Good Website Advice For Everybody, Actually

This article's written for small business owners, but I think anybody with a website could pick up something useful here:

"11 Reasons Customers Don't Trust Your Web Site"
Small Business Advice, Small Business Trends (July 6, 2010)

"While it may be hip to say otherwise, your small business needs a Web site. The same way you can't ignore your blog for social media, you can't ignore your site in lieu of a Twitter account. You may spend your afternoons engaging with people on social sites, however it's your site that users will turn to for trusted information about what you do, how you do it, and how they can get it. But before you go just throwing something together, remember they're looking for trusted information.

"The Web site you create can't help you if it doesn't appear trustworthy to users. And that means more than just creating a professional design (though that helps). It means taking time to lay the foundation from the very beginning.

"Here are 11 reasons customers won't trust your Web site. It's the what NOT to do...."

The article lists the reasons in bold, with a paragraph explaining why your website shouldn't be like this:

• It's written like a brochure.
• It's littered with typos.
• You don't say why you're different.
• You say 'we' too much.
• It hasn’t been updated in five years.
• It's hard to navigate.
• It's buzzword city.
• It looks like a template.
• There's no About page.
• You don't provide a real address.
• No third-party endorsements.

Some of the points, like "third-party endorsements," aren't so important for a non-business website - or blog. On the other hand, and endorsement could make your website stand out.

Bottom line? If you've got a website, reading that article probably wouldn't be a complete waste of time.

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A tip of the hat to copyblogger, on Twitter, for the heads-up on this article.