Amongst all the digital assets that exist, your website, together with your audience are the only asset that you own. This entails that web presence is the most critical platform for a business. In this regard, creating a strong web presence with content that communicates your offerings to the target market is a gateway to marketing success. Websites make your business credible thereby giving customers confidence as they make their purchasing decisions

Now, what can you do to make sure that when visitors land on your page they can trust you enough to take an action?

Here are a few things you can do.

Your Domain Name

According to Domain.Com, a strong domain name adds professional credibility to your business and separates you from the millions of get-rich-quick-scheme websites out there and provides visibility for your brand. Much like a storefront window, a good domain will create awareness and attract customers.

Your website domain name should be simple and short to make it easy for users to remember. It should also include keywords about your business to reflect your brand from a glance.

Google Domain provides a list of things to avoid when choosing a domain name.

Some elements could negatively impact how people perceive your domain name, such as:

• Numbers or dashes in your name. These characters are hard to type and might lower the perceived credibility of your website and business.
• Funny spellings or words that can be spelt in different ways (like “way” or “too”). These might make it hard for people to find your site.
• Misspellings. These can make your site seem suspicious and make people worry it’s a phishing or malware site.
• Brand names and trademarks used by other companies. These should never be used in your domain name; trying to do so can lead to legal action and suspension of your domain.

Social Proof

What people say about your website through reviews and testimonials helps to make your website credible.

People tend to believe opinions from their friends, family or influencers before they can decide to take action on your website.

The claims you make about your brand or products are made even more believable when users testify.

However, reviews or testimonials are not always positive and that does not mean they shouldn’t be on your website. Don’t ignore them, instead embrace them and use them to address the gaps in your business.

Be sure to include product reviews, client testimonials and links to your social media profiles to give more credence to your website.

Add Human Touch with Clear Contact Information

The “About Us” page on your website helps your customers know who you are and what kind of talent you have.

Photos of your staff with their bios add the human touch and build credibility on your website.

Details like your contact information and your physical address assure customers that you are a real and established business and it helps establish your trustworthiness.

Place your contact information where customers can easily find it without having to search for it or scroll around too much.

Captivate Designs give this tip:

The ideal place to list your physical address is either in your website’s footer at the bottom of the site or on a dedicated contact page. This is where your website visitors would most likely look for it.

Keep Your Website Updated

An outdated website does not reflect well with users. It makes them uncomfortable and makes them assume that your business might not be in existence anymore.

Update your website with fresh content regularly and indicate when events or promotions have expired.

A website that is updated with fresh and relevant information is important not only for users but for search engines as well.

An updated website does not only include new content but also updating the design, replacing old logos with new ones, your contact information and your “About Us” page.

Include Valuable Resources

Establishing your brand as an authority by having expert content that educates, entertains or informs users adds more credibility to your website and your brand at large.

Ebooks, white papers, articles or case studies that align with your brand are a great way to show your customers that you are an expert in your field.

These types of resources show your potential customers that are an expert in your field. 

An important valuable resource that you can include links to useful tools, any other resources that users can access for free such as your webinars or podcasts. Check out the resource section on our website.

Now that you know what makes a website credible, are you ready to build a website or redesign your already existing website to attract customers? We can help you with that.