When you set out to do business online, your goal is to generate revenue. You may focus on SEO, sales lead forms or the latest in responsive web design. While these onpage optimization tactics do attract clicks from first-time visitors, these tactics alone cannot share your story to resonate with visitors. Connection is your greatest ally online.
In times when anyone can be your competitor, these business owners may have the upper hand on technology, user interfaces, responsive web design, HTML5 or search marketing, but few website owners create authentic experiences that yield credibility.
How do you build credibility on the Web? The simplest answer to focus on your visitors.
As a chief proponent of adaptive website design and development, I work one-on-one with you to ensure that your focus is balanced between a believable brand story and opportunities to build credibility among your visitors. What does this typically entail?
While you no longer have to start out with “Hello!” on your home page, you do have an opportunity to host each visitor experience from the second they land on your page to the moments after they convert. Guide them with clean navigation, precise content and, of course, authentic images and genuine expressions of your business’s brand story.
Some credibility optimization tactics may involve addressing the fluidity and the flexibility of your website design. The choice of colors, font faces, text sizes and authentic images —not overused stock images—can greatly impact visitors’ perceptions of your business.
Boosts in credibility come from addressing the user interface or reorganizing content relationships to create visitor-powered website browsing experiences. You may want to upgrade your content management system to help you manage updates regularly.
Another way to build credibility is to fix the content itself. If you’re the best business online, prove it with testimonials, case studies and truthful interactions. Identify the finer details of your brand story, and use them to communicate authentically on all of your website pages, stories, guest blog posts, videos, PPC ads and even your meta tags.
Be human in all that you do online, and you’ll attract humans. There may be more devices than humans on the Web, but we’re all still genuinely interested in each other. Show visitors how much you care, and you’ll truly have something special online.
