How customers check a business is legitimate

Key takeaways

Before contacting or paying a business they do not know, careful UK buyers check Companies House, review platforms, regulator registers and the website's contact details. Your website should make each check easy: show your company number, link to registers, show reviews with links and give contact details that match everywhere else.

• Buyers check Companies House for company age, status and directors.
• They check reviews on Google or Trustpilot, not only your website.
• Regulated firms are checked on registers such as FCA or SRA.
• Mismatched details across sites are a red flag.

What checks do customers make?

Careful buyers make a handful of quick checks, especially for larger purchases or after scam warnings. Each takes a minute, and each either confirms or undermines your website.

• Companies House: is the company active, how old is it, who are the directors?
• Reviews: what do customers say on independent platforms?
• Registers: is the firm on the FCA, SRA, Gas Safe or other register it claims?
• Contact: does the phone get answered, does the address exist?
• Consistency: do the name, address and phone match across sites?

• How website design influences brand credibility
• NAP consistency: same name, address and phone everywhere

How do you make the checks easy?

Remove the friction. Put your company number and registered office in the footer, link accreditations to their registers, link reviews to their platforms and show the same contact details everywhere. When a buyer's check confirms what the site says, credibility rises; when they have to hunt, doubt grows.

• Accreditation badges on your website: which to show
• Showing Google reviews on your website, the right way

What do buyers see on Companies House?

Companies House shows incorporation date, registered office, status, filing history and directors. Buyers notice overdue accounts, very recent incorporation for a firm claiming long experience, or directors linked to many dissolved companies. Keep filings up to date, and if the company is new but the people are experienced, say so on your site.

• 'Established in': should you show years in business?
• Your founder story on the website: when it builds trust

Which other registers do buyers check?

It depends on the sector. Financial services firms are checked on the FCA Register, solicitors on the SRA's register, gas engineers on the Gas Safe Register. Many buyers also check the ICO register of data protection fee payers. Where you appear on a register, link to your entry.

• Financial adviser websites: credibility within FCA rules
• Solicitor website credibility: SRA rules and trust

When do checks backfire?

Checks backfire when your website says one thing and the record says another: a different trading name, a claimed founding year that predates incorporation without explanation, or a lapsed accreditation. Fix the mismatch or explain it plainly, for example 'Trading since 2008, incorporated in 2019'.

• Should a small business try to look bigger online?
• Website claims and the CAP Code: what UK firms can say

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: a firm's website says 'established 2005', but Companies House shows the current company was formed in 2020 after a restructure. A buyer suspects a phoenix company. Adding a short history line explaining the change answers the question before it is asked.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses

Legitimacy check checklist

• Show company number and registered office.
• Link accreditations to their registers.
• Link reviews to their platforms.
• Match name, address and phone everywhere.
• Explain any differences in trading history.
• Keep Companies House filings up to date.

• The website credibility score: rate your site out of 10
• Signs of an untrustworthy website buyers spot fast

Next step

Look up your own business on Companies House and Google as a stranger would. Note anything that does not match your website.