How long has it been since you visited a website and not left after only several moments? More than likely, you already did this a few times this morning.
Exceptional websites are essential to enticing and keeping visitors, and these days entrepreneurs have many tools at their control — Squarespace, Wix, Weebly — for building clean, appealing and mobile-ready websites quickly and easily. The dilemma is that these numerous tools are also creating a big concern, specifically, how do you distinguish between the most trustworthy, authoritative and reliable websites?
In a survey performed by Huff Industrial Marketing and KoMarketing ( the 2015 B2B Web Usability Report) found that consumers want authenticity in business websites, and the most powerful way to build authenticity is to express trust and credibility.
The report went on to find that most businesses are missing out on simple ways to enhance their websites and build that critical trust and credibility.
Here are four key and surprisingly easy components most companies are neglecting.
- Contact information
Based on the report’s conclusions, 51 percent of responders indicated that “thorough contact information” was the essential component absent from most websites. A startling 98 percent of responders declared that “No Contact Information / Phone Number” would prompt them to abandon the website (44 percent) or be so irked that they would abandon the website (54 percent).
- About you
Another essential part of creating trust and credibility is presenting information about you, your partners and your organization. Fifty-two percent of responders indicated that “About / Company Information” was information guests most wanted to view on your homepage and established credibility (second only to “Contact Information”).
Spend time growing your company story and present your visitors with detailed bios, backgrounds, histories and even relatable personal accounts of each essential team member. Add links to each of their professional websites, such as LinkedIn and Twitter, as well as a clear, high-resolution picture (you should think about using a photographer to take expert headshots).
- Appropriate content
Countless business people believe that having an appealing social media presence and producing consistent blog posts are the keys to converting consumers. While these are valuable approaches, the survey found that videos, social media activity and blog posts ranked lowest on “content assets that produce credibility.”
Instead, focus your marketing efforts on building white papers, case studies, research reports and articles that confirm your credibility as an authority in your industry. Write frequently and leverage client feedback to create new and appropriate content they want.
- Keep it simple
While organizations continue moving to mobile first approaches, particularly given Google’s newest search engine update that prioritizes mobile-ready sites, the study found that until further notice, with business-to-business organizations, 61 percent of respondents showed that a mobile-friendly site did not affect their purchasing choice.
Obviously, organizations shouldn’t just give up on a mobile approach, nor should they race to forsake their current website strategy. Rather, organizations should take an approach that incorporates both ideals with a similar rule: keep it basic. Fight the temptation to stack your site with useless content and restrict it to just what your guest needs.
Read full article here entrepreneur.com
