Where Credibility is Key

When you write copy for your website, the main thing your readers are looking for is credibility.  What you’ve written has to tell them that they’ve come to the right place and that you’re the right people that they want to do business with.

Three years of research out of Stanford University’s Persuasive Technology Lab in Palo Alto, California, says that website credibility comes from two components: trustworthiness and expertise.  In other words, your Web copy should strike your readers as being honest, and at the same time confirm that you are knowledgeable about the products or services that you deliver.

To help increase your website credibility, Stanford provides some guidelines for writing your web copy that I’ll summarize for you here.

Visitors to your website in cyberspace need to feel familiar with the real organization standing behind it.  So it’s a good idea  to include copy and photographs that show your visitors who you are.  A short, well written company history and some photographs of your offices work well.  Short bios and photos of your people work even better, and contacting them should be easy for your visitors to do.

Creating a professional image of your company requires a professional design of your website.  Effortless navigation and error-free content make your visitors’ experience more pleasant and engaging.  Additionally, providing references and links to support your claims shows your visitors that you’re confident about the products and services that you deliver.

To highlight your expertise, show your credentials and the professional organizations that you are associated with, but do show some promotional restraint.  People rarely appreciate a hard sell face to face, just as visitors to your website may be turned off by a hard sell online.

Finally, to ensure that your visitors know that your information is up to date, review your content frequently.  Add new information as it becomes available.  Even better, get one of your experts to write a blog that your visitors can easily link to.  Having a company blog helps you ensure that your visitors get current information without your having to change the content of your website so frequently.

Websites are often your first contact with potential customers.  To ensure you make an impact, review your web copy.  Credibility is what your visitors want to see.  Well crafted web copy is where they’ll find it.