Credibility is important when you want to convince someone that you know what you are talking about, you aren’t a scammer and you will provide what you promise. Measuring that trust isn’t all that easy though.
It may help you to go through a little exercise on how you measure website credibility.
Spend a little bit of time thinking about how you decide a website is credible. What makes you decide you trust them and what makes you hit that back button? You might even want to visit a few websites that you use regularly and some you have been to in the past, but never went back.
My thoughts from a discussion that took place in my Internet Consumer Behavior Class.
How I decide if a website is credible or not depends on what my purpose is. If I am purchasing something, I tend to use websites of well-known names. I don’t like to give the details of my accounts to anyone I am not certain of.
When researching for school, marketing, health or finances I want to know that the site is current and up to date as well as the person or company responsible for the information is an expert or knowledgeable about the subject. I will look up information on the company or person responsible to verify their credentials and expertise.
When looking up inconsequential information I am not as fussy. I will usually just pick the first thing that looks like it is the right thing and go a lot by the look of the site.
Conclusion
No matter the purpose for my search if a site doesn’t look professional, or looks abandoned I leave quickly.
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