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Are they related to business community?
Another way to establish credibility and trust is to belong to community, trade or professional associations. These entities usually authorize their members to use their logos. For example, a repair shop's website can use seal of ASE to emphasize that its mechanics are well trained. Similarly, a business consultant's website can display a logo of American Management Association, or a real estate agent can display a logo of National Association of Realtors. Use these associations to your advantage in your "About Us" page.
Should I trust them with my private information?
People are very protective of their personal information, especially on-line. You should have a privacy policy crearly displayed somewhere in your website, and you should link to it from your "About Us" page (and also from your homepage). Aside from that, if you sell goods or services on-line, it is a good idea to become a Truste privacy sealholder. By becoming a Truste member and displaying Truste seal in your "About Us" page, you will demonstrate that you abide by Truste's best practices. This alone may make difference between prospective customers buying from you instead of from somebody else.
Some Implementation Details
If information in your "About Us" takes too much space and makes your text too long, you can always split it among several pages (you will then have an "About Us" section instead of just a page). If you do so, create a small menu of options that apply only to your "About Us" section. The links in that menu can be called: Our People, Our Business, Portfolio, Customers, Community, Privacy, etc. The best location to place this menu is on a column to right of page, since usually left column or top of page are reserved for main navigation menu of site. Finally, a link to your "About Us" page must be present in your homepage (it doesn't have to be in most prominent location or in your main navigation menu, but it has to be visible and easily accessible).
Summary
On web, it is very difficult to determine if a company is good and reputable. One way to help prospective customers know that they can trust your business is through a good "About Us" page. A good "About Us" page must answer most common questions prospective customers are likely to ask themselves to determine if they should give you their trust. Your "About Us" page should be easily accesible through a link in your homepage.
Mario Sanchez is a Miami based freelance writer who focuses on Internet marketing and web design topics. He publishes The Internet Digest ( http://www.theinternetdigest.net ), a growing collection of web design and Internet marketing articles, tips and resources. You can freely reprint his weekly articles in your website, ezine, or ebook.