I speak to so many business owners, and the main word that always comes up is trust.
The importance of trust and the impact it has on people’s buying decisions cannot be underestimated. People want to feel like they can trust you and your company.
One of the key things you need to portray on your website is trust if you want people to start the first step in becoming one of your customers.
Sure you can do all the marketing funnels and facebook ads but if they arrive on a site that has no trust elements your chances of capturing that users details or money is dramatically reduced.
Now we have established the importance of trust on your website.
Credibility
Testimonials, reviews and case studies
Reviews and testimonials help to sell you without you having to sell yourself too aggressively. They will help to answer the questions and doubts that users may have about your service.
Awards and certifications
Showcase any awards you may have won, any partnership or accreditation badges. These are a great symbol to users that you do great things and trusted by more prominent brands with their systems.
Stats and numbers
Another great way to establish trust is the use of stats. This doesn’t mean throwing on any random numbers like – 900 cups of coffee consumed – Your stats and figures should have meaning and relevance – In the example below – this company offers website support.
As you can see the stats provide high credibility to the company – Number of jobs, size of team shows they are a serious business and number of customers – if that many people use them then they must be doing something right.
Time In business
If you’ve been doing something for a very long time that helps to portray your experience and expertise.
In the example below, they manage to establish their credibility with the amount of time they’ve been in business and the number of customers they have worked with. These are very subtle ways of building your credibility and trust.
Portfolio & Case Studies
If you are selling a creative service, design, web, marketing, photography, jewelry and video production to name a few – It’s crucial to showcase your work.
When I was first applying for web design roles many moons ago it wasn’t until I was able to show examples of work I started to get accepted – We also get a lot of work off the strength of our portfolio.
What if you don’t do creative work? You can use Case studies and testimonials on how you solved peoples issues. These pages will still be highly viewed when looking at your website.
Put yourself on the site
People like to buy from people so by putting yourself on the website shows you’re real.
People can then get a feel for you and your business. This can be done with images of you and your team around your website or videos of you.
In th example above – Marie is the face of her business so she is heavily embedded on the website.
Be open and honest
If you are open about your values, the way you work and your pricing this can be a great way to or remove obstacles for people
Give away great free content that answers peoples questions; these can be created as ebooks, whitepapers, blog posts and videos.
If you can solve challenges that users are already facing that nobody does, you are instantly propelled to the top of the queue in that prospect’s mind.
A Professional Website
Often, the website is what forms the first impression of a company. This is why design is essential. It can make or break a sale, and possibly even your business. With design, it’s about the details. If you are not technically inclined, hire a good web design firm.
