Credibility And Integrity

How Do You Convey Credibility And Integrity On The Internet?
By Jim Deyo

There is something about this electronic medium we operate in every day that makes people skeptical. It's not just having to enter your credit card number into cyber space, or worry about having your identity stolen. Those problems are all too real and we learn to shield ourselves from them, so that we can carry on. But, even when we do, it's still hard to make judgments about people, or about another business, when you only deal with them in the online environment.

In the offline world we have the benefit of looking others in the eye and using our experience to make a judgment about them. Even in our initial encounter with someone, we get to size him up - to have a first impression. But, how are visitors to your web site assessing your credibility and integrity? How do you overcome the basic inconsistency that trust is something that you earn over time, with having only seconds to convey it on the internet?

There are studies out there that provide some excellent thoughts about how to design and build a web site to enhance its credibility and foster trust; you can do a Google search under "web site credibility" and see these for yourself. What they will tell you, though, is that there are a few key design things that go a long way to establishing your credibility online and making it easier for site visitors to trust you and your business. Make sure the site looks professional, is easy to navigate, and that everything works properly. Make sure you provide a clear path for online customers to communicate with you. Make sure that your content establishes both your own credibility and that of any other contributors to your site. Make sure that you change your content frequently and keep it up to date.

These are all common sense steps and they are important; any good site designer will advise you on them and implement what he can for you. Spending the time, or the money to build a site that is flawed in the way it works will clearly undermine the credibility of your business over time and site visitors will never trust you as a result. But, there is more to the issue of conveying integrity than site design.