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Most blogs have one. In fact, it’s a default page or widget in most blogging software. It’s the first thing I look for and check out when I encounter a new blog. Yep, it’s the “about” page.
The “about” page is pretty important to a blog. It gives readers and potential readers a snapshot of you and your blog. It also serves as a good reference in the future for readers to refresh on the details. Okay. It’s important. Good.
Content.
Location? Vocation? Pictures? Blog intro? Reading habits/philosophy? Contact info? Book reviewing policies? Links? There is a fine line to walk here between being informative and privacy concerns.
My “About” Page.
Here is how mine reads as of right now:
My name is Jessica, and I am a book addict. I read and read and read (as much as my career, family, and church will allow).
If you would like me to review one of your books, please leave a comment on this page or email me at thebluestockingsociety (at) gmail.com.
Not bad. Not too spectacular. To get ideas on how to add a little pizzazz to my “about” page, I did a quick tour of my blogroll.
Examples.
Matt at A Guy’s Moleskine Notebook has a list “about” page that lists his interests and activities and 100 things about him.
Eva over at A Striped Armchair has a lengthy “about” page which includes a general introduction to her and her blog and her reading tastes. Also, she links to memes she’s posted that tell a little bit more about her.
Chartroose over at Bloody Hell, It’s a Book Barrage! has a nicely crafted, alliterate “about” page.
Raych over at Books I Done Read has a rant of an “about” column that conveys all of the necessary information about her blog.
Dorothy W. over at Of Books and Bicycles has a brief “about” page similar to mine above.
Rebecca of Rebecca Reads and Karen at Sassy Monkey Reads both have conversational “about” pages that explain their personal book blog philosophies.
Christine over at She Reads Books has a comprehensive “about” page organized by topic for easy access, and she even includes a privacy statement.
Dewey over at The Hidden Side of a Leaf has an informative “about” page that was a little hard to find but full of useful information about her blog (and her extensive blog-community events) and her personal life. She has a little bit of the list thing going on there at the end, too.
Rants and Reads at The Novel World admits to struggling with her “about” page, but provides good information there.
The above examples are not exhaustive. There are many good examples out there, but these are the ones that kind of stuck out in some way to me.
Resolution.
Based on my own thoughts and my review of several blogs, I’ve established that I would like to revise my “about” page. Specifically, I am going to add more personal information like location and possibly vocation. Also, I’m going add a little intro to my blog. And, finally, I’m going to be more specific about my ARC/review policies.
I think it’ll be a work in progress, an evolution, if you will. The first phase in the evolution should occur in the next day or two. Be sure to check it out.
Questions.
What are your feelings about the “about” page? Do you have one? What do you include? What do you leave out? How often do you update or change it? (Including links to your “about” info would be helpful on this one.)
Do you check out other blogs’ “about” pages? Are you disappointed when there isn’t one? What would you like others to include?





4 comments
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June 23, 2008 at 1:52 pm
chartroose
Hey, Jessica, thanks for linking to me! Now I’m going to check out your site…
June 23, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Eva
I don’t update mine too often; last time was to add the links to the memes! Oh, and some authors/publishers mentioned it was difficult to find my e-mail addy, so I added that in bold to the very top.
I love reading about pages, the longer the better (which is why mine is so long!). But I’m not super-annoyed if bloggers don’t have them. Just a little wistful, lol.
June 24, 2008 at 10:11 am
dew
It’s funny that you mentioned mine, because I just updated before you posted this It’s twice as long now, but I had the same stuff for a year before I updated it.
I read about pages all the time!
June 25, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Becca
I enjoy About pages, and actually have written those first thing on all three of my blogs. I use it to help define what I want the blog to be about, the tone of the writing style, and a little bit about me - the writer!
But, you’ve reminded me I haven’t looked at them since I wrote them, so perhaps I should do so, and think about updating them.