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Answer Upon - How Certain Information Improves Credibility and Retains Web Site Visitors' Interest
Remember in two previous articles we talked about sustainable marketing and 4 ways your stationery was killing the environment? And by the way costing you more money too!In the most recent article we talked about the way stationery is printed affects the environment. Now I want to talk about how you can market more sustainably and save money at the same time! Hurrah! What Can You Do For Marketing Sustainability? There are a number of routes to sustainability success. These include the following: Using PDF for brochures, reports and pitches Using webinars to impart information to clients, suppliers, teams, prospects ... Making more use of integrated (and targeted) email Using cleaned mailing lists Cleaning in-house mailing lists Using environmentally friendly materials, such as papers a
Press releases; blog posts written about you
Photos of: the office; place of business; people making your products; people using your products; your delivery truck; your gift boxes; your pets, (in some cases, pets sell you better than you do); your desk with three computer monitors on it and cables everywhere (this offers a “gosh, that person is really dedicated! message), and other visuals that provide proof, proof and more proof.
Bios. Your staff counts too.
Testimonials. Because customers count even more.
List your credentials, your expertise, and that of your employees or staff. If you or someone is an “expert”, or respected member of an organization, this is worth noting.
Your resume
Personal information. Do this with care, and based on the kind of website you own. I look for evidence of existence and sometimes a relationship to the field, products, or service. This can tie
The computer networking business is very competitive and is very dependent upon promotion. You need to implement promotional strategies that will distinguish you from the competition, including word of mouth, advertising, publicity and networking.Word Of Mouth And NetworkingSuccessful networking is all about creating relationships. If you find businesses in your network and figure out ways you can help them, these same businesses will probably want to help you in the future. Organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club are great for networking, as are your child's school, church, your alma mater, relatives and friends. These groups can all give you good word-of-mouth for your community and help build your business in the future.Advertise!A computer networking business will probably have to depend on things beyond referrals, whic
It boils down to credibility. You have something to sell and you must convince people your product is worthy of their time, money and interest. For your website, you might think that cute picture of you is a hot selling device. You may go so far as to put up a video so you can personally address your website visitors, let them hear your voice, and talk about your area of expertise. However, if they’ve never met or heard of you before, this is kind of, like when someone orders a drink for your table that you didn’t ask for. It’s a little awkward.
Who are you?
The role of credibility begins the moment someone arrives to your website. Your homepage, and advertisement landing pages, must provide immediate clues that you, your company or your staff are:
Experienced Knowledgeable Customer service oriented Attentive Friendly Aware of a site visitor’s needs, desires, task(s) Really, exist
Your Product or Service
Next, it’s time to convince site visitors that you, your company, your products or your services are the correct choice for them. This requires attention to details that might include:
How the features benefit someone? This is not just a listing of features. What do they do? Why do they matter? How do they help improve, fix, heal, adjust, fit, and otherwise make something better, easier, faster, affordable, profitable etc.?
Why are your products parts better than your competition?
How does your service compare to others, and why?
Price comparisons (because you did your homework to save visitors time, and possibly preventing comparison shoppers from leaving to research it themselves)
Excellent customer service
Dependability
Responsiveness
Confidence in quality, ordering, delivery, returns
How Does Your Web Site Portray Credibility?
Building credibility into your user centered website is easy to do when you step away from the design side, the business requirements, corporate list of “must includes” and forget sounding like a salesperson. I like to visualize sitting with website visitors and chatting, while snacking on pretzels and chips. Eating and asking questions is what humans do well.
The most commonly asked questions pertain to credibility and authenticity. Consider providing information for the Doubter, the Cautious, the Newbie, and the I’m-In-A-Hurry and I’m-Here-Because-My-Boss-Sent-Me, people. Provide answers out front, in full view, for fast access, but avoid endlessly blabbing. First, establish trust. Then, take them inside the website to learn more.
Here is a quick, by no means definitive and in no particular order checklist, which you can match up with your online presentation goals. Conversions depend on persuasiveness. Persuasion leans heavily on credibility and authenticity. Believability, engagability, desirability and usability are tossed in here too. This is your opportunity and legitimate excuse to show off by offering information about:
How long your company has existed; display year it or the website was established
How long you have been doing what you do
Where your company is located (for real, because smart consumers will check).
Third-party citations, awards, interviews, press coverage, references made by reputable companies or persons
Press releases; blog posts written about you
Photos of: the office; place of business; people making your products; people using your products; your delivery truck; your gift boxes; your pets, (in some cases, pets sell you better than you do); your desk with three computer monitors on it and cables everywhere (this offers a “gosh, that person is really dedicated! message), and other visuals that provide proof, proof and more proof.
Bios. Your staff counts too.
Testimonials. Because customers count even more.
List your credentials, your expertise, and that of your employees or staff. If you or someone is an “expert”, or respected member of an organization, this is worth noting.
Your resume
Personal information. Do this with care, and based on the kind of website you own. I look for evidence of existence and sometimes a relationship to the field, products, or service. This can tie
The SKINNY on NewspapersUsing the paper is considered gospel by many people in business. Use it wisely and it can be a good tool.Remember, newspapers are passive, non intrusive media. They tend to reach only buyers who are looking for the product. They are poor at reaching prospects before the need arises.Think about it, there are few times you have been driven to go to a store to buy a product you never heard of because you saw an ad in the paper. You had to have an earlier impression about the product for the newspaper ad to point you to the location to buy it.There are 4 ways to use the newspaper for advertising.1) Display advertising from one column wide by 2 inches high to a full two pages, display ads can be so numerous the news stories have to be cut so both can live on the page.There is usually no protection. Competi
Who are you?
The role of credibility begins the moment someone arrives to your website. Your homepage, and advertisement landing pages, must provide immediate clues that you, your company or your staff are:
Experienced Knowledgeable Customer service oriented Attentive Friendly Aware of a site visitor’s needs, desires, task(s) Really, exist
Your Product or Service
Next, it’s time to convince site visitors that you, your company, your products or your services are the correct choice for them. This requires attention to details that might include:
How the features benefit someone? This is not just a listing of features. What do they do? Why do they matter? How do they help improve, fix, heal, adjust, fit, and otherwise make something better, easier, faster, affordable, profitable etc.?
Why are your products parts better than your competition?
How does your service compare to others, and why?
Price comparisons (because you did your homework to save visitors time, and possibly preventing comparison shoppers from leaving to research it themselves)
Excellent customer service
Dependability
Responsiveness
Confidence in quality, ordering, delivery, returns
How Does Your Web Site Portray Credibility?
Building credibility into your user centered website is easy to do when you step away from the design side, the business requirements, corporate list of “must includes” and forget sounding like a salesperson. I like to visualize sitting with website visitors and chatting, while snacking on pretzels and chips. Eating and asking questions is what humans do well.
The most commonly asked questions pertain to credibility and authenticity. Consider providing information for the Doubter, the Cautious, the Newbie, and the I’m-In-A-Hurry and I’m-Here-Because-My-Boss-Sent-Me, people. Provide answers out front, in full view, for fast access, but avoid endlessly blabbing. First, establish trust. Then, take them inside the website to learn more.
Here is a quick, by no means definitive and in no particular order checklist, which you can match up with your online presentation goals. Conversions depend on persuasiveness. Persuasion leans heavily on credibility and authenticity. Believability, engagability, desirability and usability are tossed in here too. This is your opportunity and legitimate excuse to show off by offering information about:
How long your company has existed; display year it or the website was established
How long you have been doing what you do
Where your company is located (for real, because smart consumers will check).
Third-party citations, awards, interviews, press coverage, references made by reputable companies or persons
Press releases; blog posts written about you
Photos of: the office; place of business; people making your products; people using your products; your delivery truck; your gift boxes; your pets, (in some cases, pets sell you better than you do); your desk with three computer monitors on it and cables everywhere (this offers a “gosh, that person is really dedicated! message), and other visuals that provide proof, proof and more proof.
Bios. Your staff counts too.
Testimonials. Because customers count even more.
List your credentials, your expertise, and that of your employees or staff. If you or someone is an “expert”, or respected member of an organization, this is worth noting.
Your resume
Personal information. Do this with care, and based on the kind of website you own. I look for evidence of existence and sometimes a relationship to the field, products, or service. This can tie
The world of Public Relations and Press Relations is certainly interesting indeed. Sometimes articles in the news are really ad-vertorials and not actually stories or articles at all. That indeed can be a huge problem. Sometimes if the news about your company is too good people will think that you are paying the newspaper, magazine or trade journal reporter, author or writer of the article or story.Case in point, recently a public relations and press-relations expert say an old article about our company in the Wall Street Journal and said I read your Wall Street Journal Ad. But it was not an advertisement article at all. It was a story and it was not even about our company, but rather our company was mentioned in a few paragraphs along with some other companies too.That was a story or article not an advertisement, but then I see why she thought that now after I recen
How does your service compare to others, and why?
Price comparisons (because you did your homework to save visitors time, and possibly preventing comparison shoppers from leaving to research it themselves)
Excellent customer service
Dependability
Responsiveness
Confidence in quality, ordering, delivery, returns
How Does Your Web Site Portray Credibility?
Building credibility into your user centered website is easy to do when you step away from the design side, the business requirements, corporate list of “must includes” and forget sounding like a salesperson. I like to visualize sitting with website visitors and chatting, while snacking on pretzels and chips. Eating and asking questions is what humans do well.
The most commonly asked questions pertain to credibility and authenticity. Consider providing information for the Doubter, the Cautious, the Newbie, and the I’m-In-A-Hurry and I’m-Here-Because-My-Boss-Sent-Me, people. Provide answers out front, in full view, for fast access, but avoid endlessly blabbing. First, establish trust. Then, take them inside the website to learn more.
Here is a quick, by no means definitive and in no particular order checklist, which you can match up with your online presentation goals. Conversions depend on persuasiveness. Persuasion leans heavily on credibility and authenticity. Believability, engagability, desirability and usability are tossed in here too. This is your opportunity and legitimate excuse to show off by offering information about:
How long your company has existed; display year it or the website was established
How long you have been doing what you do
Where your company is located (for real, because smart consumers will check).
Third-party citations, awards, interviews, press coverage, references made by reputable companies or persons
Press releases; blog posts written about you
Photos of: the office; place of business; people making your products; people using your products; your delivery truck; your gift boxes; your pets, (in some cases, pets sell you better than you do); your desk with three computer monitors on it and cables everywhere (this offers a “gosh, that person is really dedicated! message), and other visuals that provide proof, proof and more proof.
Bios. Your staff counts too.
Testimonials. Because customers count even more.
List your credentials, your expertise, and that of your employees or staff. If you or someone is an “expert”, or respected member of an organization, this is worth noting.
Your resume
Personal information. Do this with care, and based on the kind of website you own. I look for evidence of existence and sometimes a relationship to the field, products, or service. This can tie
Lack of communication is a major cause of conflict. In feature films, no communication equals conflict and conflict means a possible Academy Award. In business, no communication equals conflict and this means a possibility of no profit and no business.The great filmmaker Stanley Kubrick constantly used communications as his element of conflict in his feature films. The Shining (a man goes mad in a closed-up hotel cut off from the outside world), 2001 A Space Odyssey (a moon base has been out of phone communication for ten days), Full-metal Jacket (during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam a military patrol is unable to communicate with headquarters), and Dr. Strangelove or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb (U.S. bombers are sent within the Soviet Union and out of communication) are all examples of communication problems leading to co
Here is a quick, by no means definitive and in no particular order checklist, which you can match up with your online presentation goals. Conversions depend on persuasiveness. Persuasion leans heavily on credibility and authenticity. Believability, engagability, desirability and usability are tossed in here too. This is your opportunity and legitimate excuse to show off by offering information about:
How long your company has existed; display year it or the website was established
How long you have been doing what you do
Where your company is located (for real, because smart consumers will check).
Third-party citations, awards, interviews, press coverage, references made by reputable companies or persons
Press releases; blog posts written about you
Photos of: the office; place of business; people making your products; people using your products; your delivery truck; your gift boxes; your pets, (in some cases, pets sell you better than you do); your desk with three computer monitors on it and cables everywhere (this offers a “gosh, that person is really dedicated! message), and other visuals that provide proof, proof and more proof.
Bios. Your staff counts too.
Testimonials. Because customers count even more.
List your credentials, your expertise, and that of your employees or staff. If you or someone is an “expert”, or respected member of an organization, this is worth noting.
Your resume
Personal information. Do this with care, and based on the kind of website you own. I look for evidence of existence and sometimes a relationship to the field, products, or service. This can tie
If you didn’t know better, you’d think today’s business world was one big Monopoly game.Lots of corporate leaders – those inclined to be the battleship or cannon when they sit down in front of the big board – run their businesses with a cutthroat attitude and play with the company’s earnings like it’s, well, Monopoly money. This take-every-Chance-Card approach can sometimes produce short-term success, but it doesn’t guarantee against having to mortgage your Park Place and Boardwalk properties. Or going directly to jail, for that matter.In recent years, there’ve been more than a few high profile business leaders trading in their pinstripe suits for pinstripe prison uniforms, leaving the corporate landscape littered with bankrupt companies. Enron, Tyco, Adelphia, Worldcom—the list of fiscally-irresponsible meltdowns goes on and on, recounted ad nauseum in news stories
Press releases; blog posts written about you
Photos of: the office; place of business; people making your products; people using your products; your delivery truck; your gift boxes; your pets, (in some cases, pets sell you better than you do); your desk with three computer monitors on it and cables everywhere (this offers a “gosh, that person is really dedicated! message), and other visuals that provide proof, proof and more proof.
Bios. Your staff counts too.
Testimonials. Because customers count even more.
List your credentials, your expertise, and that of your employees or staff. If you or someone is an “expert”, or respected member of an organization, this is worth noting.
Your resume
Personal information. Do this with care, and based on the kind of website you own. I look for evidence of existence and sometimes a relationship to the field, products, or service. This can tie into passion and the emotional connection with your website visitors.
If you offer columns like Dear Doctor, Dear Expert, and related content, provide proof these people actually exist and have the required qualifications that can be verified (and provide a way to do that.)
Write articles on your topic or invite reputable guest writers. If they agree to write, you must be special.
Put up a blog and write consistently in it. Slacking off sends a warning that you or your company are [fill in countless suspicions here].
All That and the Paring Knife Too?
I like proof. In real-life, I’ll seek out signs that an offer or product is real. For example, I believe that Rachel Ray makes fantastic meals in 7 minutes on her show because she offers the food to her audience, the camera pulls in for a close-up and the person looks ready to faint from taste bud ecstasy. This is proof (or great acting.)
I want to know that the indestructible ball for my dog is really that. Therefore, I need to know what it’s made of, why my Golden Retriever who eats army men toys will want to play with it, and if some company tested it, throw that into your product description too. Pictures of doggie-customers is a major “Aw, So Cute” connection device.
If you made two million dollars last month selling your book online, list the phone number of your accountant, so that non-believers can call to verify your story.
Small businesses, you can most certainly stand up to those big companies that hide behind their fancy logo and stock prices. Enroll your company into verification programs that check for best business practices, online security, and other consumer-oriented verification. Show off those icons.
Try to avoid being coy or evasive with navigation, content or link labels. Experienced website visitors can spot manipulation a mile away. Describe every action they will take, before they take it. This means letting visitors know when they are about to download, read, learn, order, buy, search, call, email, or click on a PDF file.
Credibility adds up with these small details because to your web site visitors, you are likely a complete stranger. They may leave your site, and return to it, because the other site wasn’t so up front or informative. They may love you because you stopped to share some pretzels and chips.
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<a href="http://www.hubyou.info/article/61054/hubyou-How-Certain-Information-Improves-Credibility-and-Retains-Web-Site-Visitors-Interest.html">How Certain Information Improves Credibility and Retains Web Site Visitors' Interest</a>
BB link (for phorums):
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Related Articles:
The 80/20 Rule, And Being Truly 'Effective' In Your Business
Motivating Employees - Ten Ways to Start You Off
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