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How to fix: Certification / affiliation reference
Part of the Content Quality pillar on the Site Integrity Index.
Why this matters
In compliance-heavy niches, buyers expect to see the seal — ISO 27001, SOC 2, IAAP, similar. Credentials buried on a Team page cost trust; credentials on the homepage anchor authority immediately.
Background
What it checks: relevant certifications or professional affiliations are referenced on the page or linked from it. Why it matters: certifications are a concrete, checkable trust signal — closer to a proof point than a claim, since they're independently verifiable.
References
Editorial content-quality signal — certification / affiliation heuristic. Independently-verifiable trust markers are weighted more heavily than self-issued claims.
How to fix
Reference relevant certifications near the byline or in the about page — NIST RMF, ISO 27001, whatever applies to the content — and link to the issuing body where possible, rather than just naming it. "ISO 27001 certified (cert. no. XYZ, issued by BSI)" with a link to a BSI verification page beats "ISO 27001 certified" alone.
Verify it's working
Any certification named on the page should link to the issuing body or a public certificate lookup. Unlinked certification logos are worse than none — they read as unverifiable claims.
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