Website Credibility = 7 big website problems
Article Summary
The article explains how small website credibility problems can cause potential customers to question whether they should trust a local business. These problems may seem minor individually, but together they can make a website look neglected, questionable, or even make visitors wonder whether the business is legitimate.
It identifies seven major credibility problems: failing to prove the business is truly local, not identifying the owner, making contact information difficult to find, having website information that conflicts with the Google Business Profile, relying on stock or unrealistic photos, having broken pages or forms, and making claims without evidence. The main point is simple: a local business website doesn’t have to be fancy. It needs to be believable, consistent, and easy to trust.
Summary provided by ChatGPT
Additional information about Website Credibility from trusted sources:
Is your business website credible?
Small noticeable errors on the site may send your potential customers packing.
Bottomline: They won’t trust you.
These are small issues, like a phone number or address that don’t match on your Google Business Profile. It could be that photos you use look suspiciously perfect even like an AI created it.
None seem serious by themselves, but a problem here and an error there and they can make visitors wonder about your business.
That’s especially important for local businesses here in St. George. There are plenty of choices and your competitor is just one jump back to Google, and they’re gone.
Problem #1 – Your website dosen’t prove you’re a local business
If I’m looking for a service provider I am very careful to make sure I don’t call a national brand. If I’m looking for local, I want local.
Your website may say you work in St. George, but if it doesn’t prove it, that can create questions for your website visitors.
Customers like seeing pictures of businesses. As real estate agents say, “Location, location, location.” Prove you work in the area with photos and articles and you’re golden.
If you work in St. George, show it and write about it. You could mention communities you’ve actually worked in and the jobs you did. For example, today I’m working in the community of Entrada. I will be taking pictures and maybe creating a video. In other words, good proof.
Problem #2 – Nobody Knows, “Who Runs This Business?”
I like knowing who I’m giving my money to. I suspect most customers do too. Customers want to feel like they know you when they’re checking out your website.
A bunch of websites here in Southern Utah hide the owner’s information. There’s no photograph or name. Some of them don’t even have an About page.
You can fix this by letting visitors know who owns the company. Provide a little background information and a few photographs. Abracadabra, your potential customers know who you are.
Problem #3 – Potential customers can’t find your address (not so bad) or your phone number (very bad).
Your phone number should be easy to find. Include your business hours and service area.
In doing my “100 local website audits”, I’m amazed at how many websites force you to try to find a phone number. A quick fix for that is to put your phone number in your website header and then make it clickable.
Consider putting your address in an easy to find location like the footer. This helps your customers.If your business address is shown on your Google Business Profile, make sure the address on your website matches it exactly. Your website address = your Google Business Profile address.
Problem #4 – Your Website Doesn’t Match Your Google Business Profile
Customers get confused if your website says you’re open Saturday but your Google Business Profile says you’re closed on Saturdays.
Which one should they believe?
I’ve seen this with phone numbers and business names. This can make your online presence harder to understand. These small inconsistencies will have customers wondering if you’re a real business.
This is something I check during SEO and GBP work. Your business information should match up wherever customers find your business.
Problem #5 – You don’t have real photos of your business on your business website
Stock photos have their place. I’ve used them myself. But real photographs are a better way to go.
What kind of photos? Images that show your employees, completed jobs, and your office. They don’t need to be done professionally. Sometimes imperfect photographs are more believable anyway.
Problem #6 – Broken pages, missing images, and dead buttons suggest neglect…
Broken pages, missing images, and dead buttons suggest neglect. That’s bad for website credibility.
I often find these problems during website audits. Business owners often don’t know they’re there. Owners should occasionally check their contact page to be sure it works.
Something else important but unfortunately common is broken contact forms. If they don’t work or you won’t respond to form input from customers, consider getting rid of it. Better yet, fix it and respond to form contacts.
Last thought: When a potential client clicks on one of the buttons leading to other webpages, they want it to work.
Problem #7 – Your Website Makes Claims Without Proof
Many businesses like to say they are “the best.”
Where’s the proof? If you say you’ve been operating for 20 years, say what year you started. Give some background information. If you’re licensed, provide the license information when appropriate.
If customers love your work, show legitimate reviews. It’s one of the things looked for on a website. Post awards, memberships, certifications, and any original project photos, especially before and after photos.
Website Credibility Is Really About Small Signals
Potential St. George clients don’t look for a fancy website. They’re looking for a believable one.
Personally, when searching for a service provider I look at their websites for a sign that effort was put into the design and creation.
I look at websites differently during an SEO audit. I’m not only checking keywords and rankings. I’m looking for reasons a customer might hesitate to use your company.
I also compare the website with its Google Business Profile.
Now for a shameful plug for my business. I work with local businesses on SEO, website problems, and GBP optimization. Call me to get things started:
Reddit – r/smallbusiness
How do you tell if a business website is credibility and trustworthy?
I would say professional design is first. Then maybe social credit from reviews, stars etc. Even those things can be gamed if you have the money to buy reviews or karma. What are some more subtle things that you look for in a business website that lends trust?
My Answer:
For local service businesses a few things that say “This is a safe site and business.
1. Get as many Google reviews as you can. Needless to say providing good service is a must so that the reviews are excellent.
2. Post pictures of your business, your employees, and the own(er).
3. Make certain that your website works right. Few if any 404’s, contact forms that work, mobile friend etc.
4. Your website should look like some effort was spend on making it look nice.
5. Make it super easy to find your phone number. Put it in the header and make it clickable.
The following is a portion of a summary of this article: How to Make Your Website More Trustworthy in 2027 | Evoke Studio
The “trust killers” are probably the most useful part of this article
The article specifically identifies several little things that can make visitors suspicious:
- Generic stock photos instead of pictures of real people
- Spelling and grammar mistakes
- An old copyright date
- No visible person behind the company
- Claims such as “the best” without evidence
- Broken links, forms, or images
- Low-quality images
- Inconsistent design
- Slow page speed
- Missing or questionable contact information
People Also Ask Questions and my answers
Question: How can I create a legit website?
My Answer: As long as your not creating a website with illegal intent then creating a legit site is fairly straight forward. 1. Buy a domain name. 2. Find a company to “host” your website. 3. Build the site. 4. Take steps to insure your site appears trustworthy.
Question: Can I own a website for free?
My Answer: Let’s assume you own the domain name. If so, then the answer is yes. Here are a few places to get a free website
1. Google has free sites
2. Webador.com
3. infinityfree.com
4. Wix.com
5. awardspace.com
There are many more sites. Some are better than others so just do a little research before commiting to a plan.
Question: How to make sure a website is trustworthy?
Answer: A few things I would look for are the business reviews for the business positive?
Are there pictures of the business? In shop and out.
Does the website look like some effort and thought was spent creating it?
There will be few any website gliches (like 404’s).
About the owner of this website:
My name is Don Glasgow
I built my first website in 2001. I ranked that site almost immediately for "St. George real estate. Yes, I live in St. George, UT.
I've built many more websites since then.
I also have an enormous amount of knowledge on how to get a website to rank.
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