Here’s how to check the credibility of a website

Written by Ankita Kishor Deshkar

In today’s column, we explain how to tell if the website is reliable.

Thanks to the internet, we now have abundant knowledge at our fingertips. Whether you are engaging with online content for work, education or leisure, you click on dozens of websites every day looking for information. However, the credibility of these websites varies and not all the platforms are reliable.

In today’s column, we explain how to tell if the website is reliable.

1. Check the domain name

A domain name is the address used to access a website. Domain names usually end with some common and reputable extensions like, .com, .org, .gov and .edu. Entities using these are usually genuine. Beware of misspelled versions of well-known domains.

2. Look for HTTPS

Check if the website uses HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) in the URL. The ‘S’ indicates a secure connection.

3. Check for redirections

While clicking on a website’s link, check if it is redirecting to another domain.

4. Check ‘About Us’ and ‘Contact’ page

Illegitimate websites usually hide their contact information, whereas legitimate websites don’t. A credible website will include address, phone number and email address.

5. Use online tools to check the credibility of websites

Here are certain online tools that you can use to check the credibility of websites.

WoT (Web of Trust) extension:

WOT: Website Security & Safety Checker is a Chrome extension and can be easily added to your browser. This extension has both a paid and a free version. But the free version is enough to check the credibility of the website.

After adding it to the browser, all you have to do is, click on the link of the website and then click on the chrome extension. The extension will tell you if this is a trusted website or not and will also give you an option where you can read reviews about the website.

If you add this extension to your browser and do a Google search, the ‘results’ page will display a green tick near the name of the website to suggest that the website is safe.

Stopaganda Plus chrome extension
This extension indicates the website’s accuracy, with a small badge on the Stopaganda Plus icon in the extensions bar. All you have to do is add the extension to your browser, and if you come across a website click on the icon of the extension to know the bias and the accuracy of that website.

If you click on ‘more details’ the page will be directed to, ‘https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/’ which will give a more detailed credibility report.

In a world powered by cyber scams, it is better to cross check the websites you come across to be sure of not falling into the trap of losing your hard-earned money.

First uploaded on: 02-12-2023 at 13:27 IST