Has there been a better time to start a digital business? We don’t think so. Of course, online companies have been around for years and, of course, highly successful in the past, but now seems to be the best time, for various reasons. For one, the number of people who bought something online in the past year -- due to being stuck at home -- means there’s an even bigger market now. Second, people are slowly beginning to turn away from the big hitters and look at smaller digital businesses. Third, you can be up and running with limited cash.
However, just because it’s a good time to start a digital business, it’s not as success will automatically come your way. It won’t. In order to turn visitors into customers, it’s important to convey an image of trust. And in order for that to happen, you’ll need to work on ensuring that you have a credible website. In this blog, we’re going to look at a few ways to give your website credibility -- and none of them are overly complicated or difficult.
Solid Design
We all make judgments; it’s just human nature. When a person lands on your website, you’ll hope that they like what they see -- because if they don’t, then it’s unlikely that they’ll stick around long enough to see what you offer. While there are various elements that will make your website appealing, the most important factor will be your design. If you get this element right, then people will stick around. While you can design your website by yourself, if you don’t have any experience in this field, then it’ll be best to hand the job over to a professional web design company. They’ll make sure that your site looks modern and in line with the latest standards.
No Dead Links
It’s important that visitors understand that the site is being actively managed. You could have a great website, but if someone thought that it’s been sitting there for years without any updates, then there’ll be space for doubts to grow. While there are many things that could make a visitor inaccurately believe that a site has been abandoned, the main culprit will be dead links, and especially if the dead link is an important page (such as one that appears on your main headings). This can also suggest that the website is run by amateurs rather than a professional company.
Good Copy
Everyone looks at different things when they visit a website. You might focus on the interaction between the colours and design of the site. Other people will focus on the words. As such, it’s important that every facet of the website is watertight since you don’t know what people are looking at. Websites can often fall down somewhat with their written copy. If your site has numerous and major spelling and grammatical errors, then it’ll be normal that doubts begin to creep in. If you’re not an expert writer, then look at hiring someone who is to do the job for you. It’ll make a difference.
High-Quality Photographs
As well as the copy of your website, it’ll be important to look at which photographs you’re selecting for your website. All too often, people go for whatever is most readily available -- by which we essentially mean free. And that approach could result in low-quality photographs. There are websites where you can find royalty-free images, yet even though these will be high-quality, you should be cautious when using them. Because they’re free, many businesses end up using them for their website. The result is that you see the same photos over and over again. So even if you do find a high-quality image, think twice before using it, just in case it’s something that already exists all over the web.
About You Page
Your website might look good, but website visitors know that looks can be deceiving. If you want your visitors to believe in you, you’ll need to offer a little more than just surface presentations. You’ll have to show them who you are once all the design has been stripped back. One way to do this is to have a pretty in depth ‘about us’ page. There, you’ll be able to tell the world just who you are, including where you’ve come from, why you do what you do, and more. It’s this information that’ll tell your viewers that you’re not just another website -- you are unique.
Contact Information
Visitors might broadly like your website. However, even if that’s the case, there’ll always be times when someone wants to get in touch to discuss an issue. If your website doesn’t provide any information about how they can do that, then that’ll be a mark against your site. There are many things you can do that’ll make it easy for your visitors to get in touch with you. For example, you can list your phone number, company address, email address, and social media channels. To go the extra mile and make it even easier for your customers to talk to you, look at getting website chat software. This will make it as easy as one, two, three for your visitors to communicate with you.
Security Features
If there’s one thing that turns people away from spending money online, it’s security concerns. And that’s pretty justified -- there have been many security breaches in recent years. As such, it’s important that your visitors have faith that you’re going to take good care of the information that they provide you. You can ensure that this is the case by having all the latest security certificates for your site. You’ll also want to include your data processes in a policy, so your visitors know exactly what you’ll do with the information that they provide.
Lack of Annoying Features
You’ll have your own ambitions and goals with your website. But it’s important to remember that your customers might not be on board with the methods you use to reach those goals. Sometimes, website owners will use tactics that can push their visitors away. For example, if you’re using dark pattern designs, have multiple pop ups, autoplay videos, and things like that, then there’ll be some doubts in the eyes of your visitors. Perhaps the biggest doubt will be why you’re treating your visitors with such disdain. Remember that your visitors don’t have to give you their time, so make sure that you treat them well, or, at the very least, don’t annoy them.
Reviews and Testimonials
It’s all good and well to tell the world what you’re all about. But it’ll be even better if someone else does it. An excellent way to build credibility with your audience is to publish reviews and testimonials on your website. This doesn’t have to be anything overly complicated; a few lines here and there will do the trick. Studies have shown that people accept the judgments of strangers almost as much as they do their friends and family. The placement of testimonials on your website should only be subtle, but it’ll have a big impact.
Sharing Your Expertise
It’s important that you let your visitors know why they should trust you. After all, there’ll be a million websites that they can visit -- why should they stick around with you? Because, so long as you’ve started the right business, you’ll be an expert at what you do. However, this is something that you’ll need to promote. You might know that you’re an expert, but your visitors won’t automatically know. You can give them this information by giving expert advice and insight on your website. For example, you could host a blog. If they read that, then they’ll know that they’re in the right place.
Credibility via Connection
If you’re in the service industry, then it could be a good idea to highlight some of the other brands with which you’ve worked. This will, of course, be especially relevant if you’ve worked with some big names. Another option is to have case studies. With them, you’ll go through some of your past jobs in detail, including the project, how you approached it, and what the end result was.
Consistent Branding
Your visitors should get a cohesive message when they’re on your website. Take a look at all the pages of your site -- do they all make sense? Do they belong together? The colour scheme and general tone should be the same on each page. This is your digital branding. Having solid branding at your website will let your visitors know that it has been well thought out. After all, you can’t create a cohesive look across multiple pages without plenty of thought and planning.
Conclusion
Your visitors need to trust you if they’re going to turn into customers. By taking the tips that we’ve outlined above, you’ll make it much more likely that your visitors fully engage with your site. And that, of course, is much better than if they have any doubts, which would obviously turn them away.