On June 19, 2009, Seth Godin’s post was titled, “Two ways to build trust.” His post talked about two companies that he decided to work with after he consulted their websites. One was a tee-shirt company that had a clean and professional website. It didn’t have flashy gimmicks or crazy fonts. Its clean and simple design gave the company credibility. The second company sells custom hats. He trusted the hat company, because the website conveyed, to the buyer that it was a family owned company. Seth explained that when he ordered, he emailed the owner directly and the owner responded to his emails. Just by looking at these two websites Seth was convinced to make his purchases.

Hopefully this example underscores the importance of having a website. The internet is often the first place people look for information and in order for them to find your information you need to have a website. Seth knew that he needed hats and tee-shirts made, so he went online to compare companies. Companies that do not have websites could not be considered.

Once you have a website there are a few things to consider. Your website should have a purpose. That purpose can be to give information about your organization, solicit donations, advertize upcoming events, recruit remembers or give people information on a specific topic. Once you have a purpose make giving this information to people as clear as possible. One way to do this is by making your website easy to navigate. You should have clearly marked sections for information about us, donations, and press rooms. People will quickly give up if they can’t find what they are looking for.

Another important consideration when designing your website is to make it look professional. You want people to take you seriously. The website doesn’t have to be stiff but similarly to why you wear a suit to a business meeting you want your website to look nice and professional; this is going to be someone’s first impress of you.

Think about the websites you have visited, do some of them seem more trustworthy than others? Which organizations have you joined or donated to because of their website? When you build your own website you are changing roles. You are going from the buyer to the seller. It’s a good idea to use what you trust as a buyer and apply that to your own website, so that people will trust you.