Table of Content
I have rewritten more Facebook About sections than I can count. One for a bakery two streets from my old flat, one for a two-person cleaning crew, one for a physiotherapist who kept getting messages asking whether she even took new patients. The problem was identical every time. The owner had typed one rushed sentence years ago, forgotten it existed, and never looked again. Meanwhile that little block of text was quietly making decisions on their behalf.
When someone lands on your Page from a shared post or a search result, the About section is where they work out three things fast: are you real, do you sell what they need, and are you close enough or reachable enough to bother with. I spent a good part of last year testing different versions on live Pages and watching which ones earned more Send message taps and which ones got scrolled straight past. What follows is the short version of what actually moved the needle, with real examples you can adapt. No lectures about telling your brand story. Just the copy that makes a stranger stay.
The short version Your Page has a short description (the line that shows in search and previews) and a longer Our Story field for detail. Say what you do, where you are, who it is for, and what to do next. Keep the short description under 255 characters, front-load the useful part, and match your name, address and phone to your Google listing. That is 90 percent of it. |
What the Facebook About section actually contains
On a business Page in 2026, About is not one box. It is a set of fields, some shown publicly and some feeding Facebook search quietly. Here is what you are working with and how much each part earns its place.
| Field | What it does | Worth the effort? |
|---|---|---|
| Short description | Appears in search results and in the preview when your name is tapped. Your single most-seen line. | Yes, the priority |
| Categories | Up to three. Helps Facebook classify and recommend you, and unlocks features like menus or booking. | Yes, be specific |
| Our Story | The longer field for background, mission and detail. Sometimes labelled Additional Information or Page Story. | Yes, for comparers |
| Contact info | Phone, email, website. Feeds trust signals and click-throughs. | Yes, always |
| Location, service area | Address for a storefront, or the areas you cover for a mobile service. | Yes, if local |
| Hours | Shows Open or Closed in real time. Wrong hours cost real visits. | Yes, keep current |
| Price range | A rough band that sets expectations before people message. | Optional |
| CTA button | The action button under your cover photo: Book now, Send message, Shop now. | Yes, often skipped |
The one line that does most of the work
If you fix one thing today, fix the short description. It is capped at 255 characters, but the number that matters more is where Facebook cuts it off in a preview, which is far sooner. So the rule is simple: put the most useful words first. A visitor should understand what you sell and roughly where you are before the text trails off behind a link.
The version that loses opens with a feeling. Passionate about bringing people together over great food. That is a lovely sentence and it tells a hungry stranger nothing. The version that wins opens with the facts a customer is scanning for, then adds warmth if there is room. Look at the examples below and you will see the same shape repeating.
Nine Facebook About section examples by business type
Each example has two parts: a short description you could paste in today (with its real character count), and a shorter Our Story opener for the longer field. Names are invented, but the structure is exactly what I use on live Pages. Swap in your own details.
Maple & Oak Coffee Coffee shop
SHORT DESCRIPTION
| Specialty coffee, house-baked pastries and fast wifi in the heart of Kingsland. Open 7am daily. Order ahead, grab a corner table, or bring your laptop and stay a while. |
168 characters
OUR STORY
We opened on the corner of Kingsland Road in 2019 with one espresso machine and a very patient landlord. Everything on the counter is baked in-house before open, our beans are roasted a mile away, and yes, the wifi really is fast. Regulars get their name on the loyalty board after ten visits.
The Chair Hair salon
SHORT DESCRIPTION
| Independent hair salon in Cheltenham. Cuts, colour and balayage for every hair type, by appointment. New clients get a free consultation. Book online or message us to find a slot that suits. |
190 characters
OUR STORY
A small salon run by three stylists who each built their own following before joining forces. We take time over consultations because a colour correction costs far more to fix than to avoid. Curly, coily, fine or thick, someone here specialises in your hair.
Riverside Dental Dental practice
SHORT DESCRIPTION
| Family and cosmetic dentistry in Riverside. Accepting new NHS and private patients. Same-day emergency appointments available. Nervous patients genuinely welcome. Free parking on site. |
184 characters
OUR STORY
We have looked after local families for over twenty years. Expect a calm, unhurried practice with sedation options for anxious patients and a treatment plan you can read before agreeing to anything. New patient appointments usually open within a week.
Detail like seating, lighting and atmosphere belongs in Our Story, not in the short description.
Groundwork Strength Fitness studio
SHORT DESCRIPTION
| Small-group strength coaching in Leeds for people who hate big gyms. Beginners welcome, no lock-in contracts. Your first class is free. Message us to book a taster this week. |
174 characters
OUR STORY
Groundwork is a coaching studio, not a treadmill warehouse. Classes cap at eight so a coach can actually watch your form. Most members arrived nervous and stayed for years. If mirrored gyms have put you off training before, this is built for you.
Wren & Thistle Clothing boutique
SHORT DESCRIPTION
| Independent women's boutique in Bristol. Ethical pieces from small European labels, sizes 6 to 20. Free local delivery. Shop in store or message to reserve online. |
163 characters
OUR STORY
We stock a tight, considered range from makers who pay their workers properly, so you will not find fifty versions of the same top. If something sells out we can often reorder your size. Message us a photo and we will tell you honestly whether it suits.
Bright Spaces Cleaning Home service
SHORT DESCRIPTION
| Reliable home and office cleaning across South Manchester. Fully insured, DBS-checked cleaners. One-off deep cleans or weekly visits. Free quote within 24 hours, no obligation. |
176 characters
OUR STORY
We are a small, local team, not a call centre that subcontracts to strangers. The same cleaner comes back each week so they learn your home and you learn to trust them. Every cleaner is background-checked and insured, and we bring our own supplies unless you prefer we use yours.
Casa Lento Restaurant
SHORT DESCRIPTION
| Slow-cooked Italian food in Nottingham, made from scratch daily. Family-run since 2016. Walk-ins welcome, larger tables by request. Book with the button or message us for group bookings. |
186 characters
OUR STORY
Lento means slow, and that is the whole idea. Sauces simmer for hours, pasta is rolled in the morning, and the menu follows the market. It is a family kitchen scaled up to a small dining room, so booking ahead at weekends is wise. Highchairs and gluten-free options always available.
Ilona Reid Photography Photographer
SHORT DESCRIPTION
| Wedding and family photographer in Edinburgh, travelling across Scotland. Relaxed, natural style with no stiff posing. Limited dates each season. Message for availability and pricing. |
183 characters
OUR STORY
I photograph the day as it actually happens rather than directing everyone into rows. Most of my couples say they forgot the camera was there, which is the point. I take a limited number of weddings a year so each one gets my full attention. Send me your date and I will tell you honestly if I am free.
Proof Bakehouse Bakery
SHORT DESCRIPTION
| Sourdough, pastries and celebration cakes baked fresh in Cardiff. Order cakes 48 hours ahead. We sell out most Saturdays, so come early. Custom orders through the message button. |
178 characters
OUR STORY
A two-oven neighbourhood bakery that started as a market stall. The sourdough takes three days from start to shelf, which is why it goes fast. For birthdays and weddings we take custom orders with a couple of days notice. Message us your idea and a rough date and we will quote you back.
The formula behind every example
Read the nine examples again and you will notice they are not creative writing. They are the same five ingredients in the same order. Once you see the shape, you can write your own in about five minutes.
Fill this in What you do + Where + Who it is for or what makes you different + One line of proof or reassurance + The next step Example: Small-group strength coaching (what) in Leeds (where) for people who hate big gyms (who). Beginners welcome, no contracts (reassurance). Message us to book a free taster (next step). |
The last ingredient is the one most owners forget. Never leave a reader without a clear next move. Message us, book with the button, come before noon, call for a quote. Give the sentence somewhere to go.
Character limits worth knowing
Facebook publishes generous limits and then hides most of your text behind a preview cut-off, so the practical number is almost always smaller than the maximum. These are the fields that matter for a business Page.
| Field | Limit | What to aim for |
|---|---|---|
| Page short description | 255 | Land the key facts in the first 150 |
| Page name | Keep it short | Your real business name, nothing bolted on |
| Username (handle) | 50 | Match your brand, avoid numbers |
| Our Story / long field | Room to breathe | A few short paragraphs, not an essay |
| Standard post | 63,206 | The first line is all most people read |
For comparison, a personal Facebook profile bio is only 101 characters. Business Pages get far more space, which is exactly why a blank Our Story field looks so unfinished next to a competitor who filled theirs in.
Mistakes that quietly cost you customers
Most weak About sections are not badly written. They are victims of the same handful of habits.
Stuffing keywords into your Page name BrightPath Dental Best Dentist Implants Emergency Phoenix looks like spam and can hurt you in search. Keep the name field for your real name and let the description and services carry the keywords. |
Leaving Our Story empty A half-filled About section reads as abandoned. Anyone comparing you to a rival will notice the blank space, and Facebook has less to work with when deciding whether to surface you. |
Details that do not match Google If your name, address and phone differ across Facebook and your Google Business Profile, even slightly, it weakens local ranking on both. Copy them across exactly, down to Street versus St. |
Opening with a feeling instead of a fact Living our dream of serving the community tells a customer nothing they can act on. Lead with what you sell and where, then add the warmth. |
No call-to-action button The button under your cover photo is one of the most skipped elements on Facebook. Set it to Send message, Book now or Shop now so an interested visitor has one obvious tap. |
Hours that are wrong Facebook shows Open or Closed in real time. Nothing loses a walk-in faster than Open on the Page and a locked door in real life. |
Getting the About section found
Facebook is a search engine in its own right, and its Pages also show up on Google. You cannot tweak title tags or schema the way you would on a website, so clean, consistent information does the heavy lifting. Work through this list once and you rarely need to touch it again.
✓ Use your real business name in the name field, then pair the brand with a service naturally in the description.
✓ Pick the most specific category available, not just the broad one. Specific categories unlock features and better recommendations.
✓ Complete every field you reasonably can. Empty fields give Facebook nothing to match against.
✓ Match your name, address and phone to your Google Business Profile exactly.
✓ Add your website and a working contact method so people can leave the Page and still reach you.
✓ Keep the Page active with regular posts. A Page that looks alive ranks and converts better than a polished but silent one.
An honest reality check
| Here is the part most guides skip. Organic reach for a business Page post now sits at roughly 2 to 6 percent of your followers, and most people meet your business one post at a time in their feed, never scrolling up to your About section at all. |
So who is it really for? The people who deliberately click through: someone who searched your name, a referral checking you out, a shopper deciding between you and the next Page. Those visitors are the closest to buying. A sharp About section will not fix low reach, but it converts the warm traffic you already have, which is a good trade for twenty minutes of writing.
Final verdict
After a year of swapping versions in and out on real Pages, the thing that surprised me most was how boring the winners were. The About sections that pulled the most messages were never the cleverest. They were the ones a tired person could read in four seconds and immediately know what to do. Plain beats poetic almost every time. If you take one thing from this, take the formula: what you do, where, who it is for, one line of proof, and the next step. Paste the example closest to your business, swap in your details, fix your hours, match your Google listing, and set the button. That is a genuine afternoon of improvement to the first impression thousands of strangers form of your business. I have watched it turn quiet Pages into ones that actually get messages, and there is not much on Facebook you can say that about for twenty minutes of work. |