Do you have a page of employee bios on your website? If not, it’s time to think about adding one.
Employee profiles might seem insignificant, but these little bios can translate to big benefits for you, your staff and your company.
Having a bio on the company website is a powerful point of pride for each member of your staff. And that’s why you shouldn’t leave anybody out.
Nor should you stratify the bios by putting the executives and managers first. List your team alphabetically, group them by department or randomize them in some way. Whatever you do, don’t create a pecking order on the employee bio page.
For key personnel, executives, managers, etc., you can add expanded personal profiles and include a link to that profile in their “Meet the Team” bios. (More on this strategy below.)
You don’t have to write (or pay someone to write) every bio yourself. In fact, you shouldn’t.
The best approach is to have your employees write their own bios. This will give them a sense of ownership and control over what goes into their stories, and ensure that they are written by the subject matter experts themselves. (The bios will need to be edited for grammar, punctuation and consistency — but we’ll get to that in a minute.)
Don’t just let them write without guidance, however. Give them a format to follow, and you’ll have consistency from the start. This is where you, as the business owner or manager, get the ball rolling.
Start by creating your own bio. You can design a format that you like, or you can do a little online research for inspiration.
HubSpot offers some great examples of professional bios, and Amastay shares a wealth of ideas for “Meet the Team” pages. We really like the way this creative agency approaches their employee bios page, although not every company needs something so elaborate.
Once you’ve chosen a format, think about what information you would like to include. Focus on telling a story with your bio, because storytelling is the heart and soul of marketing in the competitive online world. Include information that supports each staff member’s expertise and qualifications, but provide a humanizing feel that your customers and prospects can relate to on a personal level.
Above all, remember to keep things personal, clear and brief.
Psychologically, most of us have trouble writing about ourselves. If we sit down and stare at a blank page, we’re likely to struggle to write our own bio. So to help the process along — and to ensure consistency among the bios — provide some writing prompts and some basic instructions for completing the task.
When you send the requests out for employee bios, include your sample bio (after it’s been edited, please) and a clear, basic set of instructions. Something like this:
“Greetings, Team!
.
We’re adding a “Meet the Team” page to our website and we want to include a brief bio for each of our valuable team members. I have attached a sample of my bio, so you know what the final format will look like.
We need your bio, approximately 200-250 words, by next Friday. Write in the third person, as though someone were writing about you. Use the questions and writing prompts below for inspiration, and remember to have fun!
1. Give us your name, your title and what your role is here. Example: “Kathy Griggs, purchasing manager, handles all the ordering of our standard inventory as well as special order parts.”
2. Give us a brief description of your background. Example: “Kathy has been with the company for six years. Prior to that, she spent 10 years managing the purchasing department of a large, regional contractor in Pittsburgh.”
3. Describe any professional designations and industry-related accomplishments. Include links, where appropriate. “Kathy graduated from Boise State University with a B.A. in Business Administration. She is a proud member of the National Association of Purchasing Managers. She also serves on the board of Purchasing Managers Charities Inc. and has spoken at the regional Purchasing Summit Conference for the past three years.”
4. Give us a few personal details. Example: “In her spare time, Kathy enjoys competing as an Olympic-style weightlifter and indulging the every whim of her three Maine coon cats.”
5. Tell us what inspires you, or provide your favorite inspirational quote. Example: “Kathy believes that challenges make life interesting, but overcoming those challenges makes life meaningful.”
6. Tell us what motivates you to do what you do here, and how you contribute to the customer experience. Example: “Kathy is obsessed with obtaining the best products at the lowest possible price, so we can give our clients the maximum value for their money.”
You can format the bio page using a gallery, carousel, card-based design or you can simply list them down the page.
You will definitely need employee photos to go with your bios, too. Adding photos makes the bios compelling and visually engaging for visitors to your site. And even better, every photo gives you another chance to boost your search engine rankings, because you can also optimize photos for SEO.
Add internal links in each bio, as appropriate. You can add a link to each staff member’s direct email as well as links to appropriate internal pages. So for an employee who works in the residential plumbing division of your company, link their bio to your residential plumbing services page.
In many industries, key personnel need full professional profiles in addition to the briefer bio included on the “Meet the Team” page. Doctors, attorneys and other service professionals can use their profiles to provide information about professional affiliations, certifications and designations.
For example, a professional profile for a prominent hand surgeon links to relevant specialty practice pages as well as the doctor’s professional member organizations.
For longer profiles, you may want to organize the information into tabs, as illustrated on the profile page of this Utah orthopedic surgeon. You can include tabs for a biography, education, experience, professional affiliations, relevant research or whatever is appropriate for your company’s business model.
You may even want to include a link to download these profiles in PDF format.
Be Locally SEO provides a comprehensive suite of internet marketing services, including website design and management, search engine optimization and content marketing. We can help you turn your employee bios into a powerful SEO tool as well as a way to engage clients and build trust in the marketplace. Contact us today to learn more about how our services can help you grow your business.