How Much Information Should You Provide to Your Web Site's Customers?

When someone arrives at your web site, how much information do they see about your business, your industry, and your services?

If you provide marketing or consulting services, how much do you share of the "why to do something" instead of just the "how?"

One of the topics covered in the interview I recently participated in involved the topics of expertise and trustworthiness.

I'm of the opinion that sharing information can not only help customers make reasonable decisions based upon being fully informed, but also allows enables them to gauge how trustworthy you are, and how much expertise you possess.

My friend and Co-moderator at Cre8asite Forums, Barry Welford, has a post in response to the interview, and to the notion of sharing information on a services based web site.

I especially agree with him on this point:

If an Internet marketing consultant is good, he or she will tell you the tough stuff that your own employees may not have the guts to comment on.

Of course, when they are faced with a similar situation in the future, they aren't going to need your services to help them solve it. They now understand how and why they should on their own. But when something new comes along, there's a good chance that your phone number or email address is the first one they will pick out when deciding that they need help.

If you enable your clients to make informed decisions, they will come back to you when they need to make more.

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I also want to add a shoutout and thanks to the folks at Cre8site Forums who gave me such a positive response to the interview. Thank you all.