Does Your Website Have the Credibility It Needs?
Mary Bowling | 3 March 2006 |
E-commerce becomes more and more mainstream everyday. Yet, most everyone knows someone who has gotten the shaft trying to do business online. It’s human nature to look for signs of trustworthiness when money is changing hands. If you expect visitors to purchase goods or services from you online, your website must convey a feeling of credibility. What do buyers look for?
- A physical address. Without a “real” location displayed, prospective buyers view you the same way they view a person selling speakers out of the trunk of their car. Display a street address on your website - a PO Box will not do.
- A phone number, preferably a toll-free one. People want to know that if they have a problem, they can call you. If it’s a free call, that’s even better.
- A credible e-mail address. People want to know that they can communicate with you - today and tomorrow. Using a free e-mail address, such as one from hotmail, yahoo or g-mail, conveys a fly-by-night feeling to customers. Don’t use free e-mail addresses on your website.
- Secure online payment methods. There are variety of trusted options for accepting online payments. You not only need to offer one or more of these to your customers, you also need to make it obvious to them that it is a secure method, just to dispel any doubts they may have.
- Photos of your lodging property. A sketch or watercolor of your inn might be both beautiful and professional, but people want to see where they’re going to stay. Although it’s true that photos can be doctored, they generally have the power to convey much more trust than other visual representations.
- A professional look and feel. This includes an up-to-date look, easy-to-use navigation and no typographical, spelling or grammar errors.This is the equivalent of having a clean, modern, well-lit and uncluttered store instead of a dingy hole-in-the-wall shop in a back alley.
- Credentials. If you have them, flaunt them. Show people you are educated, registered, accredited, certified, recognized, authorized and/or professional in any way that you can. If you belong to any trusted organizations, like the Chamber of Commerce or a trade association, show that to people, as well.
Most people feel more comfortable buying a TV from brick and mortar store than they do handing over their cash to someone selling TVs out of a van parked on the street. Likewise, you should make certain that your website conveys the substantial feeling of a real store, rather than the fly-by-night feeling of a street vendor.
Mary Bowling - Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc.
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March 17th, 2006 at 7:32 am
Mary’s article on credibility is right on the money! It is so easy to have your own domain name for email, for instance, that EVERYONE in business should have one. It also let’s you change ISP’s without changing your email address.
In addition to all the things Mary mentions about credibility, think about original content. Like credentials, if you can write a good article or two about something related to your business (become a travel writer for your inn’s area!) or some aspect of your business (how to prepare an awesome breakfast) you will gain credibility by actually becoming an expert, not just looking like one.
March 20th, 2006 at 9:09 am
A word of caution about your e-mail address. A local B & B in our area has the address of “sales & information @ ‘their B&B’.com” Unfortunately their
e-mails catch in our spam checker!
March 24th, 2006 at 9:01 pm
Writing articles is a great way to build credibility. Not only are they great content for your website, but many places, like http://www.goarticles.com will help you send your articles out into the wider community. A blog like this newsletter also does that, especially through an RSS feed.