Gaining customer confidence online is not an easy task with banks and other institutions putting the Fear of God into experienced Internet users and so frightening novice users offline.

Fortunately for us all, there are several Internet trust groups on the net, though they do charge for their services.

The two biggies in the UK are IMRG and Safebuy.

IMRG is based in London and offers members a variety of services, including acting as a third-party intermediary in the event of disputes with members of the online public.

In return for submitting your website to an audit and agreeing to pay for membership, IMRG allows you to use its logo/security seal on your site, telling customers that you've been audited.

IMRG has lot of well-known High Street names in its program, although it's worth noting that the larger your retail operation is, the larger your membership fee for the service is.

Having siad that, the site's service is very professional and can add to the value of a retail website. The essence of the service is to encourage consumers visiting your firm's site to feel secure.

Safebuy, meanwhile, operates along similar lines and offers a seal of approval, intermediary services, and a set of guidelines to which you agree to adhere to.

Like IMRG, Safebuy is designed to act like a professional body in any industry; checking members are not doing anything dodgy, mediating in disputes and trying to keep everyone happy.

Safebuy also issues a regular newsletter with hints and tips for its members, most of whom operate commercial Web sites. Richard Jones, its MD, is an IT industry veteran and a nice guy,

Based in Henley-on-Thames, Safebuy's approach to Internet confidence-boosting is more wide-ranging than Internet Trust, but its membership is self-regulating and, using its newsletter, details of `bad eggs' can quickly be passed around.

Are these services worth the money? Generally speaking yes as, if you are new entrant to the online world in your business sector, the professional mentoring they offer is excellent - even if you think you know your market sector inside out.

Safebuy's newsletter and Web site information approach is the more relaxed of the two, but do not think you can get away with offering inferior services, as both membership firms carry out their own investigations into errant websites, including those operated by their own members.

More related Guides:

eBusiness and the law

Getting your Business Online

Website Privacy Policy


By Steve Gold, News Editor