The Silent Avatar Speaks

Following on from my previous post about how to create a site with credibility, here are some avenues you can explore to check out whether a site is legitimate.

1. Find out when the domain was created
Go to Whois. Here you can enter a dot com domain name and find out when the domain was first registered. Using a bit of common sense you can marry up claims and testimonials (if they are on the site) to establish if they are bona fide. You can also check other domain names (and get some information) by visiting AllWhois

2. Google the site name with “scam” added.
This should turn up any information regarding the site being a potential scam.

3. Check Contact information
Check to see if the site has contact details and email and/or phone them to see if the phone is answered or the email returned.

4. Use these tools to get more info
By clicking on the above link you will be r-directed to NetworkTools.com. Enter the domain url and then select Ping, Lookup, Trace or Whois. Using any of these tools will give more information about the website.

5. Look for a Privacy Policy
Responsible website owners have a Privacy policy with contact details for site visitors to contact the company (business0 regarding privacy issues.

6. Does the site look professional?
Often if a site has been thrown together in a slap hazard, unprofessional way it should send alarm bells ringing. Broken links, images missing, miss spellings all point towards a site that doesn’t have a professional behind it. Be wary!

7. Use common sense
If a website is offering a service or product/s which sound too good to be true – it generally is.

8. Google it
Google the domain name and see how many references Google has to it, and what the search results are saying about the site

Have you found any other ways to determine if a website is legitimate or not? Post your find in comments.

I’m the silent avatar and I have spoken

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