10 Guidelines from The Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab to build a Trustable Website

To make your website appealing to the audience is not that easy. Making your audience more receptive and increasing trust and credibility takes effort and time. Here’s a basic checklist for a persuasive website.

1. Make Verification Easy - Use references, links to evidence, sources, citations, etc to make it easy for people to believe that your content is true.
2. Show that you are real - Put photos of your office, physical address, members of your office, etc on website to show your existence.
3. Highlight Expertise - Show off your experts and highlight their credentials on the website.
4. Show the real people - Use images and text to show that trustworthy, hardworking and honest people stand behind your site.
5. Let people contact you - Make it easy for people to get in touch with you. Add phone numbers, physical address, email address, etc on your website.
6. Look Professional - Make your site look professional by paying attention to the consistency of your website. Use proper images, pay attention to typography and the layout.
7. Update Often - Your site should be reviewed and updated from time to time. Don’t make your website look deserted.
8. Usability - Websites seem more credible when they are usable. Keep your website up and running.
9. Restrain from promotions - If possible avoid having advertisements on your website. If that cannot be avoided, clearly distinguish sponsored content from your own. Use clear writing styles.
10. Avoid Mistakes - However small it may appear, avoid mistakes.