With nearly all processes like shopping, banking and more becoming online entities, the world has had to adapt to completing purchases and enquiries all behind the comfort of a screen. As more and more businesses invest in their online presence, it’s more important than ever before that your website is seen as trustworthy to your target audience, in order for you to receive the conversions you need.
Below we have listed some of the initial steps you can take to make your website trustworthy:
SSL – Be Secure
An SSL certificate is highly recommended on any website. This not only shows visitors that you are a secure website and they are safe in using it, but it also affects your SEO rankings on Google too. If your website does not have an SSL certificate it will show as “Not Secure” in the URL and this will make users feel unsafe when using your website. An SSL is usually quick and inexpensive to implement, just speak to our team and we can help.
Google My Business – Register Your Business
In order to create a Google My Business profile, you’ll need to have an address for Google to send a postcard too. They’ll also vet the address to make sure it’s a valid business premises. By creating a GMB it will give further credibility to your business name and help build trust with your potential customers. Make sure that you have a website address on your Google My Business page too, as this will help people searching for your business to find the direct website linked to you.
Google Reviews – Get Customers to Recommend You
Having good reviews on Google from clients and customers will help your website and company seem trustworthy. Take the time to encourage clients to leave reviews on Google for you. Also, make sure that you respond to the reviews as this will help show the ‘real you’ and can increase trust for your target audience.
Active Social Media Presence – Show Things Are Happening
If you have the right type of business suited to social media, it’s likely your target audience will be checking out your social media presence to see what you are doing online. It’s not just important to be active on social media and regularly posting, you need to be responding to your audience too. If you just post and never respond you can come across as an automated page which is sometimes worse than not posting at all!
Accreditations and Awards – Celebrate Your Success
If you have accreditations and awards make sure you shout about these on social media, but also clearly show them on your website and any external sites your customers may find. Accreditations give your audience the peace of mind that you know what you are doing and awards show your audience that you have a good track history at what you do. Both of these can help you build trust on your website, which is vital in converting a new customer or client.
Contact Details – Show You’re There to Speak To
With the fear among consumers that online companies could not be legitimate or provide high-quality services/products, it is important you share your contact details, so they can easily get in touch. These should be easy for the visitor to your website to find, so they know if they do need to contact you that they can. A telephone number is highly recommended, but also an email, contact form and live chat (see below) if possible.
Live Chat – Reduce Delays & Communication Barriers
A live chat tab on your website is a great idea that enables your visitors to engage with you now and ask any questions they may have. However, there is no need to have live chat if you are rarely available or unable to respond quickly. In fact, having a live chat and not being available could be doing you more harm than good.
With the advancement in technology some organisations are opting for the use of chatbots, which are software applications that speak as if they are human, but are actually preprogrammed responses based on typical conversations that have been mapped out. These systems can work great for some businesses, although does require a well thought out process and usually a large investment to develop.
Third-Party Reviews – Share Your Feedback
If you are on websites such as Trustpilot, Feefo or Safe Local Trades then share your reviews on your website. You could share one or two from the site and then link through to the third party website. Consumers can be wary of reviews on your own website, as typically you would only upload the good ones! So, by having a third-party website with reviews, this will gain extra trust for your business. Some SEO’s will also say it can help to boost your search engine rankings as Google will see that you have a number of positive relationships with other credible websites.
Above are just some of the many ways that you can build your online profile. If you’re struggling to project trust through your website, talk to our team on 01733 286646 who have years of experience building reliable websites people use with confidence.
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