to say your readers want to know who you are.
Please don’t make it difficult for them to find out.
***************
In response to some questions I wanted to add a bit more about what to include in an About Me page. An About Me page should be written for the person who is coming to your blog for the first time who hasn’t yet had the privilege of learning about you through your past posts. I see it as a summary, in an accessible location, of who you are and what your blog is about, things you have probably already shared on your blog at one time or another and not necessarily private information that you aren’t comfortable sharing. It can be a page of its own or simply a link in your sidebar to a post you’ve already written that describes you.
The most important thing to remember is that most people coming to a blog for the first time only have a couple of minutes to find out about you and decide it they want to spend more time looking around. As one of my readers mentioned in the comments, you want to wet their appetite and leave them wanting to know more.
Becky@BoysRuleMyLife says
I couldn’t agree more!
I keep my About Me page pretty short and sweet… to the point because I know people don’t have lots of time to read a long paragraph. I also keep links to certain posts that tell more about me in my side bar.
Now I’m going to check out your About Me page… don’t know that I’ve ever taken the time to do that yet… sorry! 🙂
Stacey says
Hmmm, a good reminder. I don’t believe that I have one!
Marcia Francois says
Laura, remember with Blogger, it’s not that easy to make pages and stuff like it is with WordPress.
Unless you mean the “about me” little profile paragraph?
Jenean says
I agree, Laura. My About Me page has changed over the years. It recently was pretty long with pictures of the kids from like 5 years ago and one of me and the hubby, but when I changed domains I decided on a shorter, less cluttered page. That may change, though!
Marcia, I think the ‘about me’ profile on Blogger is enough to wet a readers appetite.
Hjordi says
I see what you mean… I’ll update mine! 🙂
Niki says
So true, The first thing I look for unfortunately is if they have kids. That tends to be my interest and if they don’t I may not stick around too long. I love simple not too busy blogs that don’t distract me from the content. That is why I love yours, upbeat and fun to surf. Keep it up, It’s awsome and a daily read of mine.
Sheila Gregoire says
You know what I find difficult, Laura? Telling too much about my kids. They are so cute (especially my oldest who is now 13 and downright beautiful), and I guess I get scared about getting the kids’ info too much out on the internet.
Mostly because mine is. Because I’m a speaker, people can find out all kinds of things about me quickly. But in my mom blog, I talk about my kids all the time. And now I’m starting to get paranoid that maybe I’m sharing too much information. I wouldn’t want to put them in danger.
What do the rest of you do?
Visit To Love, Honor and Vacuum today!
Debbie JordanKravitz says
I agree w/ Sheila about thinking twice when I post about my kids. I blog to promote my organizing business, but I like to write about how I deal with things with my own family to show that we ALL have the same basic issues. I would think that as long as you don’t post the name of their school, your street name, etc. it’s OK. Just be vague about the details.
Because my blog posts are often personable and include my likes and dislikes, I didn’t think too much about the “Me” page, but I think I’ll go make it more interesting, now that I know people like to read them, too!
Laura says
Becky I like short and sweet too!
Marcia one easy way around that is to do a post as an About Me page and then just link to it from your sidebar.
Niki what you said is so important. We all look for something different in the blogs we choose to read. There are just so many out there and we really do have to narrow the list down eventually or our kids might never get fed…LOL. Precisely why an About Me page is so important, gives people an opportunity to quickly see if they have anything in common with the person/blog and decide within a matter of minutes whether or not they want to mark it for further reading.
Sheila I understand your concern. It is definitely a valid one. I’ve never been comfortable putting pictures of my kids on my blog or even their names for that matter. What many ladies do though is give their kids a fake name for the blog and that seems to work out nicely allowing them to talk about their kids without revealing too much.
I think you just have to do what you feel comfortable with and leave it at that.
Hope that helps!
Jennifer says
That is so true! I made sure to have an about me filled out before I even made my first entry. Now, I just hope it covers everything that people may want to know. 😉
momrn2 says
I have thought a lot about this recently. I decided to do a post about my struggle with it it today since you brought it up. 🙂
Anne with an E says
There has been a very bad incident in blogland you may be unaware of. A sicko ‘cloned’ an entire blog with the help of the ‘about me’ section. True, this is rare. However, as you did this post, an entire sweep of being more ‘careful’ is happening in blogger. I’m not a ‘panic’ type, but believe in being careful.
I removed the ‘about me’ widget from my page.
Mel says
Thanks for pointing this out! I totally agree yet I always feel a bit “pretentious” when I put one up about myself, like who cares who I am! LOL But I do it because I love reading other people’s so I try to get over it.
Tami says
I agree. It is frustrating to see nothing on the About Me page.
Kim says
I totally agree with you Laura! I always check out the “about me” tabs so that I can quickly identify with the person to determine if I will read on. I can’t possibly read all the blogs out there or my kids would play street hockey all night………lol
And – the truth is…….if “identity issues” are a huge concern (assuming you are using alias’ for your kids)- then blogging probably isn’t the best arena; or, being on the computer at all for that matter. We take steps to protect ourselves and our families, and short of sending your computer back, we just ARE taking some risks. Minimizing the risks are key. Creating a blog is already a very personal thing, using a very impersonal medium, in a very dark and scary world – risky. There are sick people everywhere who will always find a way to violate others But – blogland has also created a real sense of community and togetherness in this dark world. Sharing information “about me” just aids in strenghening that personal element, and does create a sense of community, knowledge, and understanding about others based on their dynamics and demographics. “Identifying” with others is a very real and beneficial way to learn about our world, its people, and our relationships.
love ya girl! K.
Jessica says
Are you my secret twin separated at birth??
Seriously, I was just thinking about that the other day. A friend of mine did one of those “100 things about me” and made that her “about me” page so I started mine, but until I finish it, I haven’t made it public.
I’m totally guilty of not having a page about me, so maybe I’ll do that this weekend.
Jennifer Lavender says
You know, I’ve never thought about this beyond deciding it was easier to leave it out than it was to figure out what to put in there so it wasn’t long and boring but still included enough information to let people know what I’m really about. I’ll have to do some more thinking on this one and decide what to put on mine.
Michelle says
Thanks so much for this post — I need to do one of these pages (it’s been on my to-do list), but I’ve been procrastinating writing it. I wonder what your thought is about bloggers posting a picture of themselves on the About Me page? I actually like to see the pictures, because I feel like it puts a face to a voice, so to speak. But, when I tried posting a picture of myself, it just felt vain. You know what I mean?
Any thoughts?
april says
I am new to the whole blog thing and can’t figure out how to change everything from the template that I started with(and believe me I would like too)
Robinznest says
I think you have given very good advice. I have a picture of myself – even though it’s not a closeup! I like to see what the person looks like when I visit a blog.
Veggiemomof2 says
Is mine ok? I never ever know what to say about myself that explains who I am. Email me if you think there’s something I’m missing & I’ll see what I can do!
Laura says
It was over a year before I got up the nerve to put a picture of me up on my blog here. I was so nervous about doing it but I realized that I loved visiting the blogs where I actually could see what the person looked like, it felt more personal to me. So I finally did it and I’ve not regretted that I did 🙂
Sharon says
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Laura.
I admit-I don’t have one, except for the profile info. I am on Blogger, however, and I can feel the restrictions from Blogger with things like this.
As for blog design, I have been wanting a new, unique design for quite some time. Most aren’t free, though, and when it comes to it, the minimal cost of $35 needs best go elsewhere, like diapers, etc. I hope to soon change that, though.
A question for you, being that you’re the organizing queen and all! 😉 Could you list some points we should be sure to offer info on when creating an “About Me” page? I know I’d find that helpful!
GiBee says
I don’t have the energy right now to read all the comments, so if I duplicate, forgive me… but I will say: You CAN have an “about me” page and maintain privacy. If you’re afraid that you might be stalked for sharing your interests, I promise that won’t happen. It may, however, if you share your full name, address, and phone number.
People want to know ABOUT you… what you like to do, what you like to eat, read, listen to, etc. You can color a great picture without revealing private info.
Queen B says
Busted. I’ll get right on that…
sandy says
Hi Laura, well, I think you know probably too much about me LOL. But that is a good reminder and I should probably move mine up to the top again.
I also like to know what the “mission” of the blog is. I like more distinctive blogs – like yours!
Great post. You’re always so helpful, my dear!!!!! Hugs. Sandy
Sandra says
Well I tell you what, I’ll make an About Me page because you asked so nice LOL
I’m trying to catch up with everyone, I’ve been too busy to blog, it’s sad really.
Hugs,
Sandra
JennyV says
I’m still trying to decide what my purpose is… it took me 30 some years to figure out who I really am… so give or take a while… pretty soon I should know my blogger-purpose.
magpie says
just found your blog and I really like it! this is such a good point and something I’ve been meaning to do for awhile. my goal for tomorrow: finish my about me and put it up 🙂 I can’t wait for MPM too!
julia ward says
Hi…
I ALWAYS look for an about me page! To be honest, I won’t read a blog that doesn’t have one. And, I don’t really care what you have written on the
About Me page–but that you are a REAL person. I find blogs that don’t even let you know who the author is, let alone anything about them–they last about 1.26 seconds before I click off in search of human contact.
I was afraid to use my picture for my Avatar but I don’t think anyone really notices except for those that see me coming up on their MyBlogLog catalog widget as a reader.
I think WordPress allows you to make pages now and insert them onto your sidebar. I moved to Typepad because it was so much easier to use than WordPress–hosted or unhosted.
blessings,
julia
julia ward – a BLINDING heart – a writer’s blog – http://www.ablindingheart.com
check out my latest post:
Writing for Magazines! New class starts April 28th
Mel says
Point taken…I am going to have to check into mine an update it. I am a big fan of blog designs and often use the desing to decide to read or not. Actually the way I came across your was by going through Swank Design and choosing blogs that caught my eye. I’m adding you to my reader right now!
CC says
I totally agree that I try to find info on people. I have a little blurb right on the top right corner of my side bar.
If anyone has the time and inclination, could you check it out and let me know if it is clear enough? My husband is currently in the process of re-designing my blog so any help would be appreciated! 🙂
Julia says
I recently added to mine, but was hesitant to do so. There are a lot of crazies out on the internet, and sometimes I think it’s best to remain as anonymous as possible out in cyberspace.
Lisa@Take90West says
Guilty. Mine is there, but empty. I’ll get on it…you are right! 🙂
Amber (Proverbs31) says
After reading this post by Skelliwag, I rewrote the About Me page on my Imperishable Beauty blog, but I haven’t messed with the About Me page on Bringing Good Home yet. Granted it’s from a less-personal perspective and more business-like perspective, but there are good tips in there for personal blogs, too, I think.
Amber (Proverbs31) says
Wait – I just realized I don’t even HAVE an about page on BGH anymore!! It needed to be revamped and in the meantime I just took it down and added more info, including a link to 100 Things About Me, in my sidebar under my picture. =P
Alyssa says
Redid my blog today with a new theme so while I was at it I updated the About page. 🙂 Thanks for the post!
BL Ochman says
Hi Laura! My take on the About page on websites is that they should be banned. Here’s my post on the topic. http://tinyurl.com/482r6a
I agree that bloggers should tell people who they are on the home page of their blog. I have my bio on the first screen of my blog, with my picture. Yet every day, I get pitched by PR people and even other bloggers who address me as “Mr.”
Which apparently proves that you can organize your content any way you want, but you can’t make people read it. LOL