TIP: 3 Important Ways to Build Trust on Your Website
3 Important Ways to Build Trust on Your Website
By M.J. O’Brien, 5150 Design – February 17, 2016
There are literally dozens of recognized ways to establish trust on your website: client testimonials, secure servers (https), trust badges, licensing, social media assets—the list goes on and on. Still, a recent “B2B Web Usability Report” from Ko Marketing Associates indicates that while these elements have value, users are looking for something more. In fact, the most important trust indicators may surprise you.
1. Contact information. A whopping 54% of users surveyed stated that a lack of thorough contact info made businesses appear less trustworthy and would cause them to leave a website. What’s more, 51% of respondents indicated that thorough contact information was missing on most company websites. Wow! If you are not providing complete and accurate contact info on your website, you are losing customers.
2. Product or service info. 86% of survey respondents said that the information they seek relates to products and services. 46% said that a lack of clear messaging regarding products and services is a red flag and will cause them to hit the back button. Your homepage needs to clearly define what your company does and how it can aid your visitors.
3. About pages. 54% of respondents indicated that a thorough and honest “About” page or “Company Information” page builds trust. Adding employee bios, client testimonials and company history helps establish credibility.
M.J. O’Brien, owner of 5150 Design, is a habitual hiker/backpacker. Between adventures he can be found knee-deep in source code building websites for clients all over the world. You can reach him at 5150design.net.