Credibility and Trustworthiness of Your Business Online

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Trust and credibility are two of the most critical elements when it comes to the success of your business. It can be challenging to bring home that trust and credibility for your business through your online interactions with business associates.

Honesty and sincerity

First and foremost, the content that you share online as well as your online interactions must be honest, dependable, and sincere. If you demonstrate those qualities at all times, the people with whom you have started to establish relationships will start to understand (very early on in the relationship) that you are credible and that you are an expert in your niche or industry. Those people will come to understand that when they need the type of help that you give, you are top of mind for them. There isn’t anyone to whom they would go before you.

The critical nature of trust

As far as technology has advanced and as comfortable as many people are with doing business (of all types) online, there are still many people who are reserved when it comes to buying products and/or services over the Internet. On many occasions, people will begin the process of purchasing something online and then, somewhere within the process, they will rethink the whole thing and abandon their “shopping carts” online. A very high percentage of people will not follow their purchase to the end. The motivation for this is fear and lack of trust. As a business owner, if you can demonstrate your trustworthiness and credibility, beyond any doubt, people will not be willing to buy from you. Those qualities, along with reliability, are what people look for in a business and a business owner when it comes down to the final decision of whether they will buy.

Trust is one of the most important elements when it comes to doing business and it is important to understand that trust is constantly evolving and its dynamic changes on a regular basis. When it comes to doing business online, that is especially true. With that in mind, it is critical that your business’s web presence always has fresh content and a look, feel and message that is appropriate for what your target market wants, needs, and expects of you and your business. This is essential, even if it means that you need to work every week on refreshing what you present to other people online. If you can achieve that, you will be demonstrating to the members of your audience that they can trust you to give them what they need and that you  have the ability to solve their problems. The bottom line is that they won’t buy from you if they don’t feel that they can trust you. Trust is earned. It is not something that happens in two seconds, without any effort made.

Important issues before a purchase is made

When it comes to important features that your clients are considering before they will buy from you, the price, the ready availability of the products and/or services, possibly location, whether they can get free shipping, etc. However, the one thing that is more important than any of the other features there were mentioned is trust. If people look at your website and it doesn’t seem legitimate, reliable, and trustworthy to them, they will walk away and never come back.

The importance of features for all businesses

Human beings look for the same qualities when it comes to buying from all businesses. However, when it comes to doing business online, it is even more critical because they can’t see you or your business as physical entities. They have to rely on their gut feelings and the sense of trust and finding you credible have to be even stronger in that situation. Of course, this concept applies to people who will hopefully become your loyal customers, not people who buy from you once and then never return in any way.

Conclusion

Trust and credibility of critical to the success of your business. Without them, you won’t succeed. Always remember that your online content must be well written and consistent so that your online message is strong and clear. Presenting the proper perception when it comes to your business’s image and what you represent is essential to your success and the success of your business. If, as a business owner, you demonstrate trust, credibility, sincerity, and reliability, people will react favorably and will want to have a long-term relationship with you.

 

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Author

  • Michael Cohn

    Michael Cohn is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has decades of experience in IT and web technologies. Michael founded CompuKol Communications to help small businesses and entrepreneurs increase their visibility and reputation. CompuKol consults, creates, and implements communication strategies for small businesses to monopolize their markets with a unique business voice, vision, and visibility. Mr. Cohn earned a Master’s degree in project management from George Washington University in Washington, DC; and a Master’s degree in computer science and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.

2 Responses

  1. Barbara Forzly says:

     

    Via LinkedIn Groups

    Group: Woman 2 Woman Business
    Discussion: Credibility and Trustworthiness of Your Business Online

    When you are building an internet relationship one must be very careful for people looking for information. It is important to have a product that does what it says it will do for a majority of people. All products due to perform the same way due to a number of things,health of user, medications, actual skin condition, ph of skin, etc.

    In today's economy I think you will find more and more people ordering from the internet
    as costs of travel to malls, other retail outlets, is getting just too expensive. For that reason internet marketing has become a major factor in buying

    Affordability, there are alot of good products out there BUT are they AFFORDABLE.
    Are you able to earn some extra spending money ? Are there monthly obligations or sales requirements in order to get a check. Meetings, conference calls, etc.

    Posted by Barbara Forzly

  2. Cliff Lancaster says:

    Cliff Lancaster via Facebook: I think the 'personal touch' goes a long way to establishing some trust. Nobody wants to be treated like a faceless number.