In my previous post I wrote about the importance of conversation. But it’s not enough to get people to listen to you, if they’re not believing you, you’re just fudging. Achieving credibility is a long term process. Credibility is something money can’t buy. And it takes a lot of attention to details.

It’s harder to get people to trust you than to get money out of their pockets. A customer can order a product but still be skeptic if it works or even if you deliver on time (or at all). If the product delivers for your customer what you said it will, then you have earned credibility. It’s only hopes and dreams ’til then.

The aspects of your site which you need to tweak to increase credibility are: content, design and navigation, company or personal image, and feedback.

» Content

Your content needs to be professional and glow with expertize and honesty. Write general articles on the topic of your website. Don’t just use your content to push products. Prove yourself, show that you know what you’re talking about. Use unique examples. If they can be found on Google, they’re not good enough.

Don’t look desperate to sell, respect your customers and make them feel important and in charge of their choices. Your statements should be easily verifiable. For this, quote or link to authority sites, like Wikipedia. Spell check everything and use paragraphs, sub-headers and bullet lists to break up sections.

Even if the topic of your site is taboo or controverted you can still be credible through accurate information and professional attitude. Stay away from marketing techniques like creating false fears because online shoppers are getting smarter and smarter. As a matter of fact, don’t apply any sloppy marketing technique a door-to-door salesman would.

Believe in what you’re selling and your customers will detect this in your salescopy. Use testimonials not only to back up statements about a product but also to learn the language of the customers. You can even use tiny bits of the testimonials to make statements about the products. Or perhaps you can think of another original way of using the testimonials!

» Design and navigation

Original design and easy navigation will show your potential customers you dedicated time and effort in creating your site. You can achieve this by showing true colors which suit your site and products, distinct and clearly defined categories, which not only provides quick access but also gives the eye places of focus and rest. Highlight important statements and facilitate skimming.

Also, a powerful logo helps build an online identity. And by powerful I mean that your logo has to incorporate everything your site is about.

Avoid broken links or make sure your 404 page redirects to your home page. Affiliate links might confuse your visitors. So just hide them. There’s a MoreNiche guide on hiding links. By the way, have you read the guides there?

» Company or personal image

Company or personal image is easily outlined by showing that you are a real person or company behind the website. Add an “About Us” page and write about yourself, your expertize, your company, any other sites you have, why you started the website. You can additionally add a “Privacy Policy” page and just tell people that you do not store personal details or if they send you email you will not spam their email address.

You can find “About Us” examples on http://www.aboutus.org. You can submit yours there, too, and get some free backlinks.

The domain name also counts and you should choose it according to the nature of your site. Vick-the-skinny-chick.com would work for a personal weight loss journey blog, but not for a general weight loss membership site, let’s say.

Remember that what others say about you is more important than what you say about yourself. Take Proactol for example, which boosted it’s online credibility by being reviewed by the ERSP.

And if you think posing as a doctor, for example, will boost your credibility, you’re wrong. The people you will boost your sales with are, well… doctors. That’s because doctors trust doctors and average people trust average people. And most likely you’ll fail at posing as a genuine doctor, anyway.

» Feedback

Feedback possibilities can include a contact form, email, phone or a live help chat. In my personal experience, the live help chat proved to get a lot more activity. I wasn’t always online on it, but I got more offline messages there than I got emails. I’ve blogged about the importance about talking, but listening is just as important in growing your business.

The good news is that there are free PHP contact form and live help chat scripts online.
It would be a great idea that after you start getting some feedback, to see which are the most common issues, and start a “Frequently Asked Questions” page.

Just like the testimonials, feedback will help you find the language of your customers. See what words and ways they use to describe the niche-specific terms of your site.

Most importantly, you need to trust yourself to start selling. Don’t worry, you know more than you think you do!