Short answer: many of them look you up. Before they call or pay a business they don’t know, people read its reviews, search its name and look for a website with real contact details. Australians reported $2.2 billion in scam losses in 2025, and government advice now tells people to check before they pay. Make those checks quick, and make sure every place tells the same story.
What Australians check
- 71% check reviews at least sometimes before buying from a small business, and 21% always do (Thryv, 2025 Business Index and Consumer Report, 953 Australian consumers).
- 69% of Australian online shoppers rely on online research to feel confident before buying (IAB Australia and Pureprofile, 2026).
- Having no reviews or too few stops 21% from buying from small businesses more often. An unprofessional website or social media presence stops 17% (Thryv, 2025).
- 80% of Australians surveyed for auDA are more likely to trust an Australian business if its website ends in .au (auDA, Why .au? 2026).
What the government tells customers to do
- Scamwatch says never to pay for something online without first checking who you’re dealing with, and to search the website’s name with the word “scam” or “review” (Scamwatch, 2026).
- The ACCC tells people to check the web address carefully, find the business’s ABN and check it on ABN Lookup, look for a privacy policy and terms, and read reviews beyond the business’s own website and social media (ACCC, checking a business is genuine).
Scam loss figures are from the National Anti-Scam Centre’s Targeting Scams report.
Five common checks
- They search your business name. Does a Google Business Profile come up, with reviews, hours and photos?
- They read your reviews. How many are there, how recent are they, and do you reply?
- They open your website on their phone. Does it load quickly, look current and say who you are?
- They look for real details: a phone number, an ABN, a service area or address, a named owner.
- They check it all matches. The same name, phone number and hours on Google, Facebook and your website.
How to pass
- Put your phone number and ABN on every page of your website. The footer is fine.
- Add a privacy policy and your terms, since that’s what the ACCC tells people to look for.
- Use a .com.au address for your website and email, rather than a free email account.
- Show real photos of your work, team or premises. Real photos beat stock photos.
- Keep hours, prices and services up to date, especially around public holidays.
- Ask every customer for a Google review, and reply to all of them, good and bad.
- Make your business name, phone and hours identical everywhere they appear.
Never write or buy reviews. A handful of genuine ones is worth more than dozens of fake ones.
The website’s part
A website is one trust signal among several. In Thryv’s survey, recommendations from people customers know (64%) and friendly, responsive communication (63%) built trust more than a professional website or social media presence did (27%). The website’s job is to confirm what people heard about you, and to make it easy to get in touch.
Where ShreeNova fits
Our Business package includes Google Business Profile setup, so your profile and website match from day one. Every site shows your contact details and ABN, and is built to load quickly on phones. See local SEO or compare packages.