The internet is not to be trusted. Crawling with scammers and the constant threat of theft, the internet makes it’s users wary of doing anything out of the ordinary online. All internet users learn very quickly that unusual websites should be avoided since they might be hosting malware or attempt to hijack their machine. This is why you should endeavor to build customer trust whenever you can, though you won’t have the privilege of doing this face-to-face. By creating a safe, comfortable environment for your visitors, you can imbue your brand with a sense of loyalty that spills over onto the entirety of your business. By using elements like visual aids, fresh and relevant content and customer incentives, you too can build customer trust and get they staying around for your quality service.
Make Your Company Have A Seal Of Quality
Seeing a seal of quality has an immediate positive impact on the viewer, who associates seals with the very best products and services. In practical terms, a seal represents that something is genuine and adhering to a high standard of quality. This immediately pacifies the skeptics, making all visitors more likely to purchase whatever it is you’re selling. You can even create additional emblems that represent certain promises, such as a money-back guarantee. By utilizing a simple seals and emblems, you can make your page instantly scan-able and if you place them next to the shopping cart, you’ve already brought the visitor to the next step. You can even use the seal and emblems next to your affiliate links, if you’re using one. In all cases, the idea is to show to customers that their time is valuable and they have the right to be cynical.
With regards to how the seal and emblems should look, professionals suggest avoiding bright colors, which might give off a wrong impression. For example, red represents danger, blood, violence and stopping while gold, silver and bronze convey the ideas of winning the grand prize. It doesn’t have to be a metallic color to be usable; choose tones that will blend well with whatever colors you’re already using on your website. As you match colors, you’ll discover a whole new world of visual experience that can make the visitor feel comfortable, appreciated and entertained.
Wear Your History On Your Sleeve
No matter who you are, be proud of it. Whenever you get the chance to present yourself, do so knowing full well that your potential customers will be reading it. Wearing your history on your sleeve, as it were, shows genuine human emotion and makes you appear vulnerable, which helps build trust. Showcase your experience and the track record of happy clients, if possible. People are prone to doing what others are already doing but don’t want to be pioneers in anything, so try to create a positive buzz about your business that carries you forward to success. Would you trust a complete newbie in a field with your time and money? Probably not.
In the business world, experience is the key factor that decides whether you get a project or not. People who have hired mediocre workers and got burned know that price is not an issue as long as quality is present, so keep that in mind. Always focus on the positive side of each past client and emphasize how every project you did was a valuable learning experience.
Prove You Can Be Trusted With Their Money
We talked about seals and emblems so let’s talks about payment logos. Getting something like , MasterCard, PayPal, AMEX or Visa logo gives new visitors the idea that they’re dealing with a trusted payment processor. You are essentially leveraging these payment processors’ brands to boost your own. As identity theft and credit card fraud became more and more prevalent, customers started isolating themselves from un-trusted parties, which means there is only a handful of highly trusted parties, such as above payment processors.
A payment processor logo means you can be trusted with customer money and that their card data is safe with you. This typically involves a secure payment method, which are by far the best way to prove you’re authentic. PayPal actually offers some handy logos and links that will make the checkout process a breeze, keeping shoppers interested in completing the entire purchasing process.
Be More Than an About Page
If you hire a marketing strategist, you’ll get to hear a really simple advice – you’re not just your About page. In essence, marketing professionals believe there should be more substance to your website as far as your personality goes. In a sense, this does hold true since your website should represent not just you as a company but also tell a story of your progress, your journey from humble beginnings to glorious adventures. This kind of personal information is really appreciated by customers, who now have a way to relate to who you are and what you’re doing. With this kind of powerful identity narrative, you can connect to your customers in a way that surpasses superficial e-mails and social media likes. When it comes to being a company, you should present your best face and not be faceless.
Always Show Your Face
We’re wired to notice human faces. If there’s a myriad of objects on a webpage but also a picture of a human face, we’ll ignore everything and try to identify if we know the guy or gal. By including photographs of yourself and your employees, you can ramp up the engagement and increase the time an average visitor spends on your website. Also, posting photographs gives your entire website a lot of credibility and recognition as you now appear much more real and palpable, a person with needs and feelings who uses the exact same tools and services as the visitor. Your face makes the visitor want to engage you, which is an ideal situation for any business. Keep in mind that the photograph is still meant to be professional and that you are representing the entire business, not just yourself.
Get Yourself A Following
Though you can purchase followers to get traffic on social media websites, you should put in some effort to grow an organic audience. That’s actually a sign of loyalty to your audience to work through gradually creating LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter pages and posts to share things, network and get followed naturally. In this way, you connect with real people, who get to follow and know you. If you find yourself adept at this kind of growth you can generate free marketing, with the sight of those friends and followers helping you be more likable to the general public. If you’ve got social skills and can bring things to the forefront, you will be able to reinforce your persona that you want to present to your clients, so unlock your creativity and get really involved.
Let Your Customers Speak Up
Comments, ratings, testimonials and customer reviews help create trust in your website and in your business. As people share what they think about your services and products in the public arena, you will find it brings more and more traffic to your website. Once the avalanche starts rolling, there’s no stopping. Allowing your customers space to provide their feedback, whether good or bad, also gives you more credibility. Naturally, positive reviews coddle your ego but no negativity can make your website feel contrived and artificial. Customers are aware that it’s easy to delete negative comments and will become wary if they don’t see any bad feedback. If you censor bad feedback, it will spread to other websites; at least on your website you can face it and deal with it.
Make Yourself Useful
Making a likable persona of yourself and posting content on a continuous basis doesn’t quite cut it unless your content is relevant and actually useful to the niche. Since every industry has an audience it targets and a field of practice it’s meant for, you should constantly focus on what your visitors are and what they want whenever you update your content or share something. It’s obvious that people who use your services or buy your products think you’re useful and have something they need. However, the usefulness comes from the products’ and services’ utility, not necessarily the worth of your website. Always keep in mind that there are countless competitors out there that can easily squeeze you out of the market; customers are a single search away from hopping over to your competition. As you improve your website’s design, you should provide an explanation of what it is you’re offering and why it’s useful to your audience. Every bit of content stemming from your website should reinforce these concepts of utility, usability and usefulness; relate how your service helps, why your product is worth the purchase and other information relevant to your niche.
No matter if you’re a newbie or a veteran of website development and SEO services, you can always find new tricks and tips to make the content better, giving your customers a more supportive and loyal website to visit.
Take your time to absorb the tips we presented in this article and you’re bound to have a wonderful return in traffic and sales before you know it, so identify what your clients want and try to relate to them on a daily basis.