There are literally millions of companies doing business online. The VAST majority are credible and ethical. They provide quality products, services and information with excellent customer service. These are the online businesses that never make the headlines, newsfeeds or rumor mills.
It takes only a couple of online scams, which always capture the headlines, and all this good work and goodwill is destroyed. People suddenly become skeptical of all online businesses. It’s the old case of one bad apple spoiling the barrel.
One very simple way to build trust with your online customers is to make certain your web designer has your contact information prominently, and even excessively, displayed on your web site. The idea being that if you are not willing to tell people who you are, where you are located, and how they can easily contact you, then why should they do business with you? If at all possible include your business address, telephone number, hours of operation, and at least one email address. If you are concerned about spam email harvesters, you can hide your email address within a HTML encoder or use a contact form for people to submit.
If possible make the “Contact Us” accessible on as many pages as possible. The more information you can supply establishing your credibility the better!
