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One of the most difficult aspects of running a business online is developing credibility within the Web community. It is even more difficult to maintain credibility once you have invested your valuable time in building online credibility.

Most of us tend to jump directly to the step of persuading potential customers to buy from us when we haven’t yet developed any credibility. We felt it valuable to list a few basic attributes for developing credibility online. But first, let’s understand what we mean by credibility by understanding the aspects of a credible person.

A credible person is defined as someone who is expert in a particular topic or area. That person is understood as someone who is experienced, qualified, intelligent, and skilled. But just possessing these aspects does not complete the definition. A credible person is also considered as someone who is trustworthy, honest, fair, unselfish, and caring.

So, how do we apply this to running an online business?

Step 1 - Good communication

The most important part of building your credibility is by keeping an open line of communication available to prospective customers. Having a blog advertised from your home page is a great way of showing your visitors what has been going on prior to their visit and keeping them up to date on events as they take place.

For those that are selling products or services, an effective means of communicating is by making it clear to your visitors their options for contacting you. Perhaps by providing a telephone number on the front page of your web site, in addition to the normal methods of communication, such as a contact email address or an online form. Provide as many options for your customers to contact you as you can possibly deliver.

A good example of this is what our company does with our Domain and Web Hosting site. The support text and phone number on the home page are clickable, which takes the visitors to a page where they can view all of the methods for communicating with us. We also tell our visitors how long each one of those methods will take for us to respond to their question.

Step 2 - Clearly define the rules

Make sure the visitor is aware of what information they need to provide you. This is especially true if you are asking people to register as a member or provide you with personal details. Tell them what information is required, and if possible, why it is required. What are you going to do with their personal information after they click ’submit’? Are there any conditions to their membership? Is membership or registration free? Are there paid membership programs available? What do they get for each level of membership or registration?

These little bits of data should be communicated directly on the registration page. It is also recommended to offer a page with Terms and Conditions of membership and offer a button for the visitor to Agree, or Not Agree to your terms.

Step 3 - Provide USEFUL feedback

When your visitor registers, send them some feedback. Let them know what has just happened on your system and what is about to happen next. Will you be getting in contact with them again? How often and why?

Again, the blog is also a good source of communicating new developments with in your web site. Enhance the ability of your blog by ensuring that you have a news feed included so that visitors can subscribe to your updates via email or a news reader.

One area most of us neglect is when we delete or move content. How many times have you searched for something on the Internet, and based on the search results you found a page that looked as if it was going to answer your question. But when you clicked on the link you received an uninformative Error 404 page. Frustrating wasn’t it.

Most hosting services allow you to create a customized Error page for several different types of error messages. Have a look at the error logs of your web site and determine what pages people have been looking for that are no longer there. Then develop a more intelligent Error response page with the same file name to properly direct those visitors to more valuable content.

Step 4 - Under commit, Over deliver

Very simply put, if you state it on your web site, just do it. I don’t know how many times I have gone to a web site and found what I thought was a great new idea only to find a message under the keywords I have searched for “Coming December 2007″ or ” Available January 28″. The date is February and the content they promised still isn’t there. It really destroys the credibility of those organizations that do not keep their web site content updated.

If you are going to come out with something new, keep it to yourself until it is ready. It will be a much bigger hit when you launch a tangible product or service rather than some form of “vapor ware”.

When your customer do register, give them something for free. You can also state the freebie prior to their signing up as an incentive. But make them feel like they are getting something valuable by using your product or service.

Step 5 - Don’t give your customers a reason to regret you

It can not be avoided, there will always be some conflict with one of your customers. When there is, you should treat the customer as if they are correct and you will do everything in your power to meet their request. Communicate this immediately or as soon as humanly possible. This puts them at ease and allows you to get on researching the problem in detail.

When researching the problem, ask yourself some questions such as; Was there any point where clear communication was not made with the customer? Where was the problem? Has it happened before and is there a potential for it happening again? Are we completely faultless in this situation?

The toughest part about this process is not asking the questions, but providing an honest answer to yourself regarding the situation. I won’t tell you to always give in to the customer, or that the customer is always right. We know better. But the way you react to the problem and handle the situation WILL impact your business. Each of us must determine, in each situation, how our reaction to a problem will effect our online future.

In conclusion, build your credibility before persuading your visitors to be your customers. Communication is the most important element to developing in the early stages and maintaining credibility during the relationship with your customers. Communicate as often as appropriate. Protect your credibility like you would your own baby, because once you lose it, it can be impossible to recover. Use your credibility to gain commitment without having to argue your case.