You might be asking yourself, “What does anxiety have to do with my website?”  The answer:  A lot.

Before I tell you how to detect anxiety on your website, it’s important to define the question, “What is anxiety?”  Anxiety is a psychological concern in the mind of your visitors that leads to a fear of entering information. Anxiety always takes place in the buying process.

Fear Factor

The most common fears in your customer’s mind include: “how good is the quality of service or product I am buying?”, “Is my transaction going to be secure?”, “will my personal information be sold or given away?”and “Am I getting a fair and accurate price for this product or service?”

It is our job to first detect and then minimize these concerns as much as possible.  The best way to start is to look at another company’s website and list out anything that could cause you to question their credibility, or to second guess whether you want to provide your e-mail address, home address, phone number, credit card info or other personal information. Then go back and analyze your own website with a critical eye. You’ll be amazed at how clearly you are able to identify anxiety on your own website.

How to Reduce Anxiety

Some common ways to reduce anxiety include adding security seals or credibility indicators to your site, including product ratings or testimonials, and limiting the information you ask for from your customers whenever possible. 

Don’t stop there.  Look at your site again in a month and see if there is anything you missed, and continue to do it again every month.  There is always room for improvement.  I once heard Flint McLaughlin, the Director of MECLABS, say, “Adequacy is the Enemy of Excellence” and I believe him.