Many small and medium size firms suffer from a lack of customer
awareness. After all, everyone's last name is not Gates. (Okay, maybe
that was a bad example.) But the bottom line is one of the first things a
prospect may do is check out your web site before doing business with you.
It's gotten to the point that if you DON'T have a site, or worse, an
unprofessional one, they start to
wonder.
A professional look and feel to your web site, ease of navigation, concise,
easy to find information and a whole host of other factors go into the
first impression you make on a prospect from your site.
A small one-person company with a well-thought out, intelligent website,
can look more credible and impressive than a multinational conglomerate with
clunky, amateurish site.
Ways to instill credibility on a web site...
Professional website design - Does your web site look homespun? Does
it compare favorably to your competitors? Easy navigation, quality
look and feel, emotional impact, visual hot spots, user-friendliness, positive use of
color and energy and visual flow are just a few of the factors that
go into making the difference between a professional looking website
and something your neighbor's nephew threw together in his bedroom.
Professional Photography - using professionally lit and
shot photography, especially in high visibility areas such as your
home page makes your website and branding much more professional.
"On the web, nobody doesn't know you're not Microsoft...
Paul Metheney
Owner & Senior consultant
Metheney Consulting
Functionality - Make sure it works. Is anything more
frustrating than a website that messes up your online order? Do all the links
work?
Open and Aboveboard - Nobody wants to do business with
someone they feel they can't trust, then why do so many sites make
it hard to trust them? Hiding their identities, locations, policies,
etc.
Contact Us Information - like a yellow page ad that displays
only a phone number versus an actual location, complete contact
information is a must. Credibility is about building the perception that
you are a legitimate business and solid firms don't hide their phone
numbers, addresses and email contact info. They display it everywhere
they can.
Display Privacy & Return Policy - fully disclosing how
you treat your potential customers is great way to build more trust.
Also making your domain name contact info private at the registrar
level is common among unscrupulous companies, so make your domain
contact info public.
Display Familiar Logos - legally using graphics such as Visa,
MasterCard and Better Business logos helps make you look more
legitimate.
User-Friendliness - The site HAS to be easy to navigate,
find what the viewer is looking for and transports them to where you
want them to go as easily and quickly as possible.
This same truth holds true for your marketing materials and collateral. A
slick, well designed, full-color brochure can go along way to help
convincing a prospect than your company is established and well-heeled.
Metheney Consulting can help develop a web presence and marketing
materials for you that will help build your company's image and credibility.
Many small and medium size firms suffer from a lack of customer
awareness. After all, everyone's last name is not Gates. (Okay, maybe
that was a bad example.) But the bottom line is one of the first things a
prospect may do is check out your web site before doing business with you.
It's gotten to the point that if you DON'T have a site, or worse, an
unprofessional one, they start to
wonder.
