Do Visitors Trust Your Website?
by Barry Harrison
Published
on this site: February 9th, 2004
A
Quick Web Credibility Quiz
Building trust online is essential if your web
marketing efforts are going to pay off. Attracting visitors is great, but to convert
them to customers, you have to firmly establish your credibility.
HOW
DO PEOPLE ASSESS CREDIBILITY?
According to a study by Stanford University,
almost half of web users assess a site’s credibility based on the appeal
of the overall design, including layout, typography, and color scheme. The “look
and feel” may be the first and most important test of your site's credibility,
but a number of factors come into play.
TAKE THE QUIZ
The questions
below can help you learn if your website is building your credibility, or undermining
it. Score each question from 0 to 3, add up the total-- then see our recommendations
at the end.
- Is the design appropriate for your business?
Within
a few seconds of coming to your site, visitors will form an impression. People
respond positively to sites with a polished, professional look. But the connection
between design and credibility isn’t simple. In the study, overly “slick-looking”
sites frequently received negative comments.
- Is the content up-to-date?
Visitors
assign more credibility to sites that have been recently updated or reviewed (and
no, just putting the current date and time isn’t going to help).
-
Is contact information easy to find?
If visitors can’t find your contact
info (including your real- world address) they are not going to feel comfortable
doing business with you.
- Are all the links on your site working?
Broken
links and “files not found” on your site present a big credibility problem.
Even worse-- hosting that’s not reliable. If your hosting company doesn’t
guarantee 99.9% uptime, find another host.
- Do you include testimonials
or other 3rd party endorsements?
You can and should highlight your expertise.
But no matter how impressive your credentials or experience, people pay attention
to what others have to say about you.
- Do you provide photos of
yourself and your staff?
People do business with people. Help your prospects
get to know you. Good quality photos (no mug shots or high school year book pictures)
will communicate your level of professionalism.
- Is your copy
appropriate to your audience?
Remember that your site is about your visitors.
Your copy should set the right tone and offer useful information. Kill the jargon
and happy talk. And please, watch for typos.
- Do you offer any
free trials or free downloads?
What about case-studies, white papers, or
samples? When you give something to visitors, regardless of the cost, they’re
more likely to trust you.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Score less than 8
Your site is undermining the credibility of your company.
Get help-- immediately!
Score 8 to 12
Your site is not building credibility for your visitors and
probably not converting many of them into customers.
Score 13 to 16
Your site’s doing well, but could be converting more.
Identify areas that are weak and make improvements.
Score greater than 16
Your website is helping to build trust in your company.
Barry Harrison is the author of "REDiTIPS" eMarketing Newsletter
and a partner in Resolve Digital, Web Strategy for the Real World.
Engaging
Web design
Effective Internet Marketing
Essential Content Management Tools
Visit
his site at http://www.resolvedigital.com
or mailto:[email protected].
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