How to Increase Website Credibility

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Increasing website credibility is one way to convert visitors into potential customers. Businesses with a credible web presence gain a strategic advantage. Website credibility affects whether a visitor takes the next step, makes contact and completes a purchase or whether they simply leave your website and go on to the next.

Website Credibility Checklist

Below are some ways to establish credibility, build assurance and show trustworthiness on your website.

1. Consistency (Over Time) 

Be consistent with website content such as physical addresses, phone numbers, services and products. 

2. No Unnecessary Requirements

Too many popups, including forced sign ups and click ads, decrease trust.

3. Add Useful FAQs

Customers have questions and objections. An FAQ is a helpful, upfront and honest way to give customers straight answers to some of their questions.

4. Minimized Jargon

Jargon isn’t a good idea; use simple and direct words in website content. 

5. An Up-to-Date Blog

Publishing a monthly blog articles show visitors a website is active and maintained.

6. Useful Expertise

Website visitors look for expert solutions to specific problems and credible content.

7. Minimized or Avoided Advertising

Visitors hate ads; they are annoying and pushy interruptions.

8. Helpful Customer Service

Great service gives website visitors a positive website experience and improves earned credibility. Consider adding a live chat or facebook messenger option to keep it simple for your audience.

9. Customer Reviews

90% of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business and 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Encourage your customers to leave a review on your facebook page, google mybusiness listing, yelp, BBB and other review sites.

10. Trust Seals 

Logos or seals from independent and trustworthy authorities enable you to borrow their credibility as your own. Use trust seals like Web of Trust, GoDaddy Site Seal, Norton Secured, PayPal Verified, BBB Accredited Business, and HTTPS.

11. Customer Validation

Display client lists, numbers and industries. When customers discover their competitors or other trusted brands use you, they are more likely to trust your brand.

12. Press Mentions

Media exposure is a powerful credibility booster.

13. Awards 

Awards raise your company’s profile and deliver a prestige boost. The more impressive the award, the bigger the boost.

14. Developed Branding

A solid brand gives you a specific place in a customer’s mind via psychological anchoring, which establishes credibility. Branding is what lasts in the long run.

15. Highlighted Professional Affiliations and Memberships.

Do you belong to any professional organizations that are recognizable in your industry? If so, highlight your professional affiliations and memberships by displaying their logos on your website and linking to their website. By aligning your company with other well respected brands, you are able to boost your own reputation, credibility and trust.

16. Professional Web Design

Customers form a first impression of your website in 50 milliseconds. There’s no time to think with this first impression. It’s visual, focused on aesthetics, and almost entirely emotional.

Stanford’s Persuasion Technology Lab found that almost half (46 percent) of people say a website’s design is the number one criteria for determining website credibility

17. Typography  

Research shows larger fonts improve reading speeds. Website visitors comprehend more when typography is legible and clear.  

Choose easy to read fonts such as:

• Arial
• Georgia
• Helvetica
• Lato
• Open Sans
• PT Sans & PT Serif
• Quicksand
• Roboto
• Verdana

18. Good Grammar 

Spelling and grammar matter most because they are elements of the first impression customers form about your brand. A typo here or there won’t ruin your credibility, but a consistent pattern of bad grammar hurts your credibility. Sites like Grammarly can help keep your grammar in check.

19. On-Site Search Box

Most e-commerce visitors start the buyer’s journey in the search box. In fact, a visitor that uses site search is 1.8X more likely to convert.

Website visitors often have a hard time with search. The keywords they use don’t always lead them to what they’re looking for. So, it’s often a good idea to redirect searches to navigation whenever possible.

20. Website Navigation

Website navigation communicates trustworthiness to visitors. Use organization, easy navigation, appropriate images and color themes to offer a better user experience.

21. No Broken Links

Technical glitches including broken links, missing pages and development bugs decrease visitor confidence in business and willingness to convert.

22. Website Loading Time

A slow loading time increases bounce rate as visitors tend to close the website. Optimize websites and images for faster loading. Use Google PageInsight to measure website score in desktop and mobile.

23. Contact Information  

Posting business phone numbers, addresses, emails, live chat links, social media profiles, and hours of operation convey you’re a real business and not a fly-by-night operator. Visitors feel confident knowing they can contact you if they run into trouble.

24. Staff Photos and Bios

Customers like to see real people running your business. They want to hear your story, verify your background and see who they are giving their money to.

Sharing staff photos increases conversions. Hiding staff photos sends the message that you’re untrustworthy or concealing something.

Contact Fort Myers's Most Trusted Digital Marketing Agency

Digital Marketing Concepts has been helping businesses build online reputations and increase website credibility for over 6 years. Our leading web designers, graphic designers, SEO specialists and social media marketing specialists work together to deliver premier results.

To schedule a FREE initial consultation, call Digital Marketing Concepts at 239-244-2009 today.