Looking at ways to ensure that your site is credible

What makes a website credible?

Credibility is very important online especially these days. Simply put customers do not buy from websites they do not believe they are credible so how to surfers come to this conclusion? The University of Stanford did some research into this very thing by asking 1400 people to participate in a study they were able to narrow down the factors that people use to deem a website credible for this study credible was defined as believability.

The factors that determine the credibility of a site are (in order of importance):

1.    Real world feel – people are keen to see the accessibility of a business so sites that had a physical address and pictures of their offices or their staff did well in that respect.
2.    Ease of use
3.    Expertise- sites that had their credentials did well so displaying your employees expertise is  a good idea
4.    Trustworthiness
5.    Sites tailored to good user experience

The last two hurt a sites` credibility

6.    Commercial implications – sites which push products too much will turn surfers off. A good well placed banner will actually enhance a site`s credibility.

7.    Amateurism- sites that looked amateurish as well as spelling mistakes and broken links hurt a site`s credibility.

In conclusion the findings the study discovered are not new they have been in use at d30web and other good quality web design firms for a while but it has just reinforced something any good designer already knew. A well designed site with no spelling mistakes is a must have and ensuring there is a real world feel by using images from your offices as well as explaining your expertise clearly will definitely pay dividends.

The Stanford web credibility research have compiled 10 guidelines to boost your website`s credibility.

Stanford credibility guidelines

Written by Farayi Dzichauya