In this article you’ll learn 10 website elements that, if implemented properly, will increase trust in your business and convert website traffic into customers.

A badly designed website is a lot like an advertisement, no matter how cleverly disguised the ad is, you immediately know that it’s an ad. The same goes for a bad website, even if the design is beautiful and the product offered is clear, as soon as something is missing from the site visitors subconscious list of credibility elements the entire site and business can be seen as untrustworthy.

A lot of businesses like to think that their website is fine the way it is, but sometimes they miss some of the most obvious mistakes in establishing trust with their visitors. The internet is a literal goldmine of opportunity with billions of people surfing the web looking for value on a daily basis.

If you implement these 10 basic trust building elements into your website, your business will be guaranteed to convert a significantly higher amount of visitors into customers!

10 Trust Elements

1 – Good Design (not outdated)

Simple and obvious, having a clean and clear web design will give visitors the impression that you’re a relevant business that understands their customers.

2 – Clear Navigation & Information

Similar to good design, make your website easy to find the information that is relevant to them. Example: if someone has questions, be sure to include a well written FAQ page that is easy to find as well as opportunities for visitors to contact you through forms, email and even chat integrations.

3 – Reviews/Testimonials/Case studies

Probably the oldest and most obvious trust building tactic out there; having solid reviews and testimonials for your services or products let’s people know that your offer is worth considering and that you have experience with people before. This is especially true for case studies where you can display first-hand information about how you solved a customer’s need or problem for them.

4 – SSL-Secure Website

You know that little lock icon at the top of your browser next to your website URL? That’s your SSL (secure sockets layer). Basically what it is is protection for visitors of your site that their sensitive data (emails, phone numbers, payment info, etc.) is secure on your site and won’t be hacked. Having your SSL on your site is literally the most essential thing between people buying your products online and finding something elsewhere.

5 – Comfort Building Info Gathering

Have you ever given your email on a website for a newsletter or to have them contact you and the confirmation message reads something like: “We promise not to spam you” or “Don’t worry we won’t share your data with anyone else”. Wording your messaging on your website like this goes a long way to establish credibility as a friendly and safe business people can trust. It’s very easy to be robotic with your language on a website, but simply by adding friendly wording that let’s visitors know that they are in good hands when contacting, giving info or paying you helps them to feel secure.

6 – Be Transparent

Be very clear and transparent about what your business offers, how you operate and what to expect. If you promise products or services that you can’t deliver, you’re going to lose customers very fast. It’s easy to get someone to buy something once, but for a business to be sustainable, you need repeat customers and/or steady inflow of leads and people interested in what you have to offer. Transparency is the most valuable mindset you can have to build trust and strong relationships with your customers.

7 – Educate & Offer Value vs Sales Pitches

Sure, a well crafted sales pitch will bring in a certain amount of business. But much like advertisements, people can sense they are being pitched from a mile away. A much more effective long-term strategy is to use your site to educate visitors about your products and industry and offer value to them that way. In return, people will thank you by buying your product or service and also be much more likely to refer you to their friends and network.

8 – Make Business Personal – Team & About

Every website has an “about us” page. But, how effective is it? Does it offer clear background information about your company and your values and mission? Do visitors read your About page and understand who you are and what you offer? A super effective way to build trust with your website visitors is to include a Team page or section on your site and include photos. Even with this digital age we are in, people still respond better to settings where things are humanized and they can see the people from whom they are buying. They say a picture is a thousand words, some images of your team show visitors what kind of people work at your business and offer a more human side to a digital platform.

9 – Connect Social Channels & Partners

Generally every website has their social channels linked to their website and their partner logos displayed on their homepage. But I would be amiss if I didn’t mention that this is a great trust building tactic. Your company social channels, no matter how undeveloped, show that you are connected and in front of real people. A standalone website may look like an island, but a well connected website looks like a community.

10 – Keep Site Relevant & Up-to-date

If your website, no matter how quality the content, looks like it was made in 2004 you will lose visitors. Similarly to the first tactic, having fresh content via a blog, relevant text that shows your business is active and links to pages that actually work, tells people that you are in-action and ready to offer high quality products and services.

BONUS: Show yourself as a high quality business with a fast website & easy functions

Do you know that you may be losing website traffic simply because your website takes an extra couple of seconds to load? Neil Patel offers a very interesting article about this here: https://neilpatel.com/blog/loading-time/ What does this have to do with trust you may be asking? Everything. Your website is the direct impression people get about your business and products. Think of it as your business handshake, resume’, smile and outfit all wrapped into one. If your website is slow, people will think your business is slow. Or at the very least, become impatient with the slow loading times and go somewhere else. Having a fast website let’s people trust that you are there for them and don’t waste their time.

Further Info

Is your website implementing all of these trust building tactics? If not, New Reality would love to have a chat and see if we can help you. Write us a message any time!