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The events of the past year have taught business owners many important lessons. One of them is that, when a crisis hits, customers turn on their computers and look to their phones. According to one analysis of U.S. Department of Commerce data, consumers spent $347.26\u00a0billion online with U.S. retailers in the first half of 2020 \u2014 that\u2019s a 30.1% increase from the same period in 2019.<\/p>\n
Although online spending moderated a bit as the year went on, the fact remains that people\u2019s expectations of most companies\u2019 websites have soared. In fact, a June 2020 report by software giant Adobe indicated that the pandemic has markedly accelerated the growth of e-commerce \u2014 quite possibly by years<\/em>, not just months.<\/p>\n Whether you sell directly to the buying public or engage primarily in B2B transactions, building customers\u2019 trust in your website is more important than ever.<\/p>\n Identify yourself<\/strong><\/p>\n Among the simplest ways to establish trust with customers and prospects is to convey to them that you\u2019re a bona fide business staffed by actual human beings.<\/p>\n Include an \u201cAbout Us\u201d page with the names, photos and short bios of the owner(s), executives and key staff members. Doing so will help make the site friendlier and more relatable. You don\u2019t want to look anonymous \u2014 it makes customers suspicious and less likely to buy.<\/p>\n Beyond that, be sure to clearly provide contact info. This includes a phone number and email address, hours of operation (including time zone), and your mailing address. If you\u2019re a small business, use a street address if possible. Some companies won\u2019t deliver to a P.O. box, and some customers won\u2019t buy if you use one.<\/p>\n Keep contact links easy to find. No one wants to search all over a site looking for a way to get in touch with someone at the business. Include at least one contact link on every page.<\/p>\n Add trust elements<\/strong><\/p>\n Another increasingly critical feature of business websites is \u201ctrust elements.\u201d Examples include:<\/p>\n Check and double-check the spelling and grammar used on your site. Remember, one of the hallmarks of many Internet scams is sloppy or nonsensical use of language.<\/p>\n Also, regularly check all links. Nothing sends a customer off to a competitor more quickly than the frustration of encountering nonfunctioning links. Such problems may also lead visitors to think they\u2019ve been hacked.<\/p>\n Abide by the fundamentals<\/strong><\/p>\n Of course, the cybersecurity of any business website begins (and some would say ends) with fundamental elements such as a responsible provider, firewalls, encryption software and proper password use. Nonetheless, how you design, maintain and update your site will likely have a substantial effect on your company\u2019s profitability. Contact us for help measuring and assessing the impact of e-commerce on your business.<\/p>\n \u00a9 2021<\/em><\/p>\n <\/body> The events of the past year have taught business owners many important lessons. One of them is that, when a crisis hits, customers turn on their computers and look to their phones. According to one analysis of U.S. Department of Commerce data, consumers spent $347.26\u00a0billion online with U.S. retailers in the first half of 2020 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,14,10],"tags":[8,11,12],"class_list":["post-15309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-business","category-news","tag-articles","tag-news","tag-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15309\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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