6 Ways to Boost Trust in Your Website

The internet provides consumers the ability to shop and compare goods, services, and businesses to make sure they get exactly what they want. This can be good or bad for your business depending on the image you are putting out the target market. Do you think your website looks trustworthy to consumers? You might think your website is great the way it is, but you know your business…prospective customers don’t know you. It’s important to put out a trustworthy image so that you stay competitive. We have put together 6 ways you can tweak your website to make your business more trustworthy to prospective customers.

  1. Make sure you have a complete, well-written About Us page.

You want people to know who you are and feel confident doing business with you. The best way to do this is to put together a complete, high quality About Us that describes who you are, how you got into the business, and what you can provide your customers. In addition to this, adding a picture of yourself or of your team is a great way to further boost that confidence and convey a trustworthy image.

  1. Add your physical contact information and phone number.

If you are a brick-and-mortar establishment, be sure to include your address and maybe even a Google Map posting on your website. This seems simple, but a lot of people leave this out, and this in turn leaves customers wondering if you’re a legitimate business. If you are not a brick-and-mortar business, make sure you include your phone number, email, and business hours so that people know when it is ok to reach you. Make it as easy as possible for someone to contact you and be sure that your contact information is up to date. If you have a Contact Us form, be sure to reply as soon as you can. You don’t want to miss out on a potential client because you ignored their requested contact.

  1. Include certifications, association affiliations, or badges.

Adding a badge to your site can make it look more official and reassure prospective customers that you legitimate. There are a number of badges that you put on your website from payment badges to membership badges. If you have an eCommerce site, this may be particularly important to let people know that they are safe sharing payment information on your site – there are badges like TRUSTe, McAfee, VeriSign, and BBB Accredited Business that will put people at ease.

  1. Encourage satisfied customers to write reviews and testimonials that you can feature on your site.

If someone loved the work you did, encourage them to write a testimonial so that you can feature it on your website. You could always start a Yelp account and let people write reviews and link it to your website. Just be aware that with something like Yelp, you should spend some additional time monitoring your online reputation and responding to people’s reviews, especially if they’re negative. Positive or negative, a Dimensional Research study found that 90% of customers are influenced by online reviews. So be sure to include them, but also be sure to monitor your online reputation.

  1. Link your page to your professional social media.

Social media can provide a personal connection to customers, and this is something that prospective customers will use to gauge how well your business is liked. If you regularly post and interact with people on social media like Facebook and Twitter and you have a number of people following you, it conveys the image that you are well-liked and that people are happy with your products and services. Social media is becoming an essential for businesses because of the wide use and popularity it has in our society. In a post by Erin Richards-Kunkel entitled “15 Social Media Statistics that Every Business Needs to Know”, it was cited that 74% of consumers rely on social media to make purchasing decisions. Using social media gives you credibility as a business and gives you more brand exposure.

  1. Make sure your site is mobile and user-friendly.

If your site isn’t responsive and easy to use, you won’t get the opportunity to build trust with prospective customers because they will leave your site as quickly as possible! According to a study featured on Smart Insights, 80% of internet users own a smart phone and use it regularly to browse the internet. If your site is not responsive to various devices, people will not stay on your site very long. Making your site easy to navigate and responsive means that people will be able to find what they are looking for. Prospective customers are comparing your business with your competition based on your website and the information you offer. It’s important to stay competitive and create a sense of trust and legitimacy.

Your website is your online image. You want something out there that makes people want to do business with you, and not with your competitor. Gaining their trust is the first step, and these tips will help you make a more trustworthy website. Fusion Group USA has designed a number of websites (check out our Portfolio) in the Grand Junction area in addition to business websites in Arizona. In every design, we make sure we are staying true to your brand and image while creating a site that will help you gain the trust of your target market. Call or contact us today to discuss ways to enhance your website today!

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