Beyond Web usability: Web credibility

There are a lot of web sites out here in cyberspace – how do you make yours stand out from the crowd?

Although design is important, as we've pointed out elsewhere, content is king. But that's not the end of the story – how do you present your content in such a way that it helps the viewer feel 'comfortable' with your site, that they feel your organisation is one they can do business with? In short how can you appear CREDIBLE?

In this free article, Trenton Moss gives us a few pointers on how you can make your websites have that little bit more about them.

Beyond Web usability: Web credibility

Web usability: It's old news

If you've been developing websites on Mars for the past few years then you'll be forgiven for not knowing about web usability. You'll still be creating splash intro pages, having pages with massive download times and using more images than you can shake a stick at. Well, back in Earth these days have long gone and today web usability rules the web development world. For those of you who have been on Mars please read some of the things that Jakob Nielsen has to say and try to catch up.

As for the rest of us Earth-based developers, well we've learnt a whole bunch about usability and we're all using it as best we can in our websites. Right, guys? After all, web usability does have huge benefits.

Now that usable websites have become so commonplace, especially among the major web players, it's time to start looking to the future. Suddenly, a usable website isn't going to be enough to separate us from our competitors (apart from those using the developers who've been based on Mars). There is a solution. It's two words long. Enter our new best friend: Web credibility.

What is web credibility & why is it important?

According to BJ Fogg, the world's leading researcher on web credibility, web credibility is about making your website in such a way that it comes across as trustworthy and knowledgeable. Don't just take my word for it - read his book if you like. This book is so good that even Jakob Nielson himself (he's the self-appointed web usability guru for all you Mars-based developers), dedicated a whole alertbox to it.

Fogg will tell you, as can I, and numerous other organisations, that a credible website can reap huge benefits on to your website and your business. So, here's a few statistics to prove this point:

  • Just 52.8% of web users believe online information to be credible (source: UCLA)

  • Four in five users say that being able to trust the information on a site is very important to them in deciding to visit a website (source: Princeton Survey Research Associates)

So, web credibility's pretty important then.

But how do you implement it on to your website? Fear not, all the answers lie within the realms of this article. Now, before I go further, I must stress that most of this stuff falls under the category of 'it's obvious once you know it'. You know, like if someone sets you a puzzle and you can't do it but when they tell you the answer it's really obvious.

Web credibility is all common sense - you just don't tend to think about this stuff. So without further ado, here are five guidelines for making a credible website.


1. You must prove there's a real organisation behind your website

Anyone can put up a website promising to deliver the 'best service at the lowest prices'. Web users must be able to believe there's a real organisation behind your website. A few things you can do are:

  • Make it very easy to contact you

  • Link to external websites that reference your organisation

  • Provide staff bios

  • Show photos of the office, staff, products etc.

This basically says that you should have a really good contact us and about us section. Don't bury your contact us link in some obscure place in the website or on the page. Make out like you really want your site visitors to get in contact with you. In fact, I won't talk anymore about your contact us page because Miles Burke's has already written an excellent article about it, The Lost Art of Conversation - Encouraging Contact Online.

As for the about us section, don't underestimate its importance. Don't be afraid to show who you are (stand tall and be proud!), what you stand for, what your goals are, and a bit about your history (of the organisation, not you). People will read this stuff - it certainly won't be the first thing they'll read on your website but it could be the last thing they read before deciding whether or not to do business with you.

Can you think of other ways you can prove your organisation's real? Have a look at a website you visit quite often - what is it about this website that you trust?