I had an email conversation
recently with a gentleman who
requested my free
SEO help files. He has a nice looking site - off
to a good start. Needs some optimization help, which can
be done.
I told him
his website was missing one of
the most important things for a new business, online or
otherwise: CREDIBILITY.
No place on his web can you find a human name, a
phone number, a direct email address, a street address
or city. No way to make contact except through a contact
form. I have no idea who the web belongs to or where
they are. I don't know who I might be doing business
with if I like his services.
There is no way of evaluating who he is.
Website credibility is a
crucial part of conversions to inquiries and sales.
Great web usability and SEO are wasted if folks who
visit your web can't tell that you are worthy of their
trust.
Stanford University compiled a list of 10
guidelines for building the credibility of a web site.
These guidelines are based on three years of research
and on several studies about that topic. Although the
information in the Stanford list is not new, it is still
very important if you want to be successful with your
web site (and your business).
Why is credibility important?
Your web site visitors must have trust in your
company. It's pointless to spend a lot of work on
getting visitors from search engines if these visitors
don't convert to sales. People like to do business
with people! Well, perhaps not if you are a used
hybrid car salesman. :)
The Stanford guidelines for website
credibility:
-
Make it easy to verify the accuracy of the
information on your site.
-
Show that there's a real organization behind
your site (and if it is just you and your dog at the
moment, that's OK)
-
Highlight the expertise in your organization and
in the content and services you provide.
-
Show that honest and trustworthy people stand
behind your site.
-
Make it easy to contact you.
-
Design your site so it looks professional (or is
appropriate for your purpose).
-
Make your site easy to use -- and useful.
-
Update your site's content often (at least show
it's been reviewed recently).
-
Use restraint with any promotional content
(e.g., ads, offers).
-
Avoid errors of all types, no matter how small
they seem.
Details of the study and research references
are available at Stanford's website:
