In the world of internet, there is virtually no such thing as “Human Interactions”. You search for a site and go by its face value or you take its worth from what you perceive of the site. And when you happen to own or be part of a site that is just one among a few million, you need to take the necessary steps to make sure you give your readers the assurance, the stamp of ingenuity and the promise of sincerity. Your website or your blog should radiate that “something” that would give your first time reader the comfort that he or she is in the right place. In general, you need to reap credibility in an incredulous world of e-commerce.

Look at it the first time and you may find it too easy – you are on the right track, you started the website in all earnestness and you have come up with facts and figures that you know are true. Then, why would you not have the credibility that you rightfully deserve?

Why is Online Credibility an Issue at all? Your point is well taken. But the problem is, checking and double-checking things that are posted on the internet is difficult and tricky. For one, people do not even know where you are located as an average reader is not going to be so well versed in technical stuff such as the “whois” lookup and domain name search. Then, there are lots of people who pose to be genuine – the World Wide Web is a den for the bad guys out there. An average reader would have definitely been exposed to spam and viruses and the general perception of him towards the web wouldn’t be that of safety and security. Finally, the internet is not easily customisable and for a layman, domain names and subnet masks are not easy terms to live with – anything that he is not too familiar with would make the reader more susceptble to suspicion. Naturally, establishing credibility is the key towards success with blogs or towards excelling in your online venture.

How do establish Credibility Online: This is where the veterans score over the amateurs. When you are not a professional, it shows. However, there are things that you can do to make sure your online credibility is established and your reputation remains intact.

1.       Do not cram your website with too much information: If, in your excitement to make the most of your available space, you start putting up each and everything that pops up in your mind out there in the middle, you are very likely to confuse your reader as to what you stand for; a confused reader almost immediately becomes a sceptic.

2.       Stay Focussed: Your reader might have come on to your site through organic links on search results. He may be happy about the post that he has landed in. However, when he goes on to read further posts, if you have not stuck to your knitting but have talked of everything under the sun, you lose credibility. Stay focussed on the theme of your choice.

3.       Never Spam: Spamming may be an easy way to reach out to the maximum number of people. However, if your concern is more about quality than it is about quantity, you should never push the spam button. Once spammed, thrice shy!

4.       Be Transparent: Do not create a cloud of mystery around you. Make it a point to post your picture – and a picture speaks a thousand words! Do not hide behind some icon or some phony image – it makes a lot of difference if people actually know who you are as they see you, even if it were a thumbnail image.

5.       Socialise: There are lots of places where you can socialise with other people virtually. When you do, you get to know people and people get to know you. When you increase your circle gradually, you become a familiar player in the internet. Familiarity breeds credibility.

6.       Go for Backlinks: This happens when you socialise. With time and with consistent quality, your site becomes popular and it gets backlinks from fellow bloggers. When it does, you not only get an increased number of hits but also get sitelinks as you feature in search results such as those of Google. Sitelinks are sub-links that appear below search results in Google. Google does this automatically as it establishes the credibility of the website in question. The idea behind sitelinks is that it becomes easier for people to navigate straight from the search results on to the relevant pages, as sitelinks give direct links to different pages based on your site layout. Generally, sitelinks indicate credibility and viewers get assured that yours is a genuine site.

It takes time and a lot of effort to establish credibility in the virtual world. But when you succeed, you have a lot to benefit from your hard-earned credibility – and the rest of your online empire can be built easily on it.