July 2007
10 Strategies to Optimize Your Online Credibility
Boosting credibility on your website is a sure way to also increase your conversion rates, get more leads and sell more products. These strategies come from Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab, Stanford University. We also add some additional information to help you put these tips into practice on your own site.
- Make it easy to verify the accuracy of the information on your site. You can build web site credibility by providing third-party support (citations, references, source material) for information you present, especially if you link to this evidence. Even if people don't follow these links, you've shown confidence in your material.
The third-party endorsement goes a long way to establishing credibility. People are more likely to trust a recommendation from someone who has used your services. If your site provides research information, linking that text to the original research can give you instant credibility with your users.
- Show that there's a real organization behind your site. Showing that your web site is for a legitimate organization will boost the site's credibility. The easiest way to do this is by listing a physical address. Other features can also help, such as posting a photo of your offices or listing a membership with the chamber of commerce.
One of the great things about the internet is that it gives the little guys a boost because they can appear just as large and just as professional as their large corporate competitors. However, this opacity also makes it hard for clients to trust websites from businesses they don't recognize. Let people know there's a real business behind your site, and your potential clients will feel better about doing business with you.
- Highlight the expertise in your organization and in the content and services you provide. Do you have experts on your team? Are your contributors or service providers authorities? Be sure to give their credentials. Are you affiliated with a respected organization? Make that clear. Conversely, don't link to outside sites that are not credible. Your site becomes less credible by association.
Web site "badges" (small graphics) showing you are certified with a trusted and well-known organization can help boost your credibility. Search for ways that you can let your clients and customers know that you partner with reliable vendors and service providers.
- Show that honest and trustworthy people stand behind your site. The first part of this guideline is to show there are real people behind the site and in the organization. Next, find a way to convey their trustworthiness through images or text. For example, some sites post employee bios that tell about family or hobbies.
Monthly newsletters, bios of key personnel, and a contact telephone number are also great ways to let people know that you are more than just a website, and that you are an established business entity with real people behind your product or services.
- Make it easy to contact you. A simple way to boost your site's credibility is by making your contact information clear: phone number, physical address, and email address.
If you don't put your contact information on every page, at least make it no more than 1 click away. Phone numbers should always be prominent and on each page. This is especially important if your site is responsible for conversions.
- Design your site so it looks professional (or is appropriate for your purpose). We find that people quickly evaluate a site by visual design alone. When designing your site, pay attention to layout, typography, images, consistency issues, and more. Of course, not all sites gain credibility by looking like IBM.com. The visual design should match the site's purpose.
Right or wrong, people do judge a book by its cover. Whatever the size and status of your business, your presentation should always be professional and well thought out. Additionally, your site content is just as important as the way it is displayed.Up-to-date, well-written information is vital to your site presentation. If your site is more than 3 years old, you may want to consider a redesign to ensure that your style, architecture and information are up-to-date.
- Make your site easy to use -- and useful. We're squeezing two guidelines into one here. Our research shows that sites win credibility points by being both easy to use and useful. Some site operators forget about users when they cater to their own company's ego or try to show the dazzling things they can do with web technology.
Besides being overly dazzling and whizzy, the other side of the coin is a site that has outgrown its original intention. Many sites that have ourgrown their original architechture confuse and dismay users upon entry. Multiple levels of navigation, type that is too small to read, and color contrast that make information difficult to read are all symptons of overgrowth. If your site has been cobbled together by multiple developers, project managers, or has outlived its original purpose, you should seriously think about a redesign.
- Update your site's content often (at least show it's been reviewed recently). People assign more credibility to sites that show they have been recently updated or reviewed.
By repurposing your monthly e-newsletters you can keep your site up to date easily by adding the headlines on your front page and allowing first time visitors to read more. This can also bolster newsletter signups -- a doubly useful idea.
- Use restraint with any promotional content (e.g., ads, offers). If possible, avoid having ads on your site. If you must have ads, clearly distinguish the sponsored content from your own. Avoid pop-up ads, unless you don't mind annoying users and losing credibility. As for writing style, try to be clear, direct, and sincere.
There is a reason that every browser comes with pop-up blockers... People don't like ads. They especially don't like them when they are trying to find information they need to solve their problem. If you are their solution, don't chase them away.
- Avoid errors of all types, no matter how small they seem. Typographical errors and broken links hurt a site's credibility more than most people imagine. It's also important to keep your site up and running.
Checking your site for spelling errors should happen as soon as it's posted, and then each time a page is updated. You can copy the text straight from the website and paste it into Word. If you find spelling errors, have them fixed right away. Another common problem is broken links. Though broken internal links are rare in professionally maintained sites, it is common to have external links that get moved or deleted, leaving your site tainted. Be sure to do a sitewide link check monthy to aviod this.
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47% of adults have high-speed internet connections at home as of early March 2007, up five percentage points from a year earlier.
Internet penetration has now reached 73% for all American adults. Internet users note big improvements in their ability to shop and the way they pursue hobbies and personal interests online.
14% of the 128 million American adults now online report that they downloaded music at one time, but no longer do so. About a third of these former music downloaders - 6 million adults - say that the RIAA’s tactics are the reason they stopped downloading music.
-Pew Internet & American Life Project
Online Personal Organizers
Have you ever wished you could see your calendar, contacts, do do lists and notes online from any computer? What about logging into your email, reading local headlines and tracking your stocks?
Well, your wish has been granted!
With the emergence of new online technologies, several personal start pages have emerged. You can customize these pages with a plentitude of widgets and gadgets so you have the information you really want at your fingertips.
Here are a few well-established services to get you started:
Pageflakes.com
Netvibes.com
Webwag.com
Our pick is Pageflakes which seems to have the best functionality, design, and content.
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