Should we add "About -> The Team" when our company is only 5 people?

It's widespread among (mostly web development) non-huge companies to add a page about the team members of their company, like SE's Team page here, where they have separate page for their team, or AppFog's Team page here where they have it as part of a generic about page.

This is really a nice idea, it encourages team members, attributes them, and just looks nice from a visitor's view.

I have two questions though:

• Is that a good idea for all companies, regardless of who the clients are, or it's good only when clients are mainly the "public", and a bad idea when clients are mainly organizations and companies (my situation).
• As it's obvious, both SE and AppFog have a relatively good number of team members, more than 20 at least. But what if the team consisted of 5 members only like most technology startups (my situation)? is it still a good idea to add team members or that will just make the company look less "serious"?

It depends.

What information are your customers looking for on your web site? What are you trying to let them know with your about page?

The number of people doesn't really matter. For example our whole team is just two full time people - and we have both of those people up on the home page - let alone the about page. Because what we sell to our clients is expertise in a particular domain so information about the people is vital.

What matters is how your company is positioned and branded, and what you are trying to let your customers know. Plenty of people have team pages with only a few people on. Even in larger organisations.

What matters is who those people are and why they're on the page.

Yes, you should include team information on your website. In fact, I think most companies should.

I'm a lot like you - a tiny technology startup in the B2B space. I've done a lot of in-person and recorded user testing of my website, and was surprised to find that many people specifically looked for the company and team information. Some people even said they wouldn't buy my SaaS product because my website didn't have that information. Even more surprising, I didn't ask for this feedback - people volunteered it during user testing. That's a strong signal that this information is important to potential buyers.

Here are a few examples for inspiration:

• Balsamiq: A link to when they were just 5 people
• WP Engine: A link to when they were just 3 people
• Outright : 5 people

Alternately, you can include a few key people, and never say exactly how big your whole team is. Here are a few examples:

• inDinero
• 37signals
• Fog Creek Software

If you're a B2B business i would strongly recommend not to do so:

1. it makes you look small and unreliable.
2. if your personal backgrounds are less than very attractive, there's no point in doing so because your customers might look you up on linkedin or something of that sort.
3. your competitors may check your backgrounds and connections and learn a lot about what you're doing and how. Maybe they could even see who your customers are (if you're friends with them on FB/Linkedin)

In short, if it doesn't contribute you directly, marketing-wise (you don't need to build up trust / empathy with end users), i would recommend you not do to it.

It very much depends on your business - if you are trying to portray a global multinational then it could be the "wrong" thing to do but, on the other hand, if you want to let people know you are a small and agile startup then it is a great way to do so whilst also personalising the brand so people are more likely to relate to you.

We fall somewhere into the middle as we want to portray a little of both images so our current thinking is to go with something along the lines of "Our Exec team" as it allows for personalisation whilst also implying that we could be bigger than we really are.

Putting your team profile helps customers connect with your business.

Specially in case of B2B business, people like to know who they are dealing with. In case of consumer product, you may want to skip it or place a small button in About Us page.

But overall, it is always a good idea to share your credentials with your customers.

I will not worry about my competition, they will find out anyway.

You most definitely should! Prospective employees should feel like they "belong" with your team before they come in for an interview, and besides, having an informal "about us" page is definitely good no matter who your clients are. I have been with a company whose clients ranged from apple to seagate and they had an about us page with all our photos (we were 10 people) and a few photos from one of our team outings, along with our name and qualifications listed beside each of our photos.

I would definitely add an about page. I think that people feel more comfortable doing business with "people". Without a webpage you are anonymous and somehow less trustworthy than if you add a face and a bio to the company in the form of an about page.

If you ever have a question about what to include on your site, the best answer will come from your site visitors. A/B or split test everything, or run on-site surveys. Having run numerous ecommerce sites for more than 15 years, I can tell you for certain that while there are many 'best practices', few of them are truely universal. What works for one site will not always work for another. It's easy to setup a split test, and then you end up with hard data on your customer's reaction to your site.

Definately, there are many companies that have done a lot with very few people.
Instagram had 9 employees when it sold for $1 billion to Facebook. Don't be ashamed about
the size of your team. I've even included contractors/part time staff if they agree to it.

Yes, definitely. It actually gives you an opportunity to create a section for each member of your team. (As opposed to relatively shorter info on each member had the team been bigger).

You can attach appropriate pictures and write about all 5 team members individually, either in third person or write as 'About Me' (As if they are talking about themselves).

Drawbacks will be that you will be bound to your company. It could happen that you are being recognized by people at gatherings, who you don't want to recognize you. Depending on how looks are perceived your product could be labeled "not trustworthy" or you could be seen as not worth some investor's time who first looks at the pictures and then the product.

All of those turned around can work in your favour. I prefer connecting myself to my company each time I meet someone new over showing my photo and starting with "do you know me?". My company is no embarrasment for me - by far not - but I am not my company. I rule it.