Signs of Untrustworthy Websites

1. Little Information about the website and who is behind the website
   1. Websites without an about page or a lack of detail in the about page making visitors feel impersonal and thus less trustworthy
   2. No contact information makes users think the website is hiding something
2. Private Domain Name Registration
   1. Many websites have their domain name information hidden from the public, this makes the website look suspicious
3. Poor Privacy Policy
   1. Websites that clearly do not discuss what they do with a users information will drive away the security conscious visitor
   2. 25% of people didn’t purchase anything online for fear their information would be misused or stolen
4. Substandard Content
   1. Unprofessional website design. Often a websites trustworthiness is determined immediately by the websites design
   2. Signs of poor design include:
      1. spinning or blinking text
      2. low quality images
      3. flashing letters
      4. tiny fonts
      5. unlear navigation
      6. to many colours
5. Infrequently updated content
   1. Issues such as broken links
   2. Looking abandoned and no longer in business
   3. No recent activity or articles
6. To many ads
   1. Visitors are unlikely to trust a website with too many popups or a crowd of advertisement text on the screen
7. Load Time to Long
   1. Websites that take a long time to load frustrates the user and comes across unprofessional. Visitors may think the business behind the website don’t know what they are doing

Ways to Increase your Trust

1. Humanise the site:
   1. Have a robust about page – include pictures of the team for example
   2. Offer detailed contact information – make sure the basics are covered, email, phone, socials
   3. Users don’t connect with websites they connect with the people behind them
2. Don’t hide who owns your domain – use your businesses public information
3. Be aware of the visitor’s privacy – users care about their privacy
   1. A good policy is to only collect customer information that relates to your service
   2. Do no share a customer’s information with third parties
   3. Users care what you do with their information use it wisely or risk losing their trust
   4. Have a prominent privacy policy, don’t overly complicate it, most users just like to know you have one
4. Provide great content – Professional website design
   1. A website that looks professional will go a long way to gaining a visitor/users trust
   2. Keep your website uncluttered
   3. Make navigation easy
   4. Break up pages of text with quality images
   5. Use colours well
   6. 40% of users will not return if they have a negative experience
   7. Proofread your copy, check for grammar and spelling issues
5. Shorten loading time
   1. Optimise images – reduce sizes
   2. Reduce page overheads
   3. Get a faster hosting package
6. Take advantage of social media
   1. People tend to trust what they read/write about each other on social platforms
7. Ask for and publish testimonials
   1. Visitors who have used your services or product and provides a written or video testimonial will massively increase the trustworthiness of your website / business in the eyes of other visitors.
   2. Ensure to include name, photo, business name to ensure it looks legitimate.

If you need help with your website contact us on 02 8011 3737 or email hello@chevrontechnologies.com.au and setup a time to connect you with technology today. We are your local Website Support and Website Development business in the Campbelltown & Macarthur region.