Proving your authority, credibility and expertise online is the core focus of this book. And that all comes down to one thing: credibility indicators. Ill reveal the key credibility indicators your business needs at each stage of its growth. But before we get to that, whats a credibility indicator anyway?
Credibility indicators: Your key to online influence and instant trust
A credibility indicator is exactly what it sounds like. Its simply something that shows youre a credible business or website. Many web visitors look for these on a subconscious level. If the indicators are lacking, a bounce is inevitable. So what are these indicators?
This book is divided into three sections, each covering a different type of credibility indicator: essential indicators, expert indicators and influencer indicators.
Essential indicators
Essential indicators are your foundation. And if you neglect the importance of them, youll lose out on conversionsno matter how many expert or influencer indicators you might have.
In this section, well cover the credibility indicators every website needs if its going to convert well. Particularly if youre just starting your website, this section is your bible. Well look at absolute essentials like grammar, your domain name, email address, favicon and more.
Expert indicators
This section discusses the credibility indicators that prove youre an expert in your field. Most businesses naturally acquire more of these indicators the longer theyre in business. However, too many companies dont publish them on their website because theyre unaware of themand that means theyre missing out on sales.
Some of the indicators well explore include awards youve received, media youve appeared in, customer testimonials and the number of clients youve served.
If youve been in business for a year or longer, you might even be able to add some of these indicators to your website today. Doing so will give you a quick boost in conversions in the coming months.
Influencer indicators
The final section is all about influencer indicators, the ones many of us most aspire to acquire. And no doubt many of these are the most difficult to achieve, even for companies that have already been in business for years. That said, as long as you understand the steps to take, there are some influencer indicators that you can pick up in a matter of weeks.
Youll discover how to get featured in prominent media outlets and popular blogs, become a bestselling author, leverage leadership roles in your local business community and much more.
Its probably tempting to jump straight to this glamorous-sounding section, but I encourage you to first read the other two. Even if you do go ahead and win some of these coveted influencer indicators, if youve messed up the basics then your credibility will still get shot in the foot and cause you to lose out on conversions.
Heres what this book is not
Before we delve any deeper, I want to be excruciatingly clear and upfront about one thing in particular: online credibility wont necessarily buy you traffic. That means you could follow the majority of the tips in this book andif you have little trafficstill see little to no improvement in your sales, conversions or profits.
Lets avoid any ambiguity or misunderstanding: this books purpose isnt to get visitors to your site, but instead to convince the visitors youve already got that youre the real deal. In other words, once you get the traffic, the strategies in this book can significantly increase your sales, conversions and profits.
Also, while this book is intended for entrepreneurs, SMBs and freelancers, its not a one-size-fits-all solution. Not every strategy is a perfect match for each business type, and youll likely be more interested in some credibility indicators than others.
The most critical aspect of your credibility: The honesty factor
It might sound cheesy. It might sound like bullshit. Yet I assure you that what youll learn in the conclusion of this book is something youll need at every stage of your journey to becoming an influencer.
The clues in the name: its all about honesty. Marketing tends to have a reputation for being sleazy and unethical, but thats not the kind of approach that this book is about. If youre dishonest in your marketing and you get caught, you can kiss all your credibility goodbye in an instant. If you do find yourself in that situation, theres still hope: repairing the damage is of course possible, but it takes time.
Instead of all that, the conclusion will teach you how to embrace honesty and use it to your advantage. This includes discovering that publicly declaring your shortcomings can help build trust, the importance of being genuine and why adopting the Help Mindset will benefit both you and your customers.