Whether you’re selling products or services on your website, people need to trust you before they will take the next step.
If you’re asking people to sign up for an email list, make an enquiry or buy a product right there and then, they need two fundamental reassurances before they do:
- you can deliver on your promises,
- it’s safe to do business with you.
There are many ways to improve trust on your website. Not all will be possible or applicable for you, but the goal is to check as many off the list as you can.
Here are my top 5 easy wins for improving trust on your site:
1: Reviews & Testimonials
Hearing first hand that other people have worked with you and had a positive experience instantly boosts trust.
The logic goes: “If other people worked with them and had a good experience, the chances are that I will too.”
Ecommerce websites can use tools like Yotpo to automate customer reviews. B2B companies can ask clients for a testimonial and permission to use it on their website.
This is a good example a well-placed testimonial on LeadFuze.com:
To make sure your testimonials themselves are believable, it’s best to try and include the following details:
- a profile image
- full name, company & position
- specific details of how you helped
- relevance to the surrounding content
So for example, if you’re asking visitors to sign up for a webinar, a testimonial from a previous webinar attendee talking about how it impacted their life positively is best. A general testimonial about how great you are (known as a ‘good guy’ testimonial) is still good, but not as powerful.
Here’s one of my more generic ‘good guy’ testimonials:
“Not only is Russ very capable, but he’s also a patient and inspirational support. He always does his best to find out what really works for your business and come up with a strategy to achieve your goals.
– Angela Cheung, Managing Director
@ APV Asia, Hong Kong
Gathering testimonials and reviews can be an ongoing process, so start with what you have and keep building from there.
2: Social Proof
Testimonials and reviews are one way to boost social proof, but there are other things you can do.
Any sign that other people and businesses trust and communicate with you is likely to increase trust on your website.
Social Media Follow & Feeds
If you have a following on Facebook or Twitter, you can display your follower count. Instagram and Pinterest feeds can be great to evoke a sense of community for visual brands.
Most social media platforms make it easy to add widgets to your site displaying your profile or page information. Here are some popular ones:
- Linked In Plugins & Widgets
- Facebook Plugins & Widgets
- Twitter Plugins & Widgets
- Instagram Feed Plugins
- Pinterest Feed Plugins
Client Logos
If you work with other companies, you may want to show a few logos of your favourite clients. The more well-known the better. Although do be careful, because it may not be appropriate for your industry or situation (example: if the client is white labelling your service or you’re in an industry where competitors may try to poached your clients).
Another way is to associate yourself with other trustworthy companies by displaying a list of tools you work or integrate with. For example, I use WordPress related tools daily in my business, and I show the logos of those tools on my website.
Certifications & Industry Recognised Badges
If you have passed any tests, won any award or are certified to your industry standards, show it off!
A great place for these badges is in the footer, then they appear on every page, usually close to your contact information. But you may find good places to use them strategically around your site, such as close to CTAs and contact / enquiry forms.
Media Logos
If you or your content has been featured in media outlets, this is also something you can let people know about.
Associating yourself and your brand with known media companies instantly suggests that other people know, like and trust you, which in turn makes your website feel more trustworthy.
3: Website Security
Nobody wants to buy from or sign up on a website that has poor security. Here are 3 ways to show your site is secure.
SSL Certificate
An SSL certificate forces your website to load through HTTPS (rather than HTTP) and displays the padlock security icon on your web pages.
There are different grades of SSL certificate available, but most reliable hosting companies (such as our favourites Siteground and WP Engine) will offer a free certificate.
Displaying SSL compliance not only increases trust, but it’s also been an SEO ranking signal for some time. So it’s really worth setting up.
Privacy Policy
Having a privacy policy and displaying it on your website is another way to show you are secure. No body will read the policy, but having it in place is enough.
Most websites will display the policy in the footer of the site (so it appears on all pages) and as a small link when asking visitors to sign up, opt in or make a purchase.
Here’s an example from Hubspot:
Security Badges & Icons
Yep – more icons! If you are running an Ecommerce cart this is especially important.
Display padlock icons and security guarantees anywhere you are asking people to make payments. All good shopping carts and payment systems come with security built in, so you just need to find out exactly what they are and let your customers know with a badge or two.
This is less important if you are in B2B and optimising for enquiry and quote requests.
4: Good, Clean Design
When it comes to trust, design matters. While this could be a whole post on it’s own, I’ll just list a few key points.
To make sure your website looks trustworthy, make sure to stay on top of these important design conventions:
- Consistent colours & fonts – a consistent experience throughout the site helps customers feel comfortable on your site, increasing trust.
- Correct spelling & good copy – the words on your site matter! Bad spelling and grammar is sure to turn people off. Honest, clear copy that focuses on your customer’s problems helps to show you have their best interests at heart.
- No broken links – fix up the errors in your links so it doesn’t look like your website has been abandoned.
- Mobile display – a website that breaks on mobile and pad is sure to wreck trust in your website.
5: Clear Contact Information
A totally anonymous website with no contact information looks really suspicious.
In contrast, if you can provide multiple ways to get in touch with your company, and show who you are, it increases trust.
A good list of contact information is:
- Phone number
- Physical address
- Email address
- Social media profiles
You may not be able to or want to include them all, but aiming for at least 2/4 is a good start.
Over To You
These are just 5 quick ways to increase trust on your site. They don’t take long to implement and can have a big effect on the reaction visitors have to your website.
What do you think of these trust indicators? Do they work for you?
Do you have any other great ways to increase website trust? If so, I’d love to hear about them! Let me know in the comments below.
