How to Write the Perfect Blog Bio

The author bio that shows up at the bottom of each blog post is one of the most important parts of a blog. Unfortunately, many bloggers will spend countless hours writing a single blog post and only spend a couple of minutes jotting down a quick bio for their author profile.

If you want your readers to subscribe to your list and buy from you, then you have to be able to get them to trust you first. The blog bio is the apex that begins molding the bond of trust between you and your readers.

Today I am going to teach you how to craft a blog bio that will act as a bridge to the most important pages on your blog.

It Starts With Your Picture

Before they read the first word of your bio, your readers are going to see your picture. That picture needs to convey…

• Competence – This shows that you have intelligence and are capable.
• Likability – This portrays your level of friendliness and kindness.
• Influence – This paints the image of you have industry leadership.

There was a recent study by PhotoFeeler that looked at what elements created the ideal profile photo for social media and blogging. The study was based on over 60,000 ratings of perceived competence, likability, and influence.

Key Takeaways from the Study…

#1 Wear Eyeglasses Not Sunglasses

You may think that you look cool in a pair of designer sunglasses, but everyone else is thinking the opposite. The study showed a decrease in likability for all profile photos of people wearing sunglasses. In contrast, people wearing eyeglasses were seen as more competent and likable.

#2 Smile Big So Your Eyes Squinch

Wide open eyes are psychologically perceived as someone that is in a state of fear. The squinched eyes are perceived as someone that portrays comfort and confidence. This trait had a large positive impact on the person being viewed as competent, likable, and influential.

#3 Show Your Teeth When You Smile

The open mouthed smile had the largest impact on likability of any feature that was rated. It also had a positive impact on both competence and influence. In contrast, the closed mouth smile had half of the impact on likability and did not have any positive effect on competence and influence.

#4 Dress Sharp for Your Photos

For men that wore a jacket and tie, there was a significant positive impact on perceived competence and influence. The more conservative looks outperformed trendy or unusual colors.

#5 Stay Away from Dark Photos

People prefer well lit photos. Dark photos had a significant negative impact on likability. When you take your photo make sure the lighting is good. If not, then make sure the flash on your camera is enabled.

Applying these statistically backed changes to your blog bio photo can lead to a big bump in your total revenue. If you are perceived as being more competent and likable, then more people will want to do business with you.

Here’s a few good examples of blog bio photos..

Your Words Will Drive Deeper Engagement

Now that you know how to create the ideal bio pic. Let’s move into how to craft the copy that will drive engagement, subscribers, and product conversions.

The Character Count Should be Less than 300

Your bio needs to be short and sweet. If it is too long, new visitors will be discouraged from reading it. I found that three sentences was the sweet spot that lead to the highest engagement.

The First Sentence Should Show Your Accomplishments

It is important not to waste the first sentence telling your readers who you are. There is a big difference between telling and showing. Let’s take a look at my blog bio so that you can get a better understanding of this concept.

If I were to tell my readers who I am, then it might sound something like this…

I am a blogger and a business owner.

Now when I take the basic tell concept and transform it into showing my accomplishments, then it sounds like this…

Mr. Gaille is one of the top business bloggers in the world, and he has founded several multi-million dollar companies.

I prefer to use third person in my blog bio so it does not sound like I am bragging about myself. On my about page, where I tell me entire story, I use first person.

The Second Sentence Should Be a Call-to-Action for Your About Page

I reviewed 485 blog bios when preparing for this article. Only 5% of these bios had a link to another page on their blog. After your readers finish a blog post, the primary goal is to get them to stay on your blog. This is why most WordPress themes have related posts built in to show at the end of a post.

When a reader reads your bio, you need to give them a reason to stay on your blog. The main reason why people read the bio below a blog post is to find out more information on the author. This is why the primary call-to-action needs to be your about page.

When done correctly, a link to your about page in your bio will…

• Decrease your bounce rate
• Build trust
• Add email subscribers
• Increase sales

To give you a better understanding of how to do this correctly, let’s take a look at the second sentence of my blog bio..

Read Brandon’s inspiring comeback story, “From Brain Tumor to 1 Million Monthly Visitors.”

Instead of calling it an about page, I call it an inspiring comeback story. I also came up with a really great title for the story, which links to the about page (From Brain Tumor to 1 Million Monthly Visitors).

Keep in mind that you should have a killer about page that shares your unique story. My about page is right under 5000 words, and shares the biggest struggles I have faced in my life. Once someone reads my 5000 word about me page, then they are officially a raving fan of mine for life.

At the very end of my epic autobiography, there is a small text link that goes to my online course. Over 70% of people that click that link sign up to the waiting list for my course. This makes this page the highest converting page or post on my entire blog.

The Final Sentence Should Be a Call-to-Action to Get in Contact With You

It is amazing how many opportunities have come my way just from providing a link to my contact page within my blog bio. Where the main reason people read your bio is to learn more about you, the secondary reason is to find out how to get in contact with you.

The third sentence of my bio reads…

Feel free to send Brandon a message here.

It is straight to the point and the words “send Brandon a message here” links to a form on my contact page. This makes it real easy for anyone to click and fill out a short form with four fields to contact me.

This little link has produced over six figures in revenue from new clients every year. When you write a really great post your readers will see you as the expert on the field. Many of these readers will think to themselves, “I need to be in business with this person.” They will instantly read your bio to find out more and have an easy path to reaching out to you.

In addition to getting new clients here are a few other reasons for adding a link to your contact page on your bio…

• Fixing mistakes in your posts – Every once in awhile I make a grammatical mistake and one of my readers lets me know.
• Identifying when something is not working right – I added a new plugin two years ago, and it caused another plugin not to work correctly in the Firefox browser. Within a day, I had received two messages from my readers letting me know about the problem.
• Getting invited to speak at conferences – I get asked to speak at three to five conferences a year, which all originate from clicking on the contact link on my bio. A conference organizer reads one of my posts and decides I would be a great speaker at their conference. It is really that simple.

The bottom line is that you always want to make it real easy for anyone to contact you at the end of a post. It will open up opportunities and help to quickly identify problems on your blog.

One Note on Social Media Links

Almost all WordPress themes will allow you to place links to social media within your blog bio. My theme places small icons below my three sentence bio so it does not directly pull clicks away from my about and contact pages.

It is important to only include the social media profiles that you have the biggest presence. Too often I see bloggers place as many as six different social media profile links on their bio. I recommend not going beyond three. For me, I list Twitter and Facebook. My following is well beyond 50,000 on both of these social media channels, and I update each one on a regular basis.

A Quick Review of the Key Elements of a Blog Bio

Take a look at my final blog bio below to see how it all comes together.

Your blog bio is the bridge to connecting with your audience at a personal level. You want frame yourself in the best possible way so that you come across as trustworthy and likable. This will directly attribute to an increase in email subscribers, clients, and product sales.