So you’ve got your website up and running. You finally got some traffic. Now it’s time to convert. Just like face-to-face selling, there’s a component of trust that comes into play when someone decides whether they want to do business with you or not.
Here are some of the factors that can help you establish trust on your site…
- Be real! What I mean is you ought to demonstrate that you’ve got a legitimate business by including full contact information including postal address. Some visitors will want to work with a local company even if they’re making a purchase online. Others just want to know they could track you down if they wanted to. This information gives a feeling of comfort.
- Show awards or testimonials. Everyone loves to know that someone else has already had a good experience with your business. If you’ve received awards for anything, talk about them. If you have written testimonials from clients, display them too. An effective testimonial well describe the problem your customer had before working with you and how your business helped solve it.
- Have a uniqueness. If your business is no different from any other business, what compelling reason is there to buy from you. You must find your unique position and exploit it. Tell the story. There might be something different about you, about your products or services, or even about the way you deliver it. Whatever it is, make it known.
- Offer your customers a strong guarantee. Shopping online is perceived as somewhat risky, so reverse the risk for your clients. If the risk is yours instead of theirs you chance of sale goes way up. Could you offer a 30-days unconditional guarantee? That’s much stronger than “you have 30 days to cancel and if you demonstrate that you used our service properly, then we’ll consider a refund.” In this case everyone would assume there’s no way to really get their money back. You want a guarantee that gives a good comfortable feeling.
- Use 3rd party validation. You’ve seen a variety of trust seals on websites. Sometimes they prove that the site has not been hacked. Sometimes they prove virus-free. I prefer the type that lets customers complain if they have a bad experience. That way it’s in my best interest to keep a clean record with happy customers. If you look to the right you’ll see our seal from HonestE Online. You can click that for more information and even to get your own seal.
Well, there you have it… Five things to include in your site to help build trust. These factors increase comfort and confidence in your ability to deliver. And that’s what’s important to help close the sale.
