5 Keys to a Credible Website

Your online presence is your calling card, and Internet users will make judgments about you and your business based on the way you present yourself in this medium. The idea that you only have one chance to make a first impression is as true online as it is in person, and people looking for information online have notoriously short attention spans. The five keys to a credible website listed here will help to make your site sticky and lead to more visitors signing up for your mailing list.

Make Sure Your Site is Well Designed and Easy to Navigate

When you are considering putting up your website, you shouldn't think that you need to reinvent the wheel. There are a number of templates available that can help you get one set up quickly and easily. Before you choose a specific design for your site, make sure you check out what the top-ranked web sites in your niche are doing.

Check out the layout and colors used in the design. You may have some favorites that you would like to use but if a person landing on your site finds it difficult to look at, they will click away in a couple of seconds and you will have missed out on your chance to connect with that person.

Consider the Structure of Your Content

If you want to have a polished, informative web site, make sure that you are using a layout for your content that works well online. People who are looking for information online are like fast food consumers; they want to get in, find what they need quickly and move on.

Make sure that you keep your paragraph lengths to no more than five sentences. Break up the text with subheadings, lists and bullet points as appropriate to make it easy for your visitors to digest.

Offer Information Focused to Your Niche Market

Any time you are adding content to your web site, make sure that you consider your site visitors' needs. It should contain information they will find relevant, since this is one of the criteria that they will use to make a judgment about whether you have a credible website. Focused information which has a good degree of depth is considered more credible than a site with a broader focus.

Look at Your Motive

Internet users will wonder why you are offering information online. If it appears that your information is biased so that you can sell product or get visitors to sign up for your mailing list, your site will lose credibility with your site visitors.

Make Sure Your Information is Accurate

Nothing will damage your online credibility faster than posting inaccurate information. Web users are savvy enough to check your content against other sources, so you need to make sure you do your homework too.

Following these five keys to a credible website will help to boost your online reputation, which will create trust with your site visitors and lead to more sales.