Posted on April 23, 2010 in First Principles, SEO and Internet Marketing

When creating ecommerce websites for our clients, part of the planning process is to advise on how to get the best outcome from the website.

And in the case of ecommerce, the best outcome is more sales.

One thing that is often overlooked with online sales is that you need to appear credible.

This is especially true if you are a small to medium business. Chances are your users haven't heard of you until they've arrived at your site from a search engine. Before they give their credit card details to you they need to have a high level of trust.

The look and feel of your website as well as specific details about your business immediately build trust in the user's mind. Being able to find out more information about you when they want to increases that trust.

Here's a checklist to consider produced from information in a Stanford University credibility study:

1. Make it easy to verify the accuracy of the information on your site

The information on your website is more credible if you provide third-party support like citations, references, and links to source material for information you present.

Even if people don't follow these links they gain confidence in your site.

2. Show that there's a real organization behind your site.

Show that your website is for a legitimate business will instantly boost your credibility.

The easiest way to do this is by listing a physical address. Other features can also help, such as posting a photo of your offices or listing a membership with your local chamber of commerce or other professional bodies.

3. Highlight the expertise in your organization and in the content and services you provide.

Do you have experts on your team? Are your contributors or service providers authorities? Give their credentials.

Are you affiliated with a respected organization? Make that clear.

Conversely, don't link to outside sites that are not credible. Your site becomes less credible by association.

4. Show that honest and trustworthy people stand behind your site.

First you need to convey that there are real people behind your site and in your organization.

Next, find a way to convey their trustworthiness through images or text. For example, some sites post employee bios that tell about family or hobbies.

5. Make it easy to contact you.

A simple way to boost your site's credibility is by making your contact information clear: phone number, physical address, and email address. A contact person's real name is also a bonus, if possible.

6. Design your site so it looks professional (or is appropriate for your purpose).

The University study found that people quickly evaluate a site by visual design alone. This is a very important discovery for businesses considering a new website or a website redesign.

When designing your website, make sure your designer pays attention to layout, typography, images, navigation, consistency, and more.

Of course, not all sites gain credibility by looking like IBM.com. The visual design depends on your target audience and should match the site's purpose.

7. Make your site easy to use--and useful.

The study squeezes two guidelines into one here.

The research shows that sites win credibility points by being both easy to use and useful. Some site operators forget about users when they cater to their own company's ego or try to show the dazzling things they can do with web technology.

8. Update your site's content often.

People assign more credibility to sites that show they have been recently updated, reviewed or have regular, relevant news items.

New content, especially when it relates to your industry, also works very well for Google ranking so this is an important feature not to overlook.

It is, however, one of the few suggestions that requires ongoing effort, so weigh that up when planning your website design project.

9. Use restraint with any promotional content (e.g. ads and offers).

If possible, avoid having ads on your site altogether.

If you must have ads, keep them as discreet as possible and clearly distinguish them from your own content. Avoid pop-ups, always.

As for writing style, try to be clear, direct, and sincere - marketing hyperbole will most likely not be read anyway.

10. Avoid errors of all types, no matter how small they seem.

Typographical errors including spelling and grammar and broken links hurt a site's credibility more than most people imagine.

Avoiding errors is also important to keep your site up and running correctly and errors will also affect Google's ranking of your site.