You work your butt off to get traffic to your website. You shell out for advertising. You optimise it for search engines. You utilise multiple social media sites.
Voila! You have website traffic. People flock your website. They check out your products and/or services – then they hesitate. It only takes a moment of hesitation to create doubt. In this moment, you can lose a potential sale. They may be able to find your business. The question is – does it come off as trustworthy?
Here are the three types of business websites:
- E-commerce. A website where the whole process is automated. Basically, a virtual representation of your physical store where people go to order products or services, pay online, then have it delivered to them.
- Local business. Works as an extension of your real business, where you come face to face with your offline customers (trades, store, theatre, etc.).
- Service business. A type of business website where you interact with your clients, but not necessarily in the same city (coach, translator, accountant, etc.).
Regardless of your business type, you will need to ask yourself the following questions:
Is my website easy to visualise? Since your website must represent your business, it must allow your clients to visualise the people behind it. For this, you may add your picture (the business owner) with your name. You may add a quote beneath it, a video message, and even include the entire staff. E-commerce benefits best from this.
Including your business address boosts trust instantly, so does adding a photo of your place of business.
Can my clients communicate with me? Just because you add your photo and physical address doesn’t really prove that you actually exist nor does it solidly prove that you’re reliable when customers need assistance. People prefer instant chatting over support calls.
Do previous clients support me? Let your loyal customers prove your reliability by adding testimonial that includes a picture, making it more real. Testimonials and reviews can quickly boost your business sales because of the ensuing positive bandwagon.
Do I have certifications? Trust logos reassure people that they are doing safe business with your website. Studies have shown that people trust logos that are associated with anti-virus protection. This includes Better Business Bureau, TRUSTe, Verisign, McAfee and Norton – heck why not include them all, right?
Does my domain name evoke trust? Are you using the right domain name for your business website? Domain names (or web addresses) play a vital role in making your website appealing to users. Website names such as neilsgoodtires.net may not be as engaging as topwheels.com. If this is the case, consider acquiring a new domain name from Crazy Domains or any trusted domain registrar to replace the one you’re using and see how it benefits your website marketing, sales and business as a whole.
Your online presence
If a bad website can negatively impact a business’ success, how more a business without a website, right? If you’re yet to take your physical store online, consider doing so as soon as possible. Your clients are online. Your competitors are online – so, why shouldn’t you? Being online will boost your reach, allow you to be open 24/7, and ultimately leads to more profit when done right.