8 Fool-Proof Ways To Maximize Your Credibility Online

No matter what you do, your number one priority is having solid credibility online. Possessing credibility as a person or business means people can trust you. Here are 8 proven fool-proof ways to maximize the amount of credibility you have online.

1. Show that you have current and former clients
Let's take shopping as an analogy. Most people love the conventional concept of physical shopping rather than shopping online. A new report from Forrester, titled "U.S. Cross-Channel Retail Forecast, 2015 To 2020," predicts online sales will grow by an average annual rate of 9.32% over the next five years. Most people love to touch and hold what they intend to buy before buying, and have a sense of security that they can feel the quality of what they want to purchase. Online, it is nearly impossible to test the quality of the item you are interested in purchasing. So how do you overcome this? Prior customer reviews and testimonials about your business and products show clients that you are real and credible.

2. Be authentic
Another way of maximizing your online credibility is being authentic. Don't fake it. Be just the way you are rather than pretend to be what you are not and you will be amazed at how you will be trusted. We are humans and we all make mistakes, perfection equals paralysis.

3. Offer a physical address
Online is the new office, so it is imperative that you have a way people can actually get to see the real thing, a place where you operate. People feel more comfortable dealing with businesses that have brick and mortar locations. Some people might just look you up on google maps to just have a vague idea about who they are dealing with.

4. Show where you are
If you want to raise your level of credibility several notches, make available a picture of what your office looks like. Sometimes all it takes is a picture. A picture might be just the proof that you need to show that you really do exist and thereby making more people willing to put their trust in you and your business.

5. Introduce your team as real people
If you have a team you work with, show their photos. Don't just talk about them, give the impression that they are real. The old saying goes, "a picture is worth a thousand words."

6. Show what you are good at
Online is the best place to let people know what you are good at without having to prove too much. Provide as much information as you can about the things you specialize in on your website. Also, consider showing a portfolio of your previous work.

7. Show who is behind your support
If you have a support team that people can reach out to in cases of inquiries or complaints, let people know they are talking to humans and not robots. This will go a long way in making people trust you. Also, have social proof on your website and let people know that big brand's trust and have used your service in the past. When my clients visit my Tech From Vets website you will notice a "featured on" section at the bottom of my website. The objective is to use social proof to show potential clients that we are credible and can be trusted. Browsing the internet I found a website (BrandonSugar.com) that incorporated social proof, the website stated, "Since our inception we have created great art and our innovation has led to us being featured on BuzzFeed and The Huffington Post." Customers see social proof as a way to separate legitimate brands from fly by night startups.

8. Be active on social media
How do I trust your brand when you are not active on social media? You updated your page six weeks ago. Why should I deal with you if you don't care about engaging with the public? Most social media-savvy people will think your business is either closed or inferior to the brands that update their social media frequently. Maintain your social media pages.