Design for Credibility on the Web
January 14th, 2010 by ryanWe’ve all seen it. We’re looking up an organization’s website to get some info only to see a horrible-looking design: blinking text, nauseating background images, and a color palette from hell. Intuitively we know this hurts and organization, but by how much? As it turns out, quite a bit.
Every business that has any interaction with customers on the web (in other words, if anyone is going to your business’ site) needs to pay attention to several factors that affect credibility.
Stanford University produced a report called “Stanford Guidelines for Web Credibility” which, among others, made the following suggestions:
- Establish the business’ legitimacy
- Look professional
- Use restraint in promotional content (ads, etc)
- Update content regularly
- Avoid errors of all kinds (no matter how small) and make it easy to verify accuracy of information
Establishing Legitimacy
One of the keys to establishing credibility is to first prove legitimacy. In other words, is the business’ physical address posted? Are there photos of team members? Is there an easy way to contact the business? Indicators like this prove that there is actually someone behind the site. The human element is critical to establishing legitimacy.
In addition, the study suggests that content on the site be tailored to promote the organization’s expertise in the products and services it provides. Showing off the credentials of experts in the organization can help establish legitimacy and trustworthiness.
Look Professional
Part of the “look professional” suggestion is further evidenced by a post from Kent Shaffer, who says “60% of the decision to buy a product is based on color.” He cites a Nature.com article (which is behind a register wall) with the following key takeaways:
- If you can snare people with an attractive design, they are more likely to overlook other minor faults with the site, and may actually rate its actual content more favorably.
- Potential readers can make snap decisions in just 50 milliseconds.
The only way a potential customer to a business’ website is able to make a snap decision is based on presentation: if the design of the site looks professional, is easy to read and attractive to look at, that snap decision is far more likely to be in favor of sticking with the business’ message than navigating away.
Avoid Errors
Another key finding in the Stanford study is the avoidance of errors. It’s my contention that users are always looking for a reason to distrust a site, and it’s very easy to find one on sites with broken links, bad grammar or spelling mistakes, or (especially) factual errors. Even trivial mistakes can hurt credibility.
Taking it further, however, is to build credibility by citing sources. From the study: “You can build web site credibility by providing third-party support (citations, references, source material) for information you present, especially if you link to this evidence. Even if people don’t follow these links, you’ve shown confidence in your material.”
Keeping content updated and properly citing sources can be a key way to establish credibility among potential customers.
Conversions through Credibility
It seems the keys to building credibility for a business is to have an appealing design, quality (and regularly updated) content that is free from errors, and employing simple methods to establish legitimacy.
As Shaffer said, “Users who trust your site are far more likely to become customers.” Create a credible site to bring in customers without turning them away.
Other Resources
- Problogger: Blog Credibility and Blog Design
- Michael Reynolds: How design affects credibility on the web
What tips do you have to create credibility on the web?
