Building trust in a person is something that takes a while. For a website it’s basically the same. But it needs to be done in as little as a few seconds.
This is why we created this checklist you can use to improve how people perceive you.
1. Social proofs
I’ve seen lots of great businesses who have been working with a lot of big clients, have gotten great press.. but don’t show anything on their website. Don’t make the same mistake. Being humble might be a good thing in the real world but online, where you have 5 seconds to stop users from leaving your website this approach simply doesn’t work.
so if you can, please remember to always:
- include logos of some of your most important clients
- list partner companies that show expertise and competence
- tell people which of your product sold the most (they want to know what product other costumers liked)
if you have good numbers you could also consider:
- telling everyone how many people have been using your services
- showing social network like / share numbers
- showing how much you have been growing in a short time.
2. Testimonials
Testimonials are going through a difficult phase. According to a research about 62% of customers believe that they a either pàyèd or completely made up. Despite that, though they still remain a very common way to improve credibility and build trust. In order to make them look more real you can use these little tricks:
- Use testimonials that address peoples doubts (this will anticipate them and improve their trust)
- Stick to testimonials with detailed information, not too generic ones.
- Include little photos of who wrote the review
- Use reviews from people who work at companies your users might know
- Use photos of handwritten reviews people made on paper
- copy authentic reviews from twitter or facebook with simple screenshots
3. Certifications
Perceived security needs to be addressed depending on what you do. If you have an e-commerce website you will have different and more complex issues than with a simple and static showcase website.
But let’s start from the basics.
Using a secure connection makes it harder for bad guys to mess things up. https certificates are now a widely used standard for making websites more secure. But strangely there are still some websites, even banks (!!!), without SSL certificate.
Using one of those is not just a matter of security but also of the users perceptions. Having a little green lock alongside your domain telling them that it’s secure is huge for credibility.
There are some other generic safety seals that can be used for trust, especially if you treat peoples personal information / passwords / money.
But it doesn’t end here. If you are in a specific sector you might know more specific seals or certifications that can boost your credibility. Think about what your costumers would like to hear!
4. Authentic images
Using stock photography is often an easy way to make a website look visually more appealing. Almost anything can be found on stock websites, for very little money. So the temptation to use stock photography is very strong. The downside for this kind of approach is a lack of authenticity of those images.
Let’s make an example. So many restaurants use stock photography for their dishes. But finding stock images that are the same as your actual dished is almost impossible. What happens is that peoples expectations are not met, leaving them disappointed.
But the absolute number one in any business will always be the following: showing photos of the people behind the website. Statistics show that the “about” page on many websites is one of the most visited page after the homepage. The reason for this is that the user wants to learn a little more to see if you are trustworthy and credible. Using authentic photos of yourself, your team or partners is the easiest way to reach this goal.
As a general rule not more than 50% of the images being used on a website should come from stock photo sites.
5. The real world
There is another huge opportunity to when it comes to building trust. Showing photos of your places in the real world, like your offices, buildings or factories is widely underrated. It helps creating a connection and making them feel almost as they know you already a little.
As we said, gaining somebodies trust is hard. At the same time it’s very easy to be lost again if you don’t deliver and let your costumer down somehow. Are you thinking about using some of the above in your project? Let us know in the comments!
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