Take a moment and try to picture the following scenario. You’re looking online to purchase a new DVD player. You type “DVD Player” into your favorite search engine and the result is a list of thousands of companies that sell DVD players.
You click on the first link listed and are taken to an online merchant selling the very DVD player you were looking for. The price is reasonable and shipping is included; however, you decide to check out another merchant to see if you can find a lower price. So you go back to your search engine results and follow the second link listed. Again, you’re taken to a merchant selling the DVD player you’re looking for, but this time the price (shipping included) is $50 less.
How do you choose between the two merchants?
In most cases (all things being equal) you would choose the merchant offering the lower price. However, what if the lower-priced DVD player was being sold on a web site that just didn’t look very professional to you? For example, what if you found the layout of the web site to be confusing? What if you noticed a lot of misspelled words in the text of the pages? What if many of the links were broken and images were missing? What if you couldn’t find any contact information for this merchant? Would any of these issues influence your decision to buy?
Research shows that in this case the majority of online buyers would purchase the more expensive DVD player because the credibility of the merchant selling the lower-priced product is in question. Consequently, you see how crucial it is for your web site to be perceived as credible-if your web site isn’t credible, your business isn’t credible. The result is lost revenue and sales leads.
In this article I summarize five of the ten guidelines that researchers from Stanford University’s Persuasive Technology Lab (www.webcredibility.org) have found to be most crucial in making web sites credible. I will summarize the remaining five guidelines in part two of this article.
Guideline 1: Make it Easy to Verify Content on your Web Site.
If your web site makes the claim that you provide excellent customer service, provide quotes with identifying information (with permission) of past buyers or clients speaking of your excellent customer service. If the local newspaper voted your business as best online merchant in 2003, then provide a link to the article or cite the newspaper in which the article appeared. The basic rule here is to be able to “prove” to your visitors that the information shown and claims made on your web site are real and not just fictitious marketing ploys.
Guideline 2: Show that a Real Organization Exists Behind your Web Site.
Visitors to your web site want to be assured that they’re not dealing with some shadowy figure who may run off with their money. Think about it. Would you feel comfortable submitting your credit card information to a merchant in which you couldn’t track down? Increase the credibility of your web site by including the physical address of your business, including telephone number. You might even go as far as putting a picture of your brick and mortar business on your web site.
Guideline 3: Highlight Expertise in your Organization.
Convince visitors that you and your associates posses the know-how and skills necessary to provide the products or services you offer. If you or others in your organization have specialized training or education that’s related to your products or services, make that information known on your web site. For example, let’s say your company employs three Microsoft Certified Systems Administrators. Visitors to your web site will see that your company has this certification and will feel very confident in your company’s ability to provide such services.
Guideline 4: Show that People Stand Behind your Web Site.
With today’s advances in computer technology, it isn’t uncommon to come across a fully-automated online business. You know what I’m talking about. You browse a product line filling your “shopping cart” as you go, click the “checkout” button, type in contact information and a delivery address, select a payment type, enter your credit card number, click “submit” and 3 to 5 days later your purchase arrives at your door. Who’s doing all the work?
Being able to show that living, breathing humans are behind your web site will increase the credibility of your web site (and business). You might add a page to your web site that features a particularly hardworking employee each month. At the very least, you might want to list department heads or supervisors (with pictures) on your web site contact page. This guideline is perhaps most important if you have a web site that is fully-automated (or appears fully-automated).
Guideline 5: Make it Easy to Make Contact.
Remember the last time you accessed a web site and spent several minutes trying to find a telephone number so you could contact the merchant? Maybe it wasn’t listed or you finally gave up looking for it and moved to a competitor’s web site? Don’t give visitors the impression that you have something to hide. Make your contact information available and make it easy to find. At a minimum every web site should have a “contact” page that lists your physical address, telephone numbers, and email addresses.
As the presence of online businesses continues to grow, making your web site credible may mean the difference between reaching your online sales potential or losing business to your competitors’ web sites. Knowing the factors that increase web site credibility will help you design the most effective online presence for your business. Remember, if your web site is not perceive as credible then your business is not perceived as credible.
Ethan Woods is a Promotional Products Specialist for Keen Promos. Keen Promos caters to small businesses. Visit www.KeenPromos.com and sign up for our once monthly email notifications that feature the newest products, exclusive discounts, and closeout and discontinued items.
