At the Nielsen Norman Group Usability Week's Friday session, Fundamental Guidelines for Web Usability, Hoa Loranger addressed the importance of site credibility.
"It is an important factor [that determines] whether a person will visit a site and will stay on your site," said Loranger. "You have seconds on the home page to make a good first impression."
Loranger cited the work of BJ Fogg at Stanford University to describe how to create feelings of credibility on your site:
- Good visual design
- Third-party endorsements of your work
- Providing a physical/street address for your organization.
- Updated content -- not just content, but recent awards, etc.
- Promotional content and ads that are relevant to the site's content
- No typos or bugs
- Easy to use
Loranger provided examples credible vs. not credible sites. Sean's Painting was noted as less credible than Chism Brothers Painting. Similarly, Loan Finders was described as creating a less credible feeling than Lending Tree. She also noted the overwhelming form that appears on the second click on the Loan Finders site as also having a negative impact on credibility.
