Of course the answer is – someone trustworthy person/company
–by you directly or by someone in whom you trust (your friends/relatives). As
you know that “Trust” is really important in life and that’s what exactly I
want to mention here to bring success in your website. As a business person,
remember this: If people trust you, the revenue will follow automatically!!!
It is absolutely necessary that your website must create the
environment of trust otherwise, most of your efforts will be wasted. Have you
ever thought – how to create the environment of trust for a website? Don’t be
panic, its very easy to build trust for your online visitors.
If you want to know how your site ranks (in terms of
building trust online), then visit: http://www.infotrex.com/siterank
and know by yourself, where your site is ranking.
As you already know that - you don’t get a second chance to
make a first impression. Building trust for your online visitors cannot be
achieved by just a single action. Trust is achieved by many little actions you
do throughout your website and when its taken together, give users a sense of stability,
honesty and legitimacy for your business and services you provide.
If you want to know how your site ranks (in terms of
building trust online), then visit: http://www.infotrex.com/siterank
and know by yourself, where your site is ranking.
Another good or bad news is that only few website owners
focus on building trust in the minds of their visitors. So, if you do it well,
it can become a real and sustainable competitive advantage for your business
and you can keep your competitors away.
Here are 40 simple actions you can take to get started.
1. Your website design is the first impression. Make sure it
is professional and relevant to the subject matter.
2. Navigation must be intuitive. If visitors can't find what
they are looking for easily, they will question your competence in providing
what they want.
3. Make the website personal by giving it its own tone and
voice. People buy people.
4. Follow the HEART rule of creating online content.
(Reminder: HEART stands for Honest, Exclusive, Accurate, Relevant and Timely.)
5. Use language that is appropriate to the audience. It will
build empathy.
6. Regularly add new content to your site. It shows that the
business is alive and kicking.
7. Review all links. Doubts will quickly form in your
visitors' minds if links don't work or, worse still, take them to error pages.
8. Good grammar and spelling matter. Errors give the
impression of sloppiness and carelessness.
9. Don't make outrageous and unbelievable claims, like
"Read this blog and you'll be a millionaire by the end of the week."
People are used to scams, get-rich-quick schemes and rip-offs.
10. Publish REAL testimonials and third-party endorsements.
Try to always use real names and link to websites where possible. Some sites
show images of letters sent by happy customers.
If you want to know how your site ranks (in terms of
building trust online), then visit: http://www.infotrex.com/siterank
and know by yourself, where your site is ranking.
11. Publish case studies about customers you have helped,
who use your product, etc.
12. Don't put down, curse or insult competitors. It's
unprofessional. It is better to offer an objective comparison of competitive
services or products.
13. Focus on building your long-term reputation, not on
making quick sales.
14. Write articles for humans, not search engines.
15. Make your 'About Us' page personal and comprehensive. It
plays an important part in making visitors feel comfortable that real people
are behind the site.
16. Publish your photo or the photos of the key people
involved with the site. Again, this reinforces the fact that there are real
people behind the screenshots.
17. Clearly identify who is behind the site. Nothing creates
more suspicion than a site that tries to hide the identity of its publishers.
18. On the 'Contact Us' page, provide an email form,
telephone number, fax and address of the company. In Europe,
it is a legal requirement for sites taking funds, but even sites driven by
advertising will benefit from openness.
19. Provide a telephone number that people can call and talk
to a person.
20. Provide Web addresses linked to the website domain, not
addresses from free webmail services such as Hotmail and Gmail.
If you want to know how your site ranks (in terms of
building trust online), then visit: http://www.infotrex.com/siterank
and know by yourself, where your site is ranking.
21. Think carefully about reciprocal links. If your site is
about organic food and you have links to Party Poker, people are going to
question your integrity.
22. Think carefully about the adverts you display on your
site. Ensure that they are relevant to your subject and audience.
23. Write and publish your privacy policy. Be clear about
what you will and will not do with any personal data you collect. State that
you adhere to all data protection laws. Make it easy to read and don't use
legal gobbledygook.
24. Write and publish
a security policy. State what measures you take to ensure that all transactions
are secure as well as how well you handle customers data.
25. Ensure that you have a security and privacy policy which
is linked from the footer on every page. Make the link more prominent on all
the order pages.
26. Clearly publish your guarantee. I would recommend making
it a 100% money-back guarantee if possible.
27. Clearly state
your refund and returns policy.
28. If you use PayPal, put the PayPal logo on your site. If
you have a merchant services account with a major bank like Citibank or HSBC,
put its logo on your site.
29. Use Google search on your site for two reasons. First,
it is a great search solution which will help your visitors find what they are
looking for. Second, having the Google name on your site instills trust.
30 If there are well-known industry associations for your
subject, join up and put their logos on your site.
If you want to know how your site ranks (in terms of
building trust online), then visit: http://www.infotrex.com/siterank
and know by yourself, where your site is ranking.
31. Have a forum on your site and respond quickly to questions.
Have the attitude that you are happy to help others without receiving immediate
reward. As the old saying goes, 'Givers always gain.'
32. Allow people to comment on articles. Interactivity and
an exchange of views build community and a sense of involvement.
33. If people provide constructive criticism or comments in
the forum, don't delete them, but respond with your point of view.
34. Use the words 'secure website' whenever you try to get
any information from visitors, including newsletter sign-ups, forum input and
payment.
35. On every page, state, "We take your privacy and
security very seriously." Link the statement to the security and privacy
policy.
36. If you are selling a subscription, offer a low-cost,
entry-level option. This could be a one-day taster, 'a week before billing
starts' or a monthly trial.
37. Only ask for information from customers that you really
need. For example, for an email newsletter sign-up, the only information you
REALLY need is an email address, so that is all you should ask for.
38. If you have pricing on your website, make it
transparent. I recently went to buy a book which was advertised for $10. When I
checked out, they added tax, post and packaging, and the final bill was $19.50.
I didn't buy it as I felt they had deliberately tried to mislead me.
39. Start a small newsletter of your company/services &
circulate it among your clients/employees. Also, publish it on your website
regularly.
40. Allow people to “unsubscribe” from your mailing list.
This may sound very obvious, but I have found that many websites still don’t
follow it.
To ensure that you are continually improving your
trustworthiness, every time you go to a website, ask yourself whether you trust
it or not. Then ask yourself why you have formed the opinion you have.
If you want to know how your site ranks (in terms of
building trust online), then visit: http://www.infotrex.com/siterank
and know by yourself, where your site is ranking.
Article Source: http://www.moneyachiever.com