Building trust with customers

Trust plays a subtle but important role in creating effective websites.

Ultimately, we buy from people we trust and a website is a 24/7 salesperson so it makes sense that we optimise and tweak our websites to build trust.

But how do you do that?

You can’t pay for trust.  You can’t simply ask people to trust you.

So here are 3 ways that you can build trust with your customers through your website and greater internet.

HTTPS

For a long time, the only websites that had to worry about HTTPS were banks, e-commerce sites and those dealing with sensitive information.

That has changed.  Every single site now should use HTTPS.

The mommy blog, the local plumber website and the homemade candle online store all must use HTTPS.

Google is actively promoting any sites that use HTTPS over HTTP sites.  That means, if you and a competitor are ranking on Google, #1 and #2 respectively, with all other factors equal, your competitor will start to take your #1 spot away.

What about trust?

Have a look at the photo below.  Do you notice the ‘Secure’?

Does the website on the right feel most trustworthy?

Absolutely.

This article won’t go into how to have your website running on HTTPS but there are some fantastic resources out there to help you do it.

Like this one – https://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/ssl-https-wordpress/

Reviews

Social proof is such a powerful phenomenon and it’s surprising to see how many businesses aren’t taking advantage of it.

Social proof is when we do things purely because someone else is doing it.  We trust other people more than we think.

Take a pizza shop for example.  If a friend told you that they had the best pizza of their life at a new pizza joint, you’d want to try it out.  Why?  Because you trust them.

In the digital world, we can copy that response through reviews.  I’m not talking about testimonials on your website.  I’m talking about reviews on Facebook, Google, Yelp and any one of the major citation services.

If you’re looking to purchase something, the majority of people will look to reviews to confirm they are making the right decision.  Booking a hotel?  You’ll look at Tripadvisor to see what other people think.  You don’t even know these people but you’ll trust their opinion.

So if you’re a plumber, a pizza shop, a home builder… anything.  You need to be encouraging and asking your customers to leave reviews of your business.  The more the better.

At this point, most people are thinking that they don’t want to get any bad reviews.  The issue with that kind of thinking, is that it’s border-line impossible to please 100% of customers.

There will inevitably be one customer that will leave a bad review.  And that is perfectly OK.

It breathes honesty and customers are smart enough to see through the noise.

When you finish your next project, next sale, or whatever it is that you do – simply ask your customer to leave a review on Facebook or Google.  It’ll make you feel great when they leave positive feedback and your future customers will trust your business more.

Design

Wine and cheese might age well, websites don’t.

You don’t often see a website that was built in 2001 that still looks great today. While it might still work and show your logo,  your poorly designed website is killing trust between you and your customer.

The website screams “I don’t value my presentation so I won’t value my work”.

Customers feel that.

Imagine you were looking at buying a house.  You found 2 houses that you like.  In fact, the 2 houses are exactly the same.  The only difference is 1 house has a beautifully, manicured front yard.  The other front-yard is full of overgrown grasses and weeds. Which house would you buy?

Take a look at your website.  Objectively.  Look at your competitors’ website.  Objectively.  Then ask yourself if your website is giving your customers the best impression of your business.

Good design builds trust. Bad design scares people away.

Remember, people from buy from people they trust.

Do your customers trust you?