(This post was linked up at Works for Me Wednesday.)
In my opinion, your "About" page is one of the most important parts of your blog. Why? Because it's often one of the first things a visitor uses to decide whether or not your blog is worth their time. Writing a good one is essential.
The first and most important thing about your "About" page?
It's really not about you.
Huh? My "About" page isn't about me? Correct. It's about your readers.
While you are wonderful 
the bottom line is, a visitor wants to know what you have to offer them. Therefore, the very first part of your "About" page should answer this question:
What problem does my blog solve for my readers, or what will someone gain from reading my blog?
Do you offer advice? Entertainment? Hope? Tips? Make it clear why they should come back.
Make it sticky
Once you've stated why they should read, next show them what to read. Use the second part of your "About" page to provide plenty of opportunity for a visitor to dive in and experience your blog.
As bloggers we should never overlook an opportunity to link to other posts/pages on our blogs (a.k.a. internal linking), but this is one time to really link. Choose some of your best or most popular posts, incorporate them smoothly into the conversational tone of your "About" page and link!
If someone lands on your "About" page, they usually do so because they want to know more. Don't just say, "Hi, here's my life's story. The end." Instead, give them lots of opportunities to explore futher.
Tell them a little about yourself
If a visitor reaches this point on your "About" page (and is not bouncing around among the links above), this is a good time to tell them a little about yourself. The key here is to share the part of your story that's relevant to your readers and relevant to the topic of your blog.
The facts about where you went to college, what your favorite food is or where you grew up can provide a nice glimpse into your personal life, but put these at the end of your "About" page, stated briefly and succinctly.
Of course, these types of facts should most definitely be stated more prominently if they are directly related to the topic of your blog or if they are of unusual interest ("I grew up on an island in the South Pacific, raised solely by birds.").
Now, tell me about yourself…
Here at BloggingWithAmy you'll find tips, tools & tutorials about blogging and websites. In plain English. Want to 
Love your site! I am going to need to rewrite my About page after reading this. (-: At the bottom of my About page I also have a "I am PR friendly type thing, and this is how businesses can contact me. Do you think that is a good place for that or should I move it to a separate page? Thanks again for all the info you keep sharing. I am learning so much! Rene
I am going to have to re-think my about me page as well. Putting in links is a great idea! Thanks Amy!
Thanks Amy – edited my page tonight! Great ideas.
I love your blog! I just found it today and it has been SO helpful already! Can't wait to read more!
Your post got me thinking! Maybe I'm weird, but I really DO enjoy reading an "about" where the blogger just shares information about their likes, their background, how they started the blog, etc. It sort of feels like reading a bio or an "about the author" on the back sleeve of a book and connects me with them. I'm into building a relationship with my readers, and I've learned the more I open with my readers, the more my community starts to grow. That being said, based off your post I'm thinking about my "about" page in my Nav bar adding a drop-down called "About this blog." That way there's an "about me" AND an "about this blog." Thoughts??
Angela,
That might be a good idea! I too love to read about other people, but that way you keep them separate. Also, you might provide a link to the respective pages at the bottom of each.
Took your advice and edited tonight!
Thank you so much for this advice. I am excited to write my "About" page now. I will definitely be back to read more of your blog.
Excellent advice. I'm off to edit my About page!
This is fantastic advice. Now I just have to find the time to incorporate it! I'll be subscribing to make sure I don't miss more of your great tips.
Thanks for the tips! I'll be coming back to your blog, I definitely need the advice!
Ok so time for me to create an about me page!
Thanks for the tips!! I've been procrastinating on my "about" link. I just recently got a navigation bar, but haven't been motivated to write that yet.
Excellent tips – it never occurred to me to put links in my about page. Will have to check into that!
thanks.
I am going to rewrite mine tonight! I started it already! Thanks for all the great advice.
What great tips! Thanks so much for the great article.
Thanks!! I've been "stuck" writing my About page and therefore haven't written one at all – fearing that it would be wrong – and not knowing where to start!! This is such a great article! Hoping to sit down and write it this afternoon.
Great tip! I just re-wrote my about me page, but I think I'm going to go back in and delete my first little section "Who Am I?" and just dive right into "Why do I blog? I enjoy it!" It goes from there straight into the kinds of things I blog about, etc.
Thanks!
I bet my comment went to spam. =( I accidentally linked to my about me page again (it auto pops up since that's what I've been doing lately) but for some reason that sends me to spam so I'm having to stop and go back to linking to my main url. Oh well.
Thanks! I never even realized I forgot to create an About page!
I think an "About" overhaul is in my near future. Thanks for all of your great stuff, Amy!
Glad it's helpful! Thanks for reading!
I'm so paralyzed trying to write this! Pressure!
OK, I did it! If anyone could check it out and let me know what they think – I'm open to it. THANKS!
I rewrote my "About me" page tonight! I had a huge pageview day today and realized people were checking out my about me page and it wasn't offering very much!
Thanks, Amy, for all the tips!
I just rewrote my About Me page a week or so ago using some tips I got from another website.
I think it's a good idea of what my blog's about . . . I'm still working on finding a niche because it's kind of about everything right now.
http://doithalfway.wordpress.com/about-mamabearping/
I also have a "What's My Story?" page that was my original about page. I still need to update that. I had considered making it a more in-depth view of me personally, and letting my About page speak for my blog and draw my readers in.
http://doithalfway.wordpress.com/about/
What do you think?
I have been struggling with my about me page and I have to admit that I spit coffee out when I read your reference to being raised by a flock of birds! LOLOL I think I've got it done okay now. It took me forever and I was really starting to feel guilty and uncredited because I did not have one. I hate taking pictures, but I have included on on my about page. So I'm hoping maybe that will make me seem more real as well and give me a little bit of credibility.
Well, I'm right there with you on the images thing. I'm a horrible photographer and an incredibly lazy blogger in that I rarely make the time to find great images. It's something I'm going to try to work on in 2011 though.
I'm so glad you shared this information. I have been procrastinating on my about page the entire first month that my website was up. I was encouraged to actually finish it after reading your post.
Woohoo!
Hi Amy
I am following along step by step to create my new blog, so first off let me say *Thank You*!!
I can't seem to figure this out and have spent the past two nights trying, so I thought I'd pick your brain if that's ok…
I am using atahualpa and have a category menu bar (instead of a page menu bar.) I can't figure out how to add an "about me" or "contact me" page to that category menu bar. I know I could do it by creating an "about me" category and then posting in it, but I'd like something that didn't show up in my regular posts.
I hope that makes sense…do you know how I can get an about/contact page to show up in my category bar?
Thank you so much Amy!!
Have a great night,
Rebecca
I think I understand what you are saying — that you want all links on just one navbar. Are you opposed to creating an About page and a Contact page then just enabling the page bar (as well as the categories bar)? If you definitely want them all on one bar only, hmmm…it would require you to edit your template in Appearance–>Editor. That could be tricky if you're unfamiliar with code. You might also try checking out the Atahualpa forums, or do what I always do when I need a question answered. I hope that helps a bit.
Amy~I am sorry I'm just now replying, but I wanted to come and say thank you
I read your response all those weeks ago, but didn't get back to respond right away. The Atahualpa forums have been incredibly helpful, and I figured out how to make static "About" and "contact" pages and put them into the page bar (not category.)
So, again, thank you so much!! I really appreciate you taking the time to help all of us out
So glad you figured it out!
Thank you for all the info on blogging etc. I started about a month ago and you have had so many helpful tips. I know you talk about linking internally in your blog. I have no idea how to do this. Or link to external links within a post. Any advice would be extremely helpful.
Hi Sacha, I just added a video tutorial to this post. I hope that helps!
Thanks for all your tips about blogging, this is definitely valuable information for someone trying to build a blog.
Thanks for stopping by Ali!
Hi Amy, I just finished writing my 'about' page but I can't figure out why in the world it won't show spaces between commas and such. I spaced it as I typed it but it shows up as if I didn't space after every comma. Is there some secret I don't know about?
Also, how do I go about changing my font size for my post. I've gone through all your steps now but didn't see how to do that. Maybe I just missed it? I would just like it to be slightly bigger.
Thanks so much,
Brooke
Did you write your post directly into your Dashboard or did you copy and paste it from another program (such as Microsoft Word)? If you are C&P'ing it from another program, formatting sometimes gets wonky. You'd change your font size in the Atahualpa Theme Options–> Body, Text & Links.
No, I'm not copying and pasting. Doing it right from my blog. Do you think changing my font would help? I don't know how to do that but I'll figure it out I'm sure.
YESSS! I fixed the spacing problem. I did a little research and came across this little tidbit. It seems there is a problem when people update to the latest version of Atahualpa and/or WordPress. http://wordpress.org/support/topic/text-issues-no-spaces-after-commas
Can I just tell you… I was scared to death to change anything in my CSS! Fortunately it worked but I hope I never have to change anything again. That's a lot of foreign material right there!!
Way. to. go! That's excellent.
"That's a lot of foreign material right there!!" <– That cracked me up!
I am using Atahualpa and have the same problem. I expect the links you posted will fix it; YAY! Thanks for posting.
okay. I definitely have some rewritiing to do!
Great article. I'm relieved to know that after countless revisions I'm at least part of the way. Now I need to add links to the best content.
Great advice! I can't tell you how many times I have rewritten my about page…still perfecting it. I think it is way to wordy right now, but I know I am getting closer because I get emails or comments from readers mentioning a fact about me that they could only have gotten from my About Page (i.e. I'm the oldest of 5, too…). There is a reason why I do tutorials and don't write a lot about my opinions. I'm just too wordy! lol
I've done mine over many times too. And should probably do it again…lol
I just transformed my "About" page thanks to your insight. You turned my perception on its head when you said "your About section isn't about you." So insightful!
Cheers,
Heather @ Find That Warm Fuzzy Feeling
Hi, I'm looking at launching my blog in about three days, and was wondering If I should have some sort of introduction (like a longer "about" type post) as my first post, or should I just dive right into my content and let my about page stand alone?
I think you could go either way—whatever feels natural to you. If you do decide to write a post in addition to your About page, think about linking it to your About page and/or vice versa.
Hi Amy,
I 'stumbled' across your blog website. Great posts and so clearly written. I'll be looking again at my 'About Me' pages and refer back for more useful tips. Thanks
Neil
Thanks, Neil. Glad you stopped by!
just finding this now after checking your latest post about making the "About" page a little more "killer" – good info…..
I knew my about page needed something…now I need to get busy revising! Thank you for your tips – they are very helpful. New follower.
Hugs, GraceinAZ
You're welcome. Thanks for hanging out.
Thanks for re-posting this! Working on a new layout now and rewriting my about page just got added to the list!