Is there anything more of a turn-off than a untrustworthy website? Not in our world.
Increasing the trust in your website is key to making conversions (calls, emails…. sales … you know, money). There are a number of factors determining the level of trust on your website. Here’s how to leverage some of them to let visitors know you’re somebody they can place their confidence with. A good guy or gal, a real ace. Shipshape and all of that.
Use your website.
It’s important to keep content fresh and add to your site on a continuous basis. Add some recent news to the front page, put in your twitter feed or a facebook recent posts box. Letting visitors know that someone is actually taking care of the website lets them know that someone will be there to take care of them. This includes using social proof on your website, showing you have followers, that other people think you’re swell is conversion magic. Think, testimonials.
Leverage
Get some needed leverage by showing, if applicable, that you’re connected to other brands …. other, well known brands. If you see a familiar face (apple logo, etc…) you’re more likely to trust that website, on average. Using SSL certificates so your site is encrypted is a major trust factor. However, you have to balance the speed and security of your site. Generally the more security you have the slower it will be. Encryption may not be needed for your site at all and may be overkill. If you’re selling products or have any kind of payment system on your site, SSL is a must.
Keep things local
Even if you’re selling on a national or international stage it may be a good idea to have a more hometown feel to your website. That doesn’t mean putting up chickens and old wooden boards on your site, it just means that people trust other people, regular people, not fake stock people. Using the same stock photos as everyone else won’t differentiate your brand. Using real images of your company and its workers is generally more appealing to the casual visitor. Of course, this is not likely the case for every industry or website out there but knowing there are real people, “local” people increases trust.
and the #1 thing you can do to increase trust in your site?
Have it built by LIVEWIRE!