Trust is one of the most valuable elements a business can have. Without trust, it’s harder for a potential customer to take the next step to make a purchase. Having trust factors on your website is crucial if you want a visitor to stay and, hopefully, continue on to buy a product or service from you. These trust factors are like subtle green lights throughout your customers’ journey and should be considered in your website design.
Below are some examples of trust factors to consider:
Website Design
Design trends change over time, which can lead to some websites looking a little outdated or out of touch. It’s important to keep up with how design trends are changing to ensure that you stand out against your competitors when someone is making a purchasing decision. Below are some great examples of superior website design. Click on the images to be taken to those websites.
Navigation
Your website should be easy to navigate. Any user that visits your website needs to be able to find the information they’re looking for within 2-3 clicks. When visitors find it easy to navigate around your website, they’ll stay longer and be more likely to turn into a lead or sale. Below is a website with superior navigation that helps the visitor learn about Georgia Wine, its history, and the culture of the country, and even take a course on the wines itself!
Content
From a content perspective, you should be sharing valuable content that helps your customers to trust your brand and learn how you can solve their problems. However, one issue that can easily occur is that your content becomes outdated. For example, there’s no use having a blog but only showing articles that were written 2+ years ago. Blogs are a great way to increase your search engine ranking too, which is why they should be updated regularly like this one for a real estate company.
Social Proof
Social proof is a collective term for elements on your website that provide authority. Things like testimonials, case studies, and links to websites, videos, or podcasts that you’ve been featured on. Another powerful social proof element is the widgets that show people who recently purchased, which is a great option for E-Commerce businesses.
Contact Details
When someone is looking to trust a business, it’s important that they’re able to see you’re a real company. There are, unfortunately, some very believable fake or scam websites online, but they have one thing in common – missing or incomplete contact details. Ensure you’ve got multiple ways a visitor can contact you, such as email, telephone, and in-store if you offer that.
Copyright Year
This last one is a simple fix but easily forgotten as a new year comes around. Updating the copyright year in the footer of your website helps a visitor to see that your business is active and potentially trustworthy. Some websites can have copyright years that are 4-5 years or more out of date.
If your website needs a refresh or if you would like an audit on what to improve on your website, schedule a meeting with us. We offer a free audit and 30-minute consultation to discuss how to improve your digital footprint so you’ll earn more trust among your potential customers.