Do you know what attribute kills conversions? The one thing that can destroy a potential customer’s consideration of your brand? The one main thing that most people overlook when designing a website? The thing is that no matter how beautiful the site is, no matter how great it ranks on Google its lack will just obliterate your conversions and revenue.
Trust.
It’s not the product or service, the price point, or how cool your site is that determines whether someone purchases from you or hires you. It’s whether they TRUST that you will deliver, often literally. If a consumer or potential client doesn’t feel convinced by your design and messaging that you can and will deliver, they’re going to look elsewhere.
This is all about the consumer’s buying process. While it may seem like a mystery, it’s really not. The fact is trust sells. You can have a beautifully optimized landing page with amazing consumer-centric copy and stunning imagery that is easy to navigate. A website that creates a whole bunch of micro yes’s, and all it takes is one element that makes the visitor question if you are trustworthy and poof. You just lost a customer. And the worst part is you probably have no idea how and why it happened.
People get scammed all the time. Whether it’s by an Instagram ad selling a cool product, or a local service provider that takes advantage of you. It’s not that people want to be skeptical, it’s just a sad truth that today you have to be skeptical. We at Radiant Elephant know this and that is why our focus is on building trust through authentic marketing.
This can be a hard truth to grasp for the business owner who has never had any kind of intention of scamming anyone. If you’re not trying to hide something then why would you even think that you need to make sure it doesn’t look like you are?
When most people visit your website they don’t know a thing about you. They may try to gather as much info as they can by checking out your website, your social media profiles, and Google reviews. But even then, there’s very little information to determine if they can trust you. Data can be made up, reviews can be faked, and even social media engagement can be purchased.
How many horror stories have you heard over the years about a car mechanic that ripped someone off, a construction company that cut corners or didn’t show, a car dealership that covered up a car’s issues, an e-commerce store that never sent the product, and won’t return the money? I’ve heard a ton of all of these. And guess what, so has every potential lead that visits your website.
It happens every day. And most businesses don’t even think in terms of building trust.
But again, trust is the single most important factor that people consider when choosing a product or service.
I got a crash course in this recently working on a project for a supplement company. This is a space that is full of shady products and even shadier companies. Crazy claims, not being transparent with ingredients, trying to loop customers into auto-billing that’s next to impossible to cancel, and money-back guarantees that are not honored.
So when I took this project on I had to really get even more intense about building trust. And let me tell you, it was a massive hurdle to overcome.
All it takes is one thing to feel off to a visitor and they’re gone. It’s not like there is a lack of other options for whatever you offer. They can easily just go and find one that has a solid trust factor built into their website design.
When visitors trust that you can solve their problem but also that you will not take advantage of them conversions go up. Simple as that. Some industries have to work harder than others. Supplements, car dealers, insurance companies, and lawyers are just a few that have a real uphill battle to establish trust.
Reviews are the cornerstone of trust. 95% of people read reviews before making a purchase and 72% won’t take a buying action until they’ve read reviews. This is true for every industry. Whether someone is hiring a plumber, deciding where to go for dinner, and especially when someone is looking to purchase something online. the more expensive the purchase the more reviews we read.
But it’s not that simple.
These must be real reviews from real people. It’s interesting because people can tell when reviews aren’t authentic even if they’re convincing-looking reviews. Authenticity is so important to building trust.
The sweet spot for reviews is 4.3-4.7 out of 5 stars. Why? Because any higher we get skeptical. Are they real? Did they purposefully try to prevent bad reviews? Who knows? However, 82% of customers seek out negative reviews. I know I do. I want to know what the worst experience someone has had is. Sometimes it’s minor and sometimes it makes the user question the purchase altogether. When it’s minor, it is comforting. Oh, so the worst review for this mechanic is that he left a little grease on the steering wheel or it took an extra day to repair. Well, that’s a lot better than the worst review being that he didn’t fix it but charged for labor and parts. Do you see where I’m going?
Any lower than 4.3 stars and it looks like your product or service is just not good.
But it’s not just that reviews are important, the kind of reviews and how they’re presented are important. If you just pop reviews you’ve gotten onto your website it will have a minimal effect. Adding an image and a link or embed of the actual review boosts trust. A video review is even better. Showing the actual person reviewing it helps people get over the suspicion that it’s a fake review. Because sadly there is a whole industry in the underbelly of digital marketing dedicated to selling fake reviews on Google, Amazon, Trustpilot, and the list goes on.
Badges build trust. Having badges for the BBB, industry-specific associations, and the like helps to build trust. Join those associations and slap those badges on your website. Won an award? Get that badge up on your website.
Your content plays a large role in building trust. And this is multifaceted and a principle of good design.
First, the quality of your content is important. Well-written well-structured content helps to build trust and establish authority.
Grammar is huge. Typos and improper punctuation reflect poorly on your brand and your trust factor will take a hit. Proofread the hell out of your website content. Run through a program like Grammarly and then read it out loud to make sure it reads well.
You vs. We is where it’s at. Think of it as a conversation with a person. When a person is all about them you don’t feel like a part of the conversation. Now think about most website content. It’s all about we we, we. I see it all the time. When you do this your brand comes off as one of THOSE people that just talk about themselves. By changing the narrative to “you” based content you open up a whole new world. Visitors can relate when you mirror their pain points. They can imagine themselves using your product or service because you help guide them through your content.
It’s hard to trust a bad website. And most scammy websites are poorly designed. Bad layout, poor user experience, or even just an outdated non-mobile responsive design makes you look like you don’t care. And if you don’t care enough about the presentation of your business then how is a potential customer supposed to have faith that you are competent and reliable?
Every website should have a phone number, email address, and address if applicable. If there’s no basic transparency what would the rest of the customer experience look like? If there’s a problem, how do they contact you? You’re not doing your business any favors by not having your contact info easy to find.
A website that clearly seems to understand your pain point or desire to visit and then mirrors that back to you creates trust. Why? We trust those that seem to understand us and those that address our concerns. As an example, let’s say you’re hiring a moving company. When you land on a moving company website that addresses that it’s a stressful time and throughout the content and structure work to show why you understand their worries and how you make the process easy, you will have trust that they are competent.
Social Media accounts serve a lot of different functions. And yes, trust is one of them. Social media can build trust by showing a different side of your brand. It’s a great place to show your authority, share the inner workings, show the team, etc. It also provides another point of contact and some people really prefer to FB message or shoot a DM on Instagram to ask questions. So be social, and monitor your messages.
Guarantees and free trials create peace of mind. They are a great way to build trust. Add some guarantee badges to your website. Or start off with a free trial to show that you are truly confident about your product or service. By offering a guarantee you reduce a major hesitation point. I can’t tell you how many things I’ve tried or bought because I was curious about it and saw a money-back guarantee and thought why not?
Show your numbers and your age if they are significant. Obviously, this doesn’t work for a new business. In that case, you need to put extra work into the other trust factors. But if you’ve been in business for years, put that out there. Have you served hundreds or thousands of clients? Sold a ton of products? Give those concrete numbers. Build that trust. If you’re a painting company that’s painted thousands of homes, get that exact number and put it front and center. If you’ve painted that many houses you must know what you’re doing. And if that many people have hired you, well you must do a good job. Think like a consumer and less like a business owner.
Let’s face it, most awards these days are paid for. Or at least require some kind of fee. But they still work. People love seeing awards. Even if they’ve never heard of the group giving them. It builds trust and confidence in your brand. But don’t overdo it, because then it loses impact. 3-5 is a good sweet spot to stick to.
Show actual results. If you’re a dentist, show before and afters. The same goes for a personal trainer. If you are a car detailer show the results. If you are an investment company show what you did to build somebody’s wealth. You don’t have to show the person or company the case study is from, but allow the visitor to imagine those results in their own life and you will add more trust.
Many people can’t stand not seeing the team behind a company. We all like to be able to see the face of the owner or the person we’ll be dealing with. To read a little bit about them. The more we learn about the people behind a company the more we feel like we know them. And the more we feel like we know them the more we can trust them.
Websites are a great mix of content and imagery. And the imagery is one of the most misunderstood trust factors. Bad stock images do nothing to differentiate you, and the more you look like everyone else the less trust a potential customer will have towards you. The idea is to have completely unique brand imagery that along with the content tells a story.
If you’ve been featured in a big publication or if you’ve worked with recognizable companies you should place these logos strategically on your website. It doesn’t matter if you got the coverage through a HARO pitch or a Press Release, showing you’ve appeared in something notable, or have worked with a well-known brand gives you credibility and can be a factor that sways a customer in favor of your business.
In conclusion, this is a great starting list of ways you can begin to really build trust and increase website conversions for your own business. Ignore it at your own detriment. Trust is huge and only gets more and more important as we move forward into the digital age. If you’re interested in discussing how we can help you to increase your website conversion and trust feel free to reach out and schedule a complimentary consultation with our founder Gabriel. Click here to contact Radiant Elephant and begin.
