Internet scams constantly flood the news, with industry group UK Finance claiming that in the first six months of last year alone, more than £500 million has been stolen from customers of British banks. What’s more, £145 million of this total was authorized push payment scams — a case of fraud where people are conned into placing money into another account by seemingly reputable digital platforms.
As well as customers being worried whenever they hear about an internet scam, businesses should also be concerned due to them usually being targeted through them too. Here, caravan park WiFi provider Infinium, which is also a provider of IT security services, advises on six ways that businesses can improve their websites so that they can make sure customers know that a company’s online interactions are legitimate…
1. If Necessary, Always Lead Customers To A Trusted Payment Gateway
Made the decision not to have your own payment service across your website? Then make sure you opt for a trusted payment gateway which can conduct online transactions on your behalf. PayPal and WorldPay are two firms which instantly come to mind, with both helping to make consumers feel secure.
2. Have A Registered Address And Landline Phone Number On Your Website
Customers shouldn’t have any trouble finding both your registered address and a phone number on your website if you’re a legitimate online business. There are some additional considerations to bear in mind here too.
Potential customers may call around to the registered address of your business to make sure everything is genuine before buying your products or investing in your services. Therefore, ensure there’s either a sign or some indication of your business’ presence within the office or building where the address is linked to.
Try and choose a landline number when setting up the phone number of your business as well. While a mobile phone number doesn’t mean that a firm isn’t legitimate, its presence will instantly see potential customers put their guard up. Of course, people may call the number to check that it’s genuine as well, so make sure it’s always a member of staff who answers the call and that they introduce themselves with a professional greeting and mention of the company name.
3. Make Sure Your ISO Certification Is Available To Be Checked
On your website, feature the logo of the certification body that issued your firm with an ISO certification. This is because customers can then search for the certification body in question and get in touch with them to verify that your company is in fact legitimate. This is very beneficial for your website's reputation.
4. Have A Privacy Statement That’s Accessible To All
Check out the website of a major retailer and they are likely to feature access to their legal privacy statements. It’s important that your legal privacy statement is filled with details about how you work to protect the information that consumers give about themselves — such as their personal details and credit card information.
5. Implement SSL Security Protocol Throughout Your Website
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer. It’s a security protocol whereby the channel of information between a customer and a business website is encrypted. Therefore, credit card details will be ‘scrambled’ and hackers will not have the opportunity to intercept the information that consumers are sending to retailers.
Knowing when a website has implemented SSL security protocol is simple for customers to determine. This is because your site’s URL will alter from ‘http://’ to the more secure ‘https://’. What’s more, on the left-hand side of the address bar will either be an unbroken key or a closed padlock — if these icons look to be broken or open, it could well indicate that there’s something wrong with the site’s SSL. Having an SSL certificate also helps SEO.
6. When Dealing With Financial Services & Products, Place Your Business On The FCA Register
If someone wishes to learn about the details of all financial companies which are registered and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), they can delve into the in-depth FCA register. It stands to reason then that your company should be on this register if you deal in financial services or products, as consumers can then easily check your firm’s credentials by just searching for your brand’s name and/or the postcode associated with your business.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post about how businesses can ensure that they look more legitimate online and generate sales.
Interested in more articles about online reputation management?
Read Related Resources:
• Online Reputation Management Musts
• How To Improve Your Business Reputation
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