Your brand may have a lot to offer, but you won’t be able to generate much business until you can gain the trust of your potential customers and, for many of them, their first introduction to you will be through your site.
Establishing your business as professional and an authority in your field is essential if you want to succeed, so here are our top tips for how to build customer trust on your website.
An SSL certificate provides authentication of a site’s security and enables an encrypted connection between users and the website. An SSL also assures your customers that you are who you say you are (rather than some scammer up to no good) – it gives them more trust in you and allows them to feel at ease using your website. This is especially important if you have an e-commerce offering as you don’t want potential customers thinking you’re going to run off with their payment details or personal info.
If you want to build trust on your website, there’s no room for amateur attempts – your site needs to be professionally designed. Customers will base much of their opinion of a brand on their first impressions of the site, and if the site looks subpar on first glance, they probably won’t take the time to explore further.
One of the ways to make your site look professional and build trust with your users is to use your own high-quality images where possible rather than stock photos. Even if you do need to use stocks, you must absolutely avoid low-quality, pixelated images. Make sure that you name these files clearly and snappily too for the sake of the search engines – no ‘IMG_1239123055.jpg’.
Navigating your website should be a breeze – not overwhelming and confusing. Design your site layout with user experience in mind with intuitive micro-interactions that guide the user to where they need to be. Do this and you’ll create an air of professionalism that will naturally build trust.
Customers will quickly lose trust in a brand if they don’t appear professional, and one thing that is guaranteed to make you seem unprofessional is a website that is out of date and littered with links that don’t do what they say or direct to broken pages.
Keep on top of any changes you make to your pages, make sure that all the links on your site are correct, delete any links to broken pages, and implement any necessary redirects.
One thing that’s sure to build trust on a website is endorsement from your customers. Case studies, testimonials and reviews included on your website are great ways to show how customers have been satisfied by your products or services and encourage others to give you a chance.
A blog where you discuss your brand’s area of expertise is a great way to build trust on your website. This blog shouldn’t be salesy or another way to push your products but is a way to show your customers you know your stuff and are an expert in your field.
If you offer to share this advice for free, without trying overtly to sell your products or services, then customers will be more likely to return when they do want to invest.
Another way to build trust on your website is to lean on the authenticity of others. Have you worked with or for any big names? If they’re happy for you to, you can include their logos on the website to show that you’re legit.
If you have links on your site to your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or other social media profiles, include their logos. If you take payment over your website, use the logos for the different payment methods you accept, like PayPal, or Apply Pay. All these companies have their own legitimacy that you can share in by association.
The copy on your homepage, in your blog and all over your site needs to clearly demonstrate that you know your target audience and their needs. This includes addressing customer pain points, the credentials that make you an expert in your field, and how your brand can help make life a little bit better or easier.
There you have it, nine killer tips that will build long lasting trust on your website. Remember – trust is earned through being professional, up-to-date and reliable in all aspects of your business.