How to Write a Company Biography

There are many things a potential customer or client wants to know about your company before doing business with you. When done properly, a company bio tells people everything they need to know about your company and gives them a sense of why they should do business with you. There are some things to keep in mind when writing a company bio, from the elements to include to the tone to use.

People like to know who they are doing business with. The biography of a company allows you to tell them what they want to know and control your brand. Whether it’s on the "About Us" page of your website, in your press kit or included in other marketing materials, your company’s bio is a chance for you to draw your customers to your company.

Through your company biography, you can let people know what your business is, what sets it apart and why they should do business with you. You can establish your expertise, longevity and how a customer can benefit from using your product. How you write your company bio helps to establish trust in your services or product and encourage people to use them.

Just as importantly, you can display your company’s personality through your company bio. You can choose to be reflective, personal or even a little bit sarcastic in a bio, depending on the type of client you want to appeal to.

A company biography is an important tool to have as part of your marketing strategy.

The biography of a company can be as long or as short as you prefer, but should always include similar elements. No matter what corporate biography template you use, you should include the following:

• Your official company name, as well as any DBAs.
  
• Any company locations, and the headquarters if you have multiple locations.
  
• What your business does, the industry it’s in and what products or services it offers.
  
• When your company was founded, along with a brief history of how it was started.
  
• Any awards your company has won or any big clients or customers it’s worked with.
  
• Company milestones and successes.
  
• The structure of the company, including names of key staff (who should each have their own bio) and their importance to the company.
  
• Community involvement, like sponsorships or community events.
  
• Your mission statement and your company’s values.
  
• Name changes, corporate moves, mergers, acquisitions and important branch openings.
  

Instead of a bulleted list of these items, you should take a sentence or two (or even a paragraph or two) to really flush them out. Explain why the founder(s) decided to open the business. If the company had a unique or interesting beginning, describe it. For example, if the first location of a retail chain was opened in a converted cow barn, this would be an interesting tidbit to share. Add information such as the amount of start-up capital that was required or the initial number of employees.

Giving a detailed description of why you chose your company name, why you founded your company and any achievements gives readers a sense of your company’s personality, values and structure. It also gives them a good idea of why they should do business with you.

Just as important as getting all of the needed information in your company bio is tailoring it to the potential reader. Since you know who your potential clients or customers are, you just need to write as though you are speaking to them.

That means if you have a company that offers more serious services, such as a boutique law firm or accounting business, you should write in a tone that appeals to people seeking legal or accounting help. Those clients may be more interested in how you’ve helped previous clients and your expertise than your community involvement. They probably don’t want to use a lawyer or accountant who makes a lot of jokes or uses a lot of exclamation marks in their company bio.

On the other hand, if you offer a service such as doggie daycare or children’s face painting, you have a lot more leeway in making your company bio fun. People want to know how their fur kids and human kids will have a great time using your services, and you can be a lot more playful in your company bio. In this case, having a more serious or dry company bio may turn people off of your service.

If you are unsure of the tone to use in your corporate biography template, imagine that you are having a conversation with your ideal client or customer. Write how you would explain everything to them. If it’s helpful, you can always dictate to someone else or have your marketing department draft something that you feel comfortable with.

While it’s important to include a lot of relevant information in summary form, you don’t want to lose the reader to endless scrolling on your website. It’s important to be succinct when it comes to writing your company bio. While there is no set length, the biography of a company should include all pertinent information without doing in too much detail.

The perk of including an "About Us" page on your website is that you can link from that page to other pages that go into more detail. In that way, you can keep your website pages briefer. When it comes to print material, think of your company bio like a resume, and keep it under two pages max. Even in print material, you can point people back to your website or encourage them to call in order to get more details.

When it comes to social media, a short company bio should be included that is no longer than a few paragraphs or sentences, depending on the site. They should include just enough information to let people know what you do, where you are and any services you provide. On these sites, you can include a link to the "About Us" page on your website that goes into a lot more detail.

The most important thing is to get your reader engaged, give them a sense of your company and get them excited about doing business with you.

Of course, writing a company bio should follow the rules of good writing. Create a narrative that has a beginning, middle and end. Use complete sentences, good grammar and terminology that even a middle school student can understand. Keep sentences short. Be engaging and interesting, and only include what’s relevant to your company.

As with any written materials your company puts out, make sure to proofread, check for typos and keep consistent with your brand. Fact-check statistics. Know your audience and write to them.

If you are having a difficult time creating a company bio, use a corporate biography template or look at the bios of other companies for inspiration. There are endless "About Us" pages online that you can review, including those in your industry, to get an idea of how to create the best company bio for you.

Whatever you do, don’t overlook writing a company bio or rush to write one. Take the time to map out what you want to say and put it to paper. Doing so may gain you even more clients or customers than you ever expected.