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The C-Word : Credibility
by Sunil Tanna, EBookCompiler.com
Recent things I've seen while surfing:
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"1,000,000 hits guaranteed!" - right
above a hit counter which said 37.
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"Join this program - I make thousands with
thousands with it" - on a free hosted site
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"I personally recommend this marketing
course" - on another site which very obviously had no traffic, and was
clearly making no money.
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"Specializing in Fruit Juice, Internet
Marketing and Airline Tickets" - I didn't actually know such a
specialization existed - or could be the publisher had only found 3
affiliate programs so far?
I could go on indefinitely, but I think you get the
point. We've all seen sites like that. Usually they're also littered with
spelling mistakes, dozens of banners, bad layout and a dozen other faults.
You don't believe it when you read these claims for
very obvious reasons. The webmaster is just lying, exaggerating - or in the last
case probably using an off-the-shelf advert for a product, which he has no
experience with and judging by his results, hopefully hasn't really bought.
What's the common factor?
All these sites are lacking in one thing. The
C-Word: Credibility
You can see it immediately when you look at these
extreme cases. The question is, do visitors react the same way when they look at
your site? Even if you think you're immune to this particular syndrome maybe you
better check for warning signs.
Take a look at your site right now, and see if you
see any of these red flags:
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Extravagant claims - like the "1,000,000
hits guaranteed" example. Even if they're true - and you personally can
verify them to be true - maybe you ought to either tone it down a little or
actually give some proof? Especially covered by this, are any statements
which are flat out contradicted by the evidence on your site - if you can't
afford your own domain name, don't claim to be in the same league as Bill
Gates!
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The same standard recommendation of a product.
If you're shopping around for a product and you see the exact same
"personal recommendation" on a dozen different sites, are you
going to buy it? Would you keep surfing until you saw a review by somebody
who had actually bought and experienced the product? Don't bother with
"personal recommendations" unless they really are personal
recommendations.
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Hiding behind your web site. Would you do
business with somebody who wasn't prepared to tell you his name? You ought
to be prepared to at least include your name (or company name) and e-mail,
and preferably your address and phone number on your site. For extra credit,
consider including your picture on at least one-page, and maybe visitors' or
customers' testimonials.
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Finally if you're not prepared to publish this
information at all, then you ought to take a long hard look at your business
and make sure it's something you'd be proud to tell your mom about.
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The obvious grab for cash. Does your site
actually have a focus, or at least some kind of logical organization? I can
trust you on fruit juice, but should I listen to your airline
recommendations? Yes, I am making a joke of it, but the serious point is
without some kind of structure - visitors can see immediately that you're
just after their money, and they won't trust you - and if they don't trust
you, don't expect them to buy from you. If this applies to you - the best
thing to do is to have one site per topic - and if you can't manage that, at
the very least, different pages for each topic.
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Bad spelling, grammar or layout are always
warning signs - and doubly so, if you're promoting a professional, quality,
technical or high-priced product or affiliate program.
When you're finished with the review and edit
process, ask a reasonably knowledgeable friend to do a second review. Ask them
"Why wouldn't you buy from this site?" Don't sit watching them over
their shoulder, but give them a pen and paper, leave them to it, and go take the
dog for a walk. By the time you come back there should plenty for you to think
about.
The bottom-line.... Can I trust you?
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Copyright, S. Tanna, webmaster and publisher of
EBookCompiler.com
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