Do Trust factors matter more than just about anything on a website? If you want that website to convert visitors into customers. The first most important thing is a call-to-action/form – and these trust factors are wonderful to pair directly with your calls to action.
Ultimate List of Trust Factors for Website Design
High quality design
Extremely easy to find contact information and an easy to submit a contact form
A tailored message to your target demographic, as niched as possible
Simple, non-technobabble language
Correct grammar and spelling
Staff photos and bios
Photos of your office or workspace
Absence of cheesy or common stock photos
Free shipping, simple and easy returns, and evidence of a reasonable refund policy on any products that you offer (if you offer any physical products)
Evidence of being made in a particular location, if that is something your customer base values. For instance, many United States citizens like it when they see ‘Made in the U.S.A.,’ as they feel the money they spend is going back to their general community. Your state or municipality can also help people trust you if your product is anchored to that area.
Detailed information about your services
Current, happy clients
Clear and obvious pricing whenever possible
Any trade/other organizations that you’re affiliated with or a member of
Customer reviews from online sources
Curated testimonials
5-star ratings where appropriate that are visually obvious, perhaps list the websites where you have 5-star ratings
Visual badge for your SSL certificate or other online security badges that make it obvious it’s safe to submit confidential information on your site. – Examples: VeriSign and TRUSTe
A blog where you are sharing relevant information and displaying expertise in your subject matter. This will also help Google and the public know your website is maintained and refreshed often.
A jobs page and relevant open positions
Your brand ranking high in Google results
Guest posting on blogs relevant to your business and/or industry
Speaking at events in your industry and as a subject matter expert elsewhere with evidence of that on your site (photos, titles of talks, etc.)
Get on the news and talk about your work, and make sure to add that video clip to your website.
Write a book and get reviews for your book on Amazon, then promote them alongside your website on your social media accounts
Show off your awards and certifications – If you get a couple of respected awards in your industry and add those to your site, people can understand more easily that you care about quality and your industry’s perception of quality.
Social icons on your site for your social channels, social icons to share your regular content, and active social media accounts with regular engagement with other people
A video or videos of you talking about your process, sharing details on your work – talking about the value working with you provides your customers, or for e-commerce, videos detailing the benefits of a particular product
Display key value propositions in a highly visual way that respects your audience’s time and boils down the essential benefit to a short excerpt they can read and understand quickly.
Give deeper descriptions visitors can dive into for each of your sub-services that go into depth about both your industry and the general process of things, and what differentiates you from the rest of the industry, and why what you do is special.
Provide case studies that talk about specific pieces of work or projects that you’ve done and how they show you’re the best company equipped to help them with their project. Each case study should talk about what unique challenges a particular project had and how your company overcame those challenges with its expertise and creativity.
Being authentic and sharing your heart on your home page and about page, and why you do what you do – and why you care about people and about customer service.
Whether you are selling products online or building your brand, visitor trust is something that is vital to the success of your website. Presenting your website visitors with a website that communicates professionalism and exudes confidence and trust goes a long way towards your goals.
Professional design and corporate efficiency should be a major theme of any website, and confidence should make you easy to reach and sympathetic to customer issues. The importance of the connection buyers place on credibility and trust online should never be understated.
When you have a website that visitors trust and a brand that users connect to, it helps to keep your website pertinent not only today but in the immediate future as well. Here’s a few easy and quick ways to help people trust your website online.
Industry recognition
Use of industry accepted badges or organizations can help boost your website credibility and helps your users connect. Better Business Bureau Accreditation or specific industry icons can elevate the trust in your website visitors in a non-invasive manner.
Don’t overdo the use of these logos and maintaining that fine balance will keep your website looking clean and professional, instead of cluttered and confusing.
Social Networking
The power of social networking is undeniable but it can also be a sword that cuts both ways. Linking your website to various social networks is easy to do and gives your visitors a way to connect and see what’s new with your site.
Social Networking needs work and maintenance, which poses challenges but ones that you should overcome if you want to increase trust in your users. So don’t link to a ghost-town. Link to a rustling bustling sign of life, if that means only calling out two crucial social media sites you use, then so be it.
Testimonials
Sharing your past customer experiences and positive feedback is another way to connect your website visitors to your vision and brand. Making a great first impression is important, and testimonials are a great way to boost website confidence and credibility.
Having past experiences in front of them to review and read helps users make the leap of faith in your company. Many of these users may have been on the fence about their purchase, and having testimonials on your website can increase conversion and your revenue streams.
Live Chat
Being able to reach someone within your company is definitely a great way to increase not only website visitor confidence, but interaction as well. Having a capable and helpful staff that’s willing to engage and humanize your company helps to garner positive feelings towards your website.
When people can reach you easily and quickly, they will always feel better about their purchase and feel better about your company.
To a smaller degree of course you definitely want your corporate contact information on clear display. This shows your visitors that you have nothing to hide and that your business is indeed a true entity online.
Use some of these tips to help your website increase your conversions and sales, and boost your credibility online.
High Quality Design
Intentionality goes along way. Don’t let your designer tell you because they have some aesthetic preference that they shouldn’t include your Better Business Bureau badge, but do understand; people care about design. It definitely influences people’s decision whether to buy or not, and most companies and even small businesses know this. That’s why they shell out the money to pay for decent design firms and freelancers.
To your future clients, your products and services are currently invisible: design and the text contained within the design is the only representation of you they have online. That, and your social media presence. If that representation looks run-down or cheap, they will indeed associate that with your company.
Super Easy Contact
Don’t shy away from plastering your companies phone number all over highly visible areas of the website. People are unlikely to use this often, but this and the presence of a contact us button or a form they can submit makes people feel safe. If they are going to buy something from you, it’s good to know they can always call you up. In lieu of more forms of contact with you previously this element can increase trust without them ever having to call or contact you, if that’s not the primary thing you are trying to drive them to do.
Don’t skimp on the about page
My analytics on this site, the agency I work for, and many of our clients all see quite a bit of traffic to the about page – perhaps more than you might think. People care about people, so consider making that page a focus for having solid and interesting content about the people that work for your company, yourself perhaps, and the process of working with you. Let them get acquainted, and this will increase trust.
Get specific with your claims
An age old mandate from a classic in marketing, ‘Scientific Advertising’ says that getting very specific with numbers makes something concrete, and makes it likely the advertiser did real research on the numbers or claims. Don’t allow your vague ‘Best Roofing Contractor in town,’ make people think any less of you. Better you say 798 clients served, 10 years in the business, only 2 negative reviews out of 309 online.
I’ll leave with the words of the author that are extremely relevant for today’s generation who are worn out from exagerrated claims and hungry for transparency and authenticity:
“Platitudes and generalities roll off the human understanding like water from a duck. They leave no impression whatever. To say, “Best in the world,” “Lowest price in existence,” etc. are at best simply claiming the expected. But superlatives of that sort are usually damaging. They suggest looseness of expression, a tendency to exaggerate, a careless truth. They lead readers to discount all the statements that you make.
People recognize a certain license in selling talk as they do poetry. A man may say, “Supreme in quality” without seeming a liar, though one may know that the other brands are equally as good. One expects a salesman to put his best foot forward and excuses some exaggeration born of enthusiasm. But just for that reason general statements count for little. And a man inclined to superlatives must expect that his every statement will be taken with some caution. But a man who makes a specific claim is either telling the truth or a lie.
People do not expect an advertiser to lie. They know that he can’t lie in the best mediums. The growing respect in advertising has largely come through a growing regard for its truth. So a definite statement is usually accepted. Actual figures are not generally discounted. Specific facts, when stated, have their full weight and effect.”
– Claude C. Hopkins
This book is now in the public domain, so feel free to download it right here in PDF Form:
