5 Powerful Techniques To Build Trust

You need to build trust in if you’re running a business online – especially if you’re running any kind of ecommerce venture where customers can purchase from your online store – building a sense of trustworthiness is essential. How are you supposed to convince website visitors to part with their hard-earned money if you can’t convey a trustworthy, honest image?

Consumers nowadays are warier about being scammed than ever before – and many of them will refuse to purchase from a certain website if there’s something even slightly ‘off’ about the layout, the content or the purchase form. Here’s how you can build trust online with five powerful techniques:

Commission a professional web designer

Unless you’re a web designer yourself, it’s always best to commission someone else to professional design and develop your site. Building a website yourself is a great way to gain experience and save money – but there will likely be red flags all over the website which could cause your bounce rate to skyrocket. From poor design to inadequate navigation, users will quickly cotton on that this website has been put together by an amateur, and they’ll start to wonder whether they want to shop at an amateur outlet.

Offer comprehensive contact information

When it comes to building your website, add a Contact page and fill it with as many different contact options as you can. As standard, you should have the business address, a phone number and an email address on there, but to create an added sense of trustworthiness, you could also add your personal LinkedIn account, a Google StreetView of your premises and a second number to contact if the first point of contact is unavailable.

Add testimonials and reviews where you can

The ubiquity of advertising nowadays means that many consumers can simply tune out promotional spiels and sales pitches – but testimonials and reviews from real people are an incredibly valuable currency in the world of e-commerce. Add authentic reviews and testimonials to your site wherever you can. If you’re selling products, make sure there’s a feature which allows customers to leave their thoughts – you could even offer an incentive for leaving a review in order to build trust.

Update regularly

A website or blog which is out of date doesn’t convey professionalism. If a potential customer can see that your site has been regularly updated over the last year or so, with new blog content, new products or new pages, they’ll get the impression that this is a well-managed website – and, by extension, a well-managed business. Make sure the content that you’re adding is high in quality, or you’ll defeat the entire purpose of the exercise.

Build trust with SSL

There are a number of ways in which your business can be ‘certified’ as genuine online. If you’re running an ecommerce site, you must have an SSL certificate, which will reassure your customers that any information collected from them (including payment and credit card details) will be protected. Many hosting providers allow you to purchase a ‘Certified Domain’, which means your website and details have been validated. You can also apply for certification standards from organisations like TRUSTE, which tells users that your company’s practices are in line with the relevant transparency, accountability and privacy regulations.

What ‘trustworthy’ signs do you look for in a website? Let us know!