How to make website more reliable to customers

[kane611]

How can i make my website look more trustworthy to my costumers without having to pay for memberships like bbb (better business bureau)? Is there anyway way i can show that my company is ligit for free? Im really not into the scamming business.
thanks
www.blupromo.com
www.blupromo.com/store.blupromo.com

[VodaHost]

Re: How to make website more reliable to customers

Taking the casino ads off your site, would be a good start.

[Watdaflip]

Re: How to make website more reliable to customers

Don't take this the wrong way, but the actual design of it makes it look sketchy. Take a look at websites that have a more profession look that have been successful. Also take a look at websites that sell website templates, you don't have to buy em, just try to mimic some of em, they ARE professionally designed, so you know atleast some of the aspects of the templates are good.

I'm no great designer myself, but I think that reworking how it looks would make it look less of a scam.

[Karen Mac]

Re: How to make website more reliable to customers

Actually, If you want to make it look less trashy, organize it. You have hosting space and domains are cheap. Make two or three different sites. One for ecommerce, and ..one for all that other STUFF.

You will never get really optimized, or professional looking with it jumping all over the place. You can blurb about your other sites in a footnote back and forth on all of them. Then get your products etc up front and center to sell. Stop talking about yourself, and show the customer what you have and what you can do for them.

Karen

[Mook25]

Re: How to make website more reliable to customers

Really good advice above from Karen and the others (look Karen i remembered. lol) Some other things to think about....

Customising your store with your own look can help also as if people see a store which is the default skin it can sometimes put people off. Any good business will spend a lot of time and effort on making there site look good and this would normally show in the final end product website. Also having lots of advertisments on your site is not a good idea.

[karel]

Re: How to make website more reliable to customers

Your site is really a jumble of different pictures, adverts, fonts, colors.. etc...It is very untidy and something I would click straight off, sorry but that's the truth.

Keep it neat and tidy and above all simple. Some of the biggest sites in the world are like this...Google...Paypal...in fact all you have to do is use the really big sites as guides, they are professional looking but very simple, with the information people want.

Paul

[Vasili]

Re: How to make website more reliable to customers

How can i make my website look more trustworthy to my costumers without having to pay for memberships like BBB (better business bureau)? Is there anyway way i can show that my company is ligit for free? Im really not into the scamming business.
thanks
www.blupromo.com
www.blupromo.com/store.blupromo.com

Besides the suggestions above that you can use to "clean up" your website in order to project a more professional appearance, and to aid in visitor retention/conversion, you must first understand how that is completely separate from the issues both of your questions address:

The BBB offers businesses (both traditional and online) programs to easily convey to prospective customers that you are compliant with a set of standards that includes:
1. Privacy and Information Protection (CANN, Patriot Act)
2. Fair Pricing and Payment Processing
3. Willingness to Arbritrate Consumer Disputes
4. Certified Business Identity and Recognized Resources for Recourse
etc.
This has nothing to do with site design (or its appeal to visitors), and when websites are seen with the BBBOnline logo, it is a recognized "brand" by the consumer that the site does in fact have the "legitimacy" that has been specifically standardized and conforming to consumer expectations --- not every business goes this "extra mile" and often satisfies this minimal expectation trying to 'kill two birds with one stone' using an SSL cert to not only convey this legitimacy, but to establish transactional security at the same time. The added expense for BBB membership is merely added assurance for the consumer, and does in fact express the degree to which the business entity truly has invested in creating a "consumer-friendly" business enviornment that would merit the confidence sought.

There is no free way to "brand" your website as legitimate.
As a minimum (if you are collecting money or personal information to/or create transactions), you should have an SSL certificate installed to indicate that the site is indeed verified and compliant. There are different levels of SSL certs at different costs, of course, and there is more general acceptance and assurance earned by those that not only state that the business has been registered and verified, but that also includes a surety bond to support that credible certification (consumers feel that this is like being insured against being scammed). These types of SSL designations may decrease the need to opt for BBB membership as well.

Keep in mind that nowadays ALL websites are required to publish a Privacy Policy if anywhere on the site personal information is communicated* (including the means to email you, such as a Contact Form or even a simple "@" function), and I personally suggest you include a full Policy page to disclose your complete Policies, covering Returns, Transactional Processing, Delivery, etc. The more up-front you are, the more credible you are as well, and the potential for problematic transactions is reduced significantly.
* CANN Act, Patriot Act


Bottom line? You can get a nice high-profile SSL cert on your site to both serve a function and imply the surety to consumers you intend without having to join the BBB, but unless your site is designed "professionally," it will be like spending the big bucks to advertise on TV your garage sale...... who is going to buy your stuff in a garage just because you have slick marketing when people can visit a presentable stall at the local market selling the same goods?

Plan Your Work, Work Your Plan

[AmaDee]

Re: How to make website more reliable to customers

Keep in mind that nowadays ALL websites are required to publish a Privacy Policy if anywhere on the site personal information is communicated* (including the means to email you, such as a Contact Form or even a simple "@" function...

Didn't know that. You learn something new everyday on this forum. Looks like I have some work to do. Thanks, Vasili.

[Vasili]

Re: How to make website more reliable to customers

Just common business knowledge, really.....but there is so much more to designing websites than aligning shapes, creating content, preparing rudimentary optimization or picking pretty colors, right?

A humble effort to advise mutual progress, a VodaTalk tradition I too, take advantage to augment my efforts whenever I can.......lol