What level of credibility should have a website to demonstrate the reputation of a company?
You would be willing to do business more easily with a company that is willing to submit to a process of assessment online published on a website?
Clarification added April 24, 2008:
Do you would be willing to do business for the first time with a company (that you don't know) for their good reputation on web??
Good Answers (2)
Howard Y
Online Strategy and Marketing, Social Media for Business, User Experience Design and Prototyping, Project Specification
Best Answers in: Web Development (2), Business Development (1), Blogging (1), E-Commerce (1), Wireless (1)
It isn't just one thing. The website needs to be coherent and credible, obviously. If the company has submitted a certification process (ISO9000 or similar) then the website could use a graphic badge and perhaps detail the changes made to the company on its website. Things like SEC filings, third-party research and such can be linked to from the website's resources area (or similar).
Credibility also happens outside of the site: other blogs, customer reviews, sites like LinkedIn, etc. Online reputation is part of a "conversation" between the company and its customers. When the company participates in an open way, it is possible to make the conversations work for the company in a positive way, rather than trying to do damage control when a problem arises or there is a single disgruntled customer.
Miriam Z
Owner of Absolu
Best Answers in: Advertising (1), Public Relations (1), Project Management (1), Starting Up (1)
Hi Guglielmo (interesting name!)
A website should reflect the corporate valus of a company. If one of the values is openness and transparancy, you can enhance your credibility if you let your customers or clients responds online on your product or service. There are many companies already doing that and of course there is a certain riks involved. But a company acknowledging their mistakes (we are all human after all) and responding the right way can even increase their credibility!
These days companies are not judged alone on the quality of their products but most of all because of complaint handling, crisis handling, product safety and the way you handle Illegal or unethical trading. PR matters in such.
So if you want your credibility to boost, write on your website how you handle in these matters.
Good luck!
Miriam Zwaan
More Answers (6)
Neil S
Territory Manager at Caterpillar Inc
Best Answers in: Business Development (6), Organizational Development (4), Public Relations (2), Purchasing (1), Education and Schools (1), Job Search (1), Staffing and Recruiting (1), Advertising (1), Direct Marketing (1), Guerrilla Marketing (1), Internet Marketing (1), Viral Marketing (1), Lead Generation (1), Sales Techniques (1), Equity Markets (1), Personal Debt Management (1), Career Management (1), Green Business (1), Energy and Development (1), Biotech (1), Enterprise Software (1), Software Development (1), Web Development (1), Wireless (1)
Not really.
What would you have in addition to what can already be easily found from other sources such as Dunn & Bradstreet, SEC filings and annual reports? (all already online)
Wallace J
Multimedia Producer, Mind Taffy Design; Graphics Design, VR and i3D programming for Acrobat 3D PDF
Best Answers in: Web Development (7), Using LinkedIn (5), Events Marketing (4), Graphic Design (3), Advertising (2), Computers and Software (2), Education and Schools (1), Mentoring (1), Conference Venues (1), Financial Regulation (1), Staffing and Recruiting (1), Internationalization and Localization (1), Direct Marketing (1), Guerrilla Marketing (1), Internet Marketing (1), Viral Marketing (1), Business Development (1), Public Relations (1), Sales Techniques (1), Change Management (1), Project Management (1), Personal Debt Management (1), Branding (1), Market Research and Definition (1), Small Business (1), E-Commerce (1), Wireless (1)
Reputation of a Company is ultimately determined by their customers (or clients in our case) and the credibility of the client's brands and/or customer's purchasing power. Ciao. Walls. MindTaffyLLC@yahoo.com
Links:
Depends really on what kind of product/service you are buying from the company. If it's managing my stock portfolio, I wouldn't do it unless someone I trust has already done business with them, regardless of what certification/assesssment they have received. If it's booking a $5 wallsneezer, I wouldn't even bother checking the BBB.
Gary P
SEOPDX - White Rose Productions - Marketing and Advertising Consultant - garypool.seo@gmail
Best Answers in: Using LinkedIn (2), Guerrilla Marketing (1)
Nothing beats testimonials and especially with email forms or phone numbers.
Ravi K
Sales and Marketing professional
Best Answers in: Using LinkedIn (6), Starting Up (3), Mentoring (2), Business Development (2), Ethics (2), Staffing and Recruiting (1), Treaties, Agreements and Organizations (1), Advertising (1), Public Relations (1), Customer Relationship Management (1), Retirement and Estate Planning (1), Web Development (1)
First impression is the last impression.
Great day.
Luigi M
CTO at Interact
Best Answers in: Education and Schools (1), Advertising (1), Public Relations (1), Computers and Software (1), Databases (1), Web Development (1), Using LinkedIn (1)
Websites are the first place I go whenever looking for as new job. If I look for a tech management job, and the site I fall into has even small glitches, I run away. The same happens when I look for an editorialist job and the site I read has syntax or visualization errors.
If the site is syntactically and semantically correct, I look for testimonials, true stories and product descriptions: if I find no bad sides I don't trust the company.
Finally, I look for contacts: if contacts don't reply to my questions asap, or their replies don't offer any added value to my questions, I won't trust them.
