by Jennifer Stewart

When you go into someone's home, you can't help yourself forming an immediate impression based solely on what you see. If the sun is streaming in through open windows and furniture is clean and comfortable, you'll feel at ease. If, however, the place is shut up tight, if it's dark and if the furniture is grubby, you won't be able to relax.

It's the same when you meet a person for the first time - you form an immediate impression, based on how the person, looks, sounds and acts. The experts tell us that this first impression is lasting, we spend the rest of the time we know someone either reinforcing or modifying that impression.

And it's exactly the same on the Internet - if you visit a site that screams at you, you leave with the impression that this is probably a novice. If you have to search to try to find information about the people behind the site, you leave with the impression that maybe they have something to hide. If you visit a site that has spelling mistakes, punctuation errors and basic grammatical problems, you think twice about parting with any of your money.

You have to do everything possible to overcome any hesitations people may have to do business with you. To do this, think about what's important to you when you're choosing a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker!

What do you look for when choosing someone to do business with?

• You want to know that the person has the expertise to complete the job or deliver the goods
• You want to know that the person has confidence in the business and plans to be around for longer than it takes to process your credit card details or cash your cheque
• You want to know that your personal details will remain safe and won't be spread around the neighbourhood
• You need to know that any payments will be safe
• You want to be able to make contact with someone who can actually do something to help you if you need more information or have a complaint
• You want to know that others have survived the tender mercies of this person!

This is what everyone wants - and it can be summed up in one word - credibility.

So how can you improve your credibility and compete with the thousands of other sites out there?

Here are some simple steps you can take:

The experts all agree that this is vitally important for your credibility. And they're right.

Do you feel comfortable buying goods from the back of a truck, or from someone standing in the street amidst a dozen similar sellers? Of course you don't.

You want to know that there's a 'proper' business behind the facade. Get yourself a domain name and set up as a serious business. For information on domain names: http://www.internic.net

For an excellent offer on domain names: http://oznet.net.au/oznet/rego.htm

To find out if your domain name has been taken: http://www.whois.net

Contact Information

Always make it easy for people to contact you - from every page. Put in a link to your contact page next to your Home link on your nav bar.

Include ALL contact details - email, phone, fax, snail mail and make it easy by putting in a hyperlink to your email address, so people just have to click to send you a message.

TIP : add ?subject=Contact or something similar so that when the email window opens, there'll be an entry on the Subject line. (Some new users might take fright when the box pops up telling them there's no subject - and they might not send the message!) This is also a great way to keep track of which pages provoke the best responses. Add the name of the page after the = part of the address e.g. jennifer@write101.com?subject=Credibility

Don't forget the mailto: preface to the address.

Sometimes, programs won't allow users to send email messages, so put up a simple form so these people can contact you as well.

Many programs have a built-in form that you can easily insert into your page - this makes life considerably easier for everyone! (Visit http://www.write101.com/contact.htm for a sample of a contact form.) If your program doesn't have this, visit one of the numerous sites that provide free forms http://www.response-o-matic.com

If you expect people to buy products or services from you, you must make it as easy - and safe - as possible. So a secure order form is essential.

There are programs that you can buy that enable you to set up credit card facilities and offer security to your customers. But if you already have merchant facilities from your own bank, you can get a free secure shop front:

http://www.gta-tech.com or http://www.freemerchant.com Both sites offer easy to set up, secure shop fronts for your site.

You often read stories about people who have found personal records from doctors, solicitors and financial groups blowing in the wind up suburban streets, or spilling out of split garbage bags at the Tip. Such stories provoke outrage from everyone who reads them - and rightly so. No-one wants to think that such personal details can be accessed by the general public.

And yet, this is exactly what many thousands of websites do - they sell or give away email addresses of subscribers and visitors. They use insecure forms for credit transactions or they send out multiple emails without using the Blind CC facility.

You must explain exactly what your policy is regarding the use of personal details gathered at your site. For an example: http://www.write101.com/privacy.htm You can set up a page like this very quickly - and your visitors will appreciate it!

We all like to be able to put faces to names and to fill in some details about those we do business with - whether it's in the shop on the corner or a website across the world.

Set up a page that gives information about your credentials and expertise in your particular area. Use sub-headings that focus on your relevant skills and then give a few details about each one.

Include a photo if you wish - even if it 's not a great photo, people still like to know that you exist.

This is one of the best ways to improve your credibility - you can talk about yourself until the cows come home, but I'm much more likely to believe it if someone else says it.

If you're offering a quality product or service and following up with excellent service, you'll find that people will say nice things about you. Ask if you can use these as testimonials and offer to include a link to the person's website - most will be happy to help you out and to have another link to their own site.

You can have a separate page for this - add the testimonials chronologically, so they're always up to date: http://www.write101.com/testims.htm or sprinkle them through other pages: http://www.write101.com/archives/index.htm

To make the best impression possible, your site has to look professional - that means having pages that present a consistent look, pages that load quickly and so on. For more details, go through this Checklist: http://www.write101.com/101web.htm

Finally, you (or your web design company) must proof read every page to make sure it's error-free. If you don't have the time or the skills to do this, employ a professional to do it for you.

If your car breaks down, you don't tinker with it yourself, you call in a mechanic. If your friend has a stomach-ache, you don't whip out his appendix - unless you're a doctor, so don't spoil all your efforts by neglecting this final step.

Jennifer Stewart offers professional writing services - copy writing, editing and proof reading your: web pages, press releases, technical booklets, newsletters, business proposals, reports or any other writing projects: http://www.write101.com

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