what to include in your bio
When creating your website, you need a bio or “about you” section. Here are some tips for a bio that works!
Keep it short. These days, website visitors want to get the most important information in the shortest amount of time. They are going to gloss right over a page long bio.
Make it personal. Don’t just list your qualifications as a long list of facts. Include some relatable pieces of personal information as well. This is how you will make connections with your audience. Like attracts like so let your viewers get to know the real you.
Include a photo (or video). Photos help to break up a lot of the text and make it more visually appealing to readers. Good headshots are important here. A selfie just doesn’t have the professional feel we need. You might also consider including a video of yourself talking about what makes you unique. Let them see you in action!
BIO EXAMPLE:
I recently had the opportunity to re-write a bio for one of my clients. All I had to go on was a Facebook post where she asked others how they would describe her but it was so fun to take their snippets and plug them into a well-written biography that much more accurately encompasses my client.
ORIGINAL BIO:
Toni Hill is a direct-entry midwife serving North Mississippi with traditional home birth midwifery. She has been involved with birth work for over 20 years, first supporting families as a doula in both hospital and home birth settings. Like many midwives before her, she has received her formal midwifery training through a variety of means. She has been blessed to learn from the hands and at the feet of many midwives, has completed extensive self-study, completed The Farm Midwifery Assistant training (June 2013), completed The Farm Midwifery Advanced training (August 2013), and an amazing apprenticeship toward CPM credentialing with Full Circle Midwifery in Memphis, TN. She remains current in basic adult and child CPR and NRP (neonatal resuscitation). She has also completed, BEST (birth emergency skills training), and STABLE. She has received additional training in cranio sacral therapy for infants, as well as herbalism and hypnotherapy. She is also a CLC (certified lactation counselor) and the Founding Executive Director of Northeast Mississippi Birthing Project and Mississippi Center for Birth and Breastfeeding Equity.
NEW BIO:
Toni is a Certified Professional Midwife in Northern Mississippi but, according to her clients and colleagues, she's the baddest midwife in the state and a trailblazer for the next generation of birth workers. Toni uses her 20+ years of knowledge and experience to support the entire family as they embrace natural birth, healing, and herbalism. She brings her compassion, patience, and light to every birth. Passionate about her community, Toni is an advocate for those who are often overlooked or uninformed. She is fiercely grounded in issues that advance and uplift maternal health and equity for all. She is an intuitive visionary for creating services and opportunities for the marginalized that make an impact. As a mentor, Toni sees the value in openly sharing knowledge to encourage and empower more like-minded birth workers to safely support families in their own communities with best practices. Both a teacher and a student, Toni strives to seek and speak truth. She is a voice of reason for those who have lost their connection to self and nature, inspiring and planting seeds of wisdom wherever she goes. Toni is approachable and an empathetic listener. In combination with her endearing sense of humor, she is loved and appreciated by many far and wide.
As you can see, they are about the same length but the new bio captures much more of her passion and personality. Because she is a medical professional we did include a listing of her training and certifications but they were in a bullet point list like a resume rather than part of her bio.