With any online business, you are always fighting trust and credibility. You can offset that skepticism by using trust symbols. A trust symbol gives buyers confidence that your company is “for real” and they can trust you with their:
- personal information
- credit card
And believe that you’ll also deliver on what you say you’ll deliver.
Trust symbols increase conversion rates because the buyer has confidence in who you are and what you can delivery. Buyer’s confidence is a major hurdle in the online world. When appropriate, they should be displayed on your website.
Here is a sampling of trust symbols websites can use to increase credibility:
Secure Socket Layer (SSL) – Anytime you are accepting credit cards online, you must have an SSL to ensure data is being transmitted securely across the web.
Better Business Bureau – While good for everyone, the BBB has always owned the domain of trades. Particularly effective for general contractors, painters and service people
Social Media Symbols – Twitter, Facebook and Linked In have become trust symbols
Logos of customers – Do you do business with industry leaders? You can leverage their trust into legitimacy with your potential customers. The concept is that if “industry leaders” trust you to service their needs then they should be able to as well.
Reviews and Testimonials – seeing other customers write about their experience with you makes you “real”
Sharing Your Knowledge – Are you active in forums, guest blogs, commenting on others tweets, asked to present at a convention? All of this proves that you are a credible source in your marketplace. Become a thought leader!
Google Click to Call – Some customers don’t want to potentially give up their information. Click to call puts the customer in control.
Video – Unlike the Wizard of Oz, you can show you are more than just a person behind the curtain.
Industry Awards – Have you won industry awards that can be displayed on your website? Be proud and showcase them!
Industry Associations – Is there a trade group that you are part of? Well, it should be clearly displayed on the website. If you’re a Board Member or lead a special committee, it should be part of your “About Us” page.
Clear Policies -The two big policies: Return and Privacy. These must be clearly spelled out. For ecommerce sites, an “easy” return policy is important.
Press Mentions – there’s nothing like “As seen on CBS” to add to your website. Do you have any of these? If not, you should work to cultivate them? What about issuing your very own Press Release to start that process?
By using these trust symbols, you can reduce website friction, inspire confidence and increase conversions.
We have been trying to “revamp” our website recently and I couldn’t agree more with this article. One of the things I have learned is, it is easy to get lost in the content and SEO and forget there are real people viewing your site, not just “spiders”, so you need to gain their trust as well. A few small “trust symbols” will go a long way in adding value to your company’s website.