5 steps to boost website credibility, and increase sales on the way…
Probably the main reason people that don’t do online shopping are hesitant to do so is that they don’t feel secure enough to buy online. People are hesitant to trust online stores for various reasons, but most have to do with credibility. Web credibility plays a big role when it comes to acquiring new customers, and to boost your web credibility, here’s a 5 step guideline.
1. Show the trustworthy people behind your website
How do you feel when you enter a website looking for information and find that information, but there is no author? It feels sketchy right? Not having any information about the people behind your website makes you lose credibility. It feels safe to enter a website and know-how are the people behind the organization and a bit of their background. This helps connect with visitors and possibly convert them into buyers.
Another way to convey trustworthiness is to include images or videos about those people, talking a bit about themselves or about what they do in the organization. Many company’s websites have a section with employee’s bios where they post all this information, giving the website a human touch.
2. Design your website so it looks professional
Have you ever entered a website looking for a solution, but just within seconds you just go to the previous page? Let me guess, the website’s homepage lacked design and felt unprofessional? Well, you’re not the only one. According to a Stanford study, 46% of visitors evaluate your website’s credibility by the look of your homepage.
A web page’s design must be professional, but most importantly, it has to be appropriate to its content or purpose. When designing your site, pay attention to the layout, your typography, images, videos, transitions, consistency issues, and more. If this is all too much for you, there are solutions ready for your business’s needs.
3. Make your website user-friendly (and useful)
Stanford research suggests that websites gain credibility when they are user-friendly and have information or tools that are useful for the user. Most web developers forget about user interface and add a bunch of functions or designs that just don’t make sense to put, making it difficult to navigate. Remember, less is more.
4. Make it easy to contact you
When browsing online, we want everything now and fast. Users don’t want to take time looking for your contact information-digging in some badly designed webpage. Expose yourself and help people connect with you. Put up your business address, phone number, email address, anything that helps them locate you. You can even put up a map of where you’re located.
Easy contact information facilitates the buying decision process. Nowadays, you can integrate different add-ons to communicate directly with potential customers, like chatbots or WhatsApp and messenger integration.
5. Update your content often
When surfing the web, sometimes you come across websites that look kind of antique. Some look like they were made in the early 2000s, with a Comic Sans font, and others have information that is not updated. This signals that content hasn’t been updated in some years.
People assign more credibility to those websites that are up-to-date in content and style. It is important to constantly monitor your website and look for errors, or things that could use a tweak. To keep your website updated, it is recommended that you have a Front end Software Engineer to develop user-facing features.
Key Takeaways
- Show the people behind the website. Add a bios section where information about the company’s executives is displayed.
- Have a professional and appropriate design specifically tailored to your content.
- User-friendly and useful is king. Remember, less is more.
- Be reachable, let visitors know where to contact or visit you.
- Update periodically your website.
- A Front end Software Engineer is the person that can deliver all of these points to improve your web credibility, and consequently, sales.