Web site credibility is crucial to all web businesses since it builds trust for customers. Nobody is going to buy products or services from a company that does not seem credible. To build credibility, trust needs to be built between the customer and owner.

Ways to build credibility:

• About Us
  Businesses need to understand that not all visitors will know about their company and what they do. Having an About Us page will help customers understand more about the company and help provide an organized feel to the company.
• Contact Information
  Having a Contact Us page would make a site more authentic if people can see there is a way to get a hold of you. Users tend to think that websites that do not provide contact information have something to hide and may be untrustworthy.
• Privacy Policy
  Any business website that takes or requires users to enter private information should have an online privacy policy page. Ecommerce websites that takes credit cards have to ensure that credit card information is protected and safe. Many customers are reluctant to providing personal information on the web and so to prevent many of these concerns, providing a privacy policy would help ensure customers information are safeguarded.
• Testimonials
  Testimonials are statements from happy customers saying how your product or service helped them. When done correctly, testimonials can be a strong ally in establishing the credibility of a website. An article on Webcredible provides a few tips on getting started.
• Professionalism
  One of the most important factors for credibility is website design since that is the first thing someone looks at when entering a website. Owners that put little thought into the design of a website are unprofessional and turn users away. Professional business website design will create a sense of trust that the site belongs to a credible company.

Internet credibility is one of the most critical factors that will affect online success. Being credible is simply the perception of being trustworthy and believable. Everything you do will affect the image of your business. Being focused on providing solutions to your customers, providing consistent quality and value, and being accessible will all help you achieve the credibility your online business needs to succeed.

Popularity: 56% [?]

Web content writing requires a different approach then content writing for print documents and publications. Web content writing is nowhere close to the offline world. Web users typically don’t read web content word for word but instead they scan the page, picking out certain words and sentences. Scanning text is an extremely common behavior for higher-literacy users according to recent eyetracking studies that had 232 users looked at thousands of Web pages. They found that users’ main reading behavior was fairly consistent across many different sites and tasks.

Heatmaps from user eyetracking studies. The areas where users looked the most are colored red; the yellow areas indicate fewer views, followed by the least-viewed blue areas. Gray areas didn’t attract any fixations.

The following implications can be drawn by the study:

• Users won’t read text thoroughly in a word-by-word manner. Exhaustive reading is rare, especially when prospective customers are looking for certain products/services. Some people will read more then others but they will rarely read the entire site content.
• The first two paragraphs must state the most important information. The heatmaps showed that users will actually read this material, though they’ll read more of the first paragraph than the second. If the first two paragraphs don’t have what users are looking for, they will leave.
• Start subheads, paragraphs, and bullet points with information-carrying words that users will notice. Bullets are one of the most favorable online elements; they are suited perfectly for the task of highlighting the most important content on a page. Bullets are easy to read, scanner friendly, and pass important information in short bursts so user don’t feel overwhelmed.

Looking at the study it is clear that web content writing focusing on high view areas will increase usability rate, improve visitor retention, and increase sells. Having the first two paragraphs in getting to the point and passing the benefits in a scanable web content format is the key in getting user to stay and navigate to other parts of your website.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Have you considered the importance of color in your website design? There is a powerful visual emotional effect caused by color. The dominant color you select for your logo, or business web design sends an emotional message to your target audience. First impressions are lasting impressions and color is the sizzle that captures attention.

According to the Institute for Color Research, people quickly make a subconscious judgment about an item and 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone. Judgments are based on human instincts and cultural influences and powerfully communicate.

What each color communicates
Black: Elegance, formality, mystery, death and style.
Blue: Stability, professionalism, trust, peace and coolness.
Brown: Endurance, casual, earthy, poverty and tradition.
Gray: Conservatism, seriousness and enhances messages of other colors.
Green: Safety, harmony, freshness, nature and wealth.
Orange: Enthusiasm, cheerfulness, creativity, playfulness and heat.
Pink: Hot pink: energy, youthfulness, fun and excitement… lighter pinks: sentimental, romantic.
Purple: Power, nobility, magic, sensuality and spirituality.
Red: Boldness, excitement, desire, intensity, and love.
Silver: Prestige, cold, scientific.
White: Cleanliness, purity, simplicity, peace and innocence.
Yellow: Attention-grabbing, happiness, energy, joy and optimism.

In general, red, orange, and yellow are exciting colors while purple, blue and green are calming ones. Yellow is the most visible color. Black on yellow or green on white are the most legible combination.

Many fast food restaurants are decorated with vivid reds and oranges. Studies show that these colors encourage diners to eat quickly and leave.

Combining colors in various combination creates even different psychological effect. No color stands alone. Color is seen in the context of a symphony of other colors. No one color is “good” or “bad”. Colors create a composition that as a whole is pleasing or not. Now color is not the only design element to communicate with, but it is a powerful one.

Are you selecting a web design firm? A quick look at their website portfolio will tell you their skill in choosing color the right color combination.

Popularity: 30% [?]

You have a business that you are excited about.  A business that you know will make your customer’s lives easier.  However, you can’t seem to convert business through your website.  Determining why your website is ineffective in converting business has been perplexing; your site clearly explains why your business is the best.

Your website content writing may be the problem.  When writing text for your website it may help to think about your customers as spoiled kids with ADD in a toy store.  In order to give the people what they want, keep these tips in mind:

1.  Keep it pithy - Visitors don’t want to wade through paragraphs and paragraphs of words.  They want to know right away what they want to know.  Give them the information they need off the top in a concise sentence.

2.  Shorter is better – Short sentences, short paragraphs, and short words.  Short and sweet wins the web content race.

3.  Enough about you, talk about your customers - Selfishness rules the day when customers are searching for a service.  They don’t care about you, they care about themselves.  Therefore, it makes sense to tailor your writing toward what your customer is looking for and why you can help them.

4.  Objectivity – You may think your service is the greatest out there, but why should someone browsing the web believe you?  Using the previous three tips, explain what your product will do for the customer.

Revising your website content so that it is focused on your customers, is easily digestible for impatient viewers, and touts the benefits of your product or service will transform your website into a valuable business generation tool.

Popularity: 24% [?]