kii Design
Creating Beautiful & Functional Websites
Today, kii Design is very customer focused. Rather than take on as many projects as humanly possible, we prefer to spend our time making our sites as easy to use as possible.
We listen to your requirements, and tailor everything to your needs. From the simplest brochure site to high traffic information portals, customers can easily update information themselves and future feature requirements can be accommodated.
User accessible designs, high quality future-proof code, on-page SEO optimisation are important features of any good website and come standard.
There are many ways an organisation can gain the trust of customers, though increasingly people are looking to search engine results for reviews and testimonials. Often being the first point of contact between customer and business...let's explore how your website can gain trust.
We use the Paw Paws Urban Retreat website designed here at kii Design as an example. Every day, pet owners bring their beloved cats and dogs to Paw Paws Urban Retreat for spa and grooming, daycare or even to stay the night. To these customers, their pets are their love and joy - a member of the family. A large amount of trust must therefore be developed before a pet's parents will entrust their care to Paw Paws. Gaining and developing trust is subsequently a primary aim of Paw Paw's website.
Listing products/services you offer is a given, but giving details about your customer service can be very comforting to customers.
For those selling products, include relevant information on shipping, warranties, installation, returns and where customers may turn to get help. Include an FAQ addressing common concerns people ask, and you'll save time answering phones as well as instilling confidence in your customers.
Service providers rely on trust even more, and can greatly benefit by including relevant customer service information on their website, such as quoting, payment options and timeline, project stages and deliverables. Quick response times and personal treatment are important factors customers consider, so if you offer these be sure to promote it. Consultants, designers and other professionals who offer less tangible services may even like to include details of their work processes and provide case studies, informing clients what to expect and assuring that their money is well spent.
For example, Paw Paws (where both the owner and the pet are customers) lists pet daycare as a service, but also goes into detail about the entire process, from orientation, drop off, daily programme, food menu, pickup to payment options. Potential customers know exactly what to expect when enrolling their pets to daycare, and can rest assured their beloved are in good hands.
Evidence of transparency, honesty and genuine care will win the faith of potential customers.
Including photography of staff, office, facilities and products used on the site does wonders for building confidence and trust in potential customers. WIth only text on your website, it may well have been written by phishing scammers. Photos give evidence of your physical existence and the human side of the organisation.
Stock photography is great but avoid cliched images at all costs. These give the impression of template based website, bulk sold at dirt cheap prices, and will hurt your credibility.
Enlisting the help of a professional photographer will ensure you will have quality photos, that show necessary features, are visually interseting and reflect the brand and personality of the organisation.
The numerous, high quality photos on the Paw Paws website depict happy and healthy animals in clean, modern and spacious environments, being looked after by friendly, smiling staff. These welcoming photos prove the credibility of Paw Paws, and successfully differentiates them from competitors who have used generic stock photography of animals on their websites.
Be sure to include contact information in an easily found location on the site. A website with hidden, incomplete or no contact information rings alarm bells to potential customers.
This information may be placed somewhere each page that is visible, yet out of the way, or a separate page with detailed information that can be reached one click away on any page. Following convention is a good idea, locating information where users expect to find it, such as in the top right corner, sidebar, footer or "Contact Us" and "About Us" links in the main navigation.
Include details about the business, or if you are a sole trader, about yourself. Informing clients about the people and values behind the company is a certain way of gaining trust and will give you a headstart in developing strong relationships with customers. Be genuine and honest so that customers know who they will be dealing with. Including photos of staff shows the human side of an organisation, and gains another level of confidence.
The first impression of an organisation on a customer is often given by the website, and the first impression of a website is given by the design. Therefore a professionally designed website sends a message that you are professional, of highest quality, have attention to detail and are an established brand.
A good designer will be able to reflect an organisation's values and style, your personality and gain the trust of the targeted audience. Furthermore you'll end up with a visually pleasing and useable site.
Social media has become a very effective tool for gaining trust through microbloging and community. Microblogging tools (such as Twitter Tweets and Facebook Wall Posts) facilitate small updates which can develop trust through transparency, a tool embraced even by politicians such as Obama.
Integrating and linking to various social media accounts encourages "followers" and "fans". Potential customers will also be able to gauge the size of the community existing around your brand as an indicator of your credibility.
On the Paw Paws website, the twitter feed is displayed prominently but unobtrusively at the top of every page, and links to active Facebook and Twitter pages are also included in the footer of the site near contact information. This integration of social media provides useful information, but also fosters and displays the existence of community. In an industry such as pet care, trust is gained primarily by word of mouth and social media facilitates this in a web form.
There are many ways a website can gain trust and develop the customer relationship. These should be thoroughly utilised particularly in the case of service providers where trust is an important in acquiring new customers. However remember once the customer has made contact, the website has served its purpose and it is up to the organisation to continue the process of developing the customer relationship.
Your Comments
Agnieszka on 29/08/10 said:
I am not the alone one accepting all the amusement here! accumulate up the acceptable work.
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