One of the most important things you can do for the future of your business' website is tackle your credibility issues. If you need any other motivation, then I'll tell you this...
websites meeting a moderate level of credibility will have on average 17% more conversions. Feeling motivated?
This is all very easy stuff to make the customer feel safe and protected.
- Let the customer call you and make the information VERY easy to find. I like main page phone numbers.
- Clear navigation, with bread crumbs.
- Make use of a company page. Include pictures like employees, your facility, or yourself. A short company history is great here.
- Mission statements express your desire to succeed.
- Customer testimonials are excellent tools. Audio or video are especially effective.
- Use a contact page for ALL of the rest of your company contact information. Give them options.
- Develop a FAQ page with your most frequent questions to lighten your call load and express your expertise.
- If you have regular sets of instructions or explanations turn them in to pdf files and make a reference library for your visitors to find them.
- Do not use Ad campaigns on your business' site. If your hosting puts Ads on your page, then upgrade, it’s worth the money.
- Update your pages often and post the update date either manually or by script somewhere. You would be surprised the number of users who check this.
- Follow up on all correspondence from users as quickly as possible. If it took longer than it should have apologize and maybe give them a coupon. The small dollars you are losing will pay you back three fold in word of mouth when they tell others how fairly you treated them.
- Describe and title your products accurately.
- Contribute to local and charitable causes. This doesn't even have to be financial. Then write a blurb on your site about it.
- Every site, not just business, going forward should have a privacy page. It should contain a privacy policy containing any information you collect and whether or not it’s stored, voluntary, sold, or shared. Any material you own on the site and its license terms (like photos, trademarks, etc). Material belonging to another you are using, and its license terms. True owners of the site and who manages and changes content.
- Avoid unorthodox TLDs. Stick with .com, .net, .org, .edu, .mil, .gov, or country TLDs. Avoid .info, .biz...etc. I will tell you though .us is becoming very widely used and respected.
- Show your email address in print. Use you domain extension for maximum credibility. Sales@YourSite.com. I suggest you make an image of it to avoid the page scrappers from reading it with a spider and then spamming you to death. Don't make it click able or the scrappers will have it.
- Do not make guests log in to shop... they'll just leave. Other sites are just a click away.
- Offer a newsletter sign up. Other user interactive areas will make your site more "human" and user friendly, thus credible. Forums, blogs, shout boxes... these all require maintenance though.
- Only link to other trustworthy and credible sites. You are setting forth a standard, don't go messing it up by referring out your visitor to a non credible site.
- Users like menus that are EASY to use... they do NOT like fly outs.
- Users like to search, and it should be easy to find.
- Include an html sitemap link on your pages for lost visitors. This is also a great tool for internal linking and helping to increase the depth of the engine's crawls.
- Check your site regularly for broken links. Almost nothing is more frustrating to a user than, to finally find the right page and it’s gone!
- You need a Process page. Customers love this. This is a page where you run through the basic steps of a transaction, so they know what to expect!
- Shipping information should be readily available and easy to figure out.
- Follow up all transactions with an email. Send all shipping updates and email. Provide tracking numbers in an email. Provide a user account with this information the can log in to and check at a later date.
I am sure there are many more things to consider. The bottom line is, just like when many of you opened you business initially, way before the Internet, you knew how you wanted to provide service. You had values and ideals you wanted to behold in your business. This is your call to action. The Internet is giving you the opportunity to provide those same qualities and values without losing to your competitors for not stepping on heads.
Internet Research
Trust in Advertising - ‘Word-of-mouth’: the most powerful selling tool
Produced by The Nielson Company, October 2007
“The recommendation of someone else remains the most trusted source of information when consumers decide which products and services to buy.”
78% of respondents said they trusted - either completely or somewhat – the recommendation of other consumers.
The Internet in Britain: 2007
Produced by Oxford Internet Surveys, 2007
“Getting information about and buying products are popular commercial uses of the Internet, but doubts remain about quality assessment of the products bought online and the lack of face-to-face contact.”
59% think it is difficult to assess product quality when shopping on the Internet.
37% are uncomfortable with the lack of face-to-face contact.
Word-Of-Mouth Phenomenon Spreads Across The Globe
Produced by GfK Roper Consulting, 20th June 2006
“We now know that people hold the power in the global marketplace. Accessing the word-of-mouth network is no longer optional… success will be dependent on using this channel wisely.”
70% of consumers across the globe trust friends, family, or other people when searching for information or ideas on products to buy.
“The fact that consumers think opinions posted online are as trustworthy as brand Web sites speaks to the power of online reviews and recommendations. It also means that marketers need to focus as much attention on what consumers say about their brands online as they do on creating the brand Web sites themselves. The easiest thing to do is to make consumer feedback an essential part of every brand Web site.
In all these studies, word of mouth has more of an impact than traditional forms of advertising. Having a word-of-mouth marketing strategy is becoming essential for marketers.” Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst at
eMarketer.
Articles
Why Use Online Video?
How Your Customers Make You Look Good on Video,
Kevin Rossiter, 1st October 2007
Get record sales with online videos,
Real Business, 27th September 2007
Use Streaming Video to Rejuvenate Products,
Stephen Campbell, 3rd September 2007
Going the extra mile - Video Testimonials aim to give your business the edge,
In Business, 16th March 2007
Why Use Testimonials?
Is Your Business' Website Credible? Guide to Credibility,
SEOCog.com, 15th July 2007
Using Testimonials - It's About Branding!,
Brian D. McElroy, 7th March 2007
How Testimonials Maximise Your Marketing Success,
Goldnet Referral Marketing, January 2007
Video Testimonials' Content
Create High Impact Video Testimonials that Deliver Results,
Video Testimonials Ltd, 13th August 2007
Testimonials and Your Unique Selling Point,
Brian D. McElroy, 7th March 2007
Testimonial Goldmines,
Brian D. McElroy, 4th March 2007
Video Testimonials' Providers
When and How to Ask Your Customers for Video Testimonials,
Video Testimonials Ltd, 21st October