Your Online Reputation is at Stake: What Your Website Says About You

Imagine this scene: You need a lawyer. A friend recommends a very good one. The first thing you do is not call him, but search for him on Google.

If you find a website that says “Copyright 2018”, has blurry photos, or worse, has no website and only a neglected Google Maps listing appears… what do you think? You automatically doubt. “Is he still practicing?”, “Is he outdated?”, “Will he charge me cheaply but do a bad job?”.

Your website is your digital office

Your website works as your office or storefront 24 hours a day. If you invest in cleaning your physical office, having nice business cards, and dressing well for meetings, why do you allow your “digital self” to go in pajamas?

Common problems that destroy trust:

• Outdated design: Websites that look made in the 90s scream “I haven’t modernized in 20 years”.
• Broken links: They convey sloppiness and lack of attention to detail.
• Lack of location or clear contact: Generates suspicion. “Do they really exist?”.

Trust is earned in milliseconds

Studies from Stanford University show that 75% of people judge a company’s credibility based solely on its website design.

And the scariest part: you have 0.05 seconds to make that first impression.

If in that blink your website doesn’t convey professionalism, the user subconsciously assumes that your service won’t be professional either. It’s unfair, you might be the best at what you do, but it’s the reality of online human behavior.

The “Zero Moment of Truth” (ZMOT)

Google coined this term to describe the moment a consumer researches a product before buying it. Nowadays, almost no one hires a service or buys an expensive product without doing that prior research.

If you aren’t there, or if you are but give a bad image, you are losing clients before even having the chance to speak with them. They are invisible lost sales. You will never know they existed.

Conclusion

Your online reputation is an asset. Taking care of it is not an expense, it is an investment in credibility. Make sure your website is up to the quality of your real work.