How to Write a Business Description: Your Ultimate Guide (with Examples & Templates)
There are so many places that you need to describe your business, whether it’s your website, an online directory, or even an “about the company” section for an event. Your mission statement is a good start, and your brand story is good background. But what you really need is a compelling business description that provides any reader with a quick overview of what your business does and what sets it apart from your competitors.
This is the tricky part. How can you accurately convey what makes your business special in a few hundred characters? What should you include in your business description? Where should you add your business description? How do you write a business description for social media? These are all valid questions that we’re answering right here! We’re sharing:
How to write a business description: 5 simple steps (with examples)
What is a business description? It’s an overview of your company and how it’s different from your competitors. And your business description needs to be an engaging introduction to your brand.
1. Start with your basics
The goal of a business description is to introduce any reader to your company—-and to do that quickly. So when you’re getting started writing this description, it’s a good idea to list out the basic information that you’ll need to include.
Parley’s PPM Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning opened its doors to Draper, UT and the rest of Utah County nearly 40 years ago, beginning a tradition of unparalleled customer service and quality HVAC repairs and installation. We’re dedicated to your happiness. That means we arrive on time and investigate your system before diving blindly into the situation. We get it right the first time. Regardless of the size of the job or its complexity, your satisfaction is most important to us. And as a thoroughly family-owned company, you can trust us to give your family the same attention we give to ours. If your air conditioner, heater, water heater, or water softener isn’t working correctly, give us a call immediately. We’ll schedule an appointment.
Here, Parley’s PPM Plumbing includes its name and location, states its services, and shares that it works to deliver results right the first time. They also talk about what they value and that they are a family-owned business.
2. Check out other business descriptions for your industry
Let’s say you’re working on a business description for a local garden center. You’ve got your basics and you’ve narrowed down keywords (including “garden center”), so it’s time to take a look at what other businesses are including in their descriptions.
There are some clear similarities between these business descriptions—and these aren’t the only garden centers hitting similar points. Both of these descriptions emphasize legacy and community, whether that’s by stressing “family” or “people.” This suggests that you want to tap into that here. Does your business run classes or events? Do you run the shop with your partner or your mom? Include those in the business description to attract your audience and set your business apart from your competitors.
When you’re writing your business description, be sure to check websites as well as social media profiles, as the descriptions will differ across platforms. We’ll talk more about that soon.
3. Choose your keywords
You’ll use your business description on your website, on your social media profiles, on review and listings sites—in other words, you’ll use this description across the internet. Because the primary locations for this description will be online, you need to make sure it’s optimized. That means you need to include keywords.
At Trophy Fitness Uptown, our mission is to provide our members at all fitness levels with an enjoyable workout experience in a positive, uplifting space. Our team is dedicated to delivering first-class customer service, and we understand the importance of a fitness club that promotes a healthy lifestyle, which is why we’re proud to specialize in personal training. All of our experienced personal trainers hold nationally recognized certifications and are here to help you achieve your fitness goals. Whether you’re a pro athlete or just setting out on your fitness journey, you have a place here at Trophy Fitness Uptown.
But focusing on Google’s keyword volume is always a good place to start for overall SEO, anyway. If your social media profiles and listings come up on the search results page as well as your website, that’s just more space for your business.
4. Stick to active voice
This might seem like a nit-picky tip but stick with me. Your business description should show your readers what your business does and how it does it well. Why wouldn’t you take every opportunity to make your business active when you only have a few sentences anyway?
Write Down Your Business’ Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
To write a USP statement that sells, use the knowledge you have on your customers’ personas, problems, and needs. Make sure it conveys the reason as to why people should buy your product over others in the market.
The leathercraft business Saddleback Leather conveys this message by creating a bold statement to illustrate its product, “They’ll fight over it when you’re dead.” It’s a catchy phrase that shows the company’s confidence in its product quality and reputation in the industry.
6 things to avoid in a job description
1 High-density job descriptions
A dense job description is difficult to read and may result in qualified candidates leaving the page before they even apply. Include only essential activities, and avoid mentioning tasks that are only occasional. Do not include duties that may be added in the future. Remaining concise will enhance candidates’ understanding.
2 Vague responsibilities
Avoid being ambiguous in your job description. If you use action verbs, describe how the position executes those verbs. Try following the verb with the word by and then detailing the operations performed to execute that task.
For example, instead of writing “Assists marketing manager,” write “Assists the marketing manager with content planning by researching keywords, monitoring blog performance, and scheduling topics.”
3 Redundancy
Save yourself and your candidates time by avoiding redundancy. Scan through your job description after you’ve written the first draft and look for any repeated words or responsibilities. If you can, try lumping related tasks together in the responsibilities or qualifications sections.
4 Jargon
When in doubt, always go with the simpler way of wording something. Additionally, make the language in your job description as inclusive as possible. To make your job description inclusive, avoid using gendered pronouns and refrain from including internal company lingo.
5 Inaccurate qualifications
It’s best to include only the minimum required skills for the position. Listing unreasonable expectations might provide you with an overqualified candidate who isn’t the right long-term fit for the opening.
6 Prohibited language
The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission governs certain aspects of the employment process . Before posting your job description, brush up on these requirements. Avoid all statements referring to age, gender, religion, and marital status.
Job description examples
Example 1: Senior Technical Writer
Senior Technical Writer
We are a fast-growing e-commerce startup with headquarters in Seattle, San Francisco, and Boston. We believe that culture is the product of empathetic leadership and a shared sense of purpose. Our company is a place where all people feel they belong. We put diversity, autonomy, and support first as we scale.
This position is full-time and requires working in our San Francisco office at least three days per week. As a Senior Technical Writer , you will write accurate, engaging, user-friendly documentation that adheres to our company’s style guide. You’ll also be responsible for documentation used by external developers. The Senior Technical Writer reports to the Developer Relations Engineer and works with the engineering, product management, quality assurance (QA), marketing, and user experience (UX) teams.
Example 2: Data Scientist
Data Scientist
Five years ago, we founded a biotech company in New York. We built an AI technology for online early diagnosis of diseases. Our company has forty team members from ten countries. All communication is in English. We aim to foster a creative, innovative, and diverse ecosystem.
Our data predict we can extend life by twenty years and slow aging by detecting diseases earlier. We’ve received three mobile app awards as one of the top twenty health startups. We’ve released a web app, an app for iOS, and are rolling out on Android soon. In one month, we received more than 10,000 mobile app downloads.
Resource:
How to Write a Business Description: Your Ultimate Guide (with Examples & Templates)
https://www.hostinger.com/tutorials/how-to-write-a-product-description
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/job-description/