Gaining trust from your audience takes time, effort and consistency.
But hey, if you’re not the hard work type then losing trust might be your cup of tea. It’s easy, and you can do it from the couch!
So pop open some Fritos and follow these five tips to screw up your reputation.
Focus on Keywords Rather Than Content
Keyword stuffing might trick someone into visiting your site once, but they won’t come back anytime soon. Human beings want content that grabs their attention, gives them reliable information, and makes them feel something.
A page of keywords accomplishes none of those things.
Stick to Your Sales Pitch
If you want to turn someone off, then lead every page on your site with a sales pitch. No one wants to see industry jargon, skewed statistics, and biased opinions.
Focus on giving your audience something useful. When you’re straightforward, you don’t need a sales pitch.
Make an Amateurish Site
Twenty years ago, you could get away with a poorly designed, barely functional website. Welcome to 2013, where your site needs to look like a real business. If you want people to take you seriously, you need to take your website seriously.
That means relevant graphics, an intuitive layout, and content that actually touches your visitors. If you’re not a pro, hire one. It will pay off.
Don’t Socialize
Being antisocial works. If you don’t reach out to others, then they won’t reach out to you. So, if you don’t want to build trust with your readers, just ignore social media. Don’t use Facebook. Don’t tweet. Don’t join Google+.
If you change your mind and decide that you actually want people to visit your site, get busy making friends. Comment on blogs; tweet about something interesting; and join online communities. The more you participate, the more people will look at your site.
Blame Everyone Else
The Internet makes it easy for people to criticize you and your business. If you react defensively to criticism, readers will wonder why you’re so worked up over nothing.
You can earn respect and trust by admitting when you’ve made a mistake. Coming clean will make you look more sympathetic and human.
Assuming you want to spend money on a website that no one visits, you should definitely follow these tips. If you want to succeed, go in the opposite direction. You’ve got nothing to lose but a bad reputation.