The services of service-oriented businesses like web developers are difficult to compare exactly.  It’s not like comparing identical iPhones with identical features from two different stores.  Service offerings are different.  Service providers have different levels of expertise, education, creativity, social skills, technical skills, business aptitude, foresight.  Even if you are comparing apples to apples…show me two apples, and I’ll show you one bruised, small, mushy apple from Walmart and one big, shiny, round, crunchy apple from the local farmer’s market.

Sometimes we say, “please don’t compare apples to oranges.”  The web design industry is filled with both apples and oranges of all shapes and sizes, and there is one common thread that goes through the entire lot of them…each one of them can put together a website.  Beyond that commonality, their paths diverge.

The services from Redhead Web Development are neither apples nor oranges.  What we provide is more like a big bowl full of chocolate covered strawberries.

We are professional web developers.  We are artists.  We are detailed, finicky, perfectionists when it comes to content and copy.  We constantly study, we learn and refine the craft.  We don’t cut corners.  We are e-commerce experts.  We are marketing minds who freely share ideas beyond web design.  Some of these ideas have earned thousands of $$ for our clients.  Our skills are broad, and our minds are focused.  We are in the business of building business.

When you are considering the services of a professional web development company who will define your image online, for better or worse; or will be your partner to build the engine that runs your online store or training website, it will serve you well to know what kind of fruit you are dealing with.  A little extra investment on the front-end could mean a big payout on the backend when your potential client is impressed enough to buy from you.

Forget about apples and oranges, and go for the good stuff.  Your business will be better off for it.

1. Make it easy to verify the accuracy of the information on your site — You can build web site credibility by providing third-party support (citations, references, source material) for information you present, especially if you link to this evidence. Even if people don’t follow these links, you’ve shown confidence in your material.
2. Show that there’s a real organization behind your site — Showing that your web site is for a legitimate organization will boost the site’s credibility. The easiest way to do this is by listing a physical address. Other features can also help, such as posting a photo of your offices or listing a membership with the chamber of commerce.
3. Highlight the expertise in your organization and in the content and services you provide — Do you have experts on your team? Are your contributors or service providers authorities? Be sure to give their credentials. Are you affiliated with a respected organization? Make that clear. Conversely, don’t link to outside sites that are not credible. Your site becomes less credible by association.
4. Show that honest and trustworthy people stand behind your site — The first part of this guideline is to show there are real people behind the site and in the organization. Next, find a way to convey their trustworthiness through images or text. For example, some sites post employee bios that tell about family or hobbies.
5. Make it easy to contact you — A simple way to boost your site’s credibility is by making your contact information clear: phone number, physical address, and email address.
6. Design your site so it looks professional (or is appropriate for your purpose) – We find that people quickly evaluate a site by visual design alone. When designing your site, pay attention to layout, typography, images, consistency issues, and more. Of course, not all sites gain credibility by looking like IBM.com. The visual design should match the site’s purpose.
7. Make your site easy to use and useful — We’re squeezing two guidelines into one here. Our research shows that sites win credibility points by being both easy to use and useful. Some site operators forget about users when they cater to their own company’s ego or try to show the dazzling things they can do with web technology.
8. Update your site’s content often (at least show it’s been reviewed recently) – People assign more credibility to sites that show they have been recently updated or reviewed.
9. Use restraint with any promotional content (e.g., ads, offers) — If possible, avoid having ads on your site. If you must have ads, clearly distinguish the sponsored content from your own. Avoid pop-up ads, unless you don’t mind annoying users and losing credibility. As for writing style, try to be clear, direct, and sincere.
10. Avoid errors of all types, no matter how small they seem — Typographical errors and broken links hurt a site’s credibility more than most people imagine. It’s also important to keep your site up and running.

This information is posted with permission from Stanford University and can be found in its entirety at http://credibility.stanford.edu/guidelines/index.html.