Author biographies are an opportunity to personally connect with your blog readers.
There are more than 500 million blogs out of 1.7 billion websites, and about 409 million people view more than 20 billion pages each month.
Your goal as a blogger is to stand out. An author bio can help.
An author bio is roughly a paragraph about you, your credentials, your hobbies and/or any other information you wish to share with readers.
A compelling author bio will not only help build a relationship with readers, but if you are guest blogging, it can actually drive traffic to your own website or social accounts (whatever you’re linking to).
The following are seven tips to write an author bio that gets noticed.
Consider your personal brand
An author bio is essentially an extension and reflection of your personal brand. How do you want to be perceived in relationship to your blog article?
Check out our 10 tips to build your personal brand if you need a little help.
Understand your audience
Especially when you’re guest blogging, you can engage with many different types of audiences.
Whom you’re speaking to can (and should) impact your author bio.
Just like you should understand your target audience when you’re creating a piece of content, whether it’s a blog or something else, you should extend that same effort for your bio.
Depending on the audience, the details you include might vary.
Keep it short and sweet
It’s tempting to outline your full resume of professional experience and accomplishments in your author bio.
But resist the urge.
Listing every detail simply to list it (or to establish your authority on your blog) will lose your audience.
Narrow it down to what you would include in an “elevator pitch.” What are the top three things you would say about yourself? Remember that you want to include the most attention-grabbing points about yourself (just not too many).
Speak in third-person
Regardless of what voice your blog article is written as, you want to write your author bio in third-person voice only.
It’s simply more professional.
List any achievements sparingly
Again, too much is obviously too much. And a long list of degrees or awards (or both) will make the eyes of your readers glaze over.
In addition, it could come across as more boastful than impressive.
If you want to include something, consider your biggest or most recent achievement.
Feel empowered to get personal
Blogs are not as formal as other mediums of communication, so you have the opportunity to add a few compelling, personal details about yourself.
This is especially the case if your blog article focuses on a more personal or first-person topic.
You’ll want to be selective with these details as well. What makes the most sense to include? What might connect with readers?
Include a professional photo
There is a big difference between a selfie (no matter how flattering) and a professional photo.
Characteristics of a professional photo include a background that is not distracting and good lighting. They’re typically shot straight-on, featuring a clear image of the face. Headshots traditionally refer to professional photos that show the face and at least some of the upper body.
Of course, you can certainly show your personality in a professional photo. See some examples for inspiration.
