BUILDING TRUST ON YOUR WEBSITE-
7 quick suggestions (plus one bonus recommendation)
Visitors to your website need to know they can trust you. Its not just about the products and services you offer. Visitors need to get a sense of who you are so they want to trust doing business with you.
This post will deal with two aspects of building that trust – that are essential to the personal relationship visitors want – which allows them relate stronger with you.
Lets start with the bonus suggestion first……
A) Are you real and how do I know you exist.
Start with your contact details – Not showing a full postal address and contact details – is one of the top reasons visitors shy away from websites, so we recommend an informative Contact Page that builds trust :- that shows your full address, phone number and a contact form. Add a google map of your physical location which will allow your website visitors know you have in place the number one confidence requirement – “that you actually exist in a physical location and they can contact you in case of need.
While all this may sounds obvious – but not everyone does it! – and web users have learned the hard way to walk away from websites that cause them even the slightest doubt.
B) About Us Page
Many new website owners seek to fill this webpage with mundane information because as business owners they are focussed on content that they believe visitors are more interested in. A good “About us” website page will be a “converter” – i.e. either convert a consideration to buy on your online shop into a purchase or convert a half interested visitor into being comfortable that you are a business they can trust to make further contact with.
For this reason I strongly recommend giving some thought to the content of our about us page.
1) Know your audience – an online shop may require to promote the brand stronger here while a business to business website may need to promote their people and the quality of service.
2) Tell your business story history about its founders and their mission and how the business has grown. If a new business share your enthusiasm for the gap in the market you are fulfilling and how you will provide them with a better service. – Remember its all about building trust.
3) Don’t lie – Don’t pretend you are a 10 year old business and you actually started last week. Trust is built with 1) and 2) above and is completely ruined by telling lies. Yes google is responsible for access to a lot of the information that gets you found out – Don’t take the risk because it only takes a few seconds to be found out!
4) Be PASSIONATE – ensure your website visitors know you ( and your colleagues) are passionate about what you do, be that for your level of service, range of products, unique proposition, etc – don’t be shy about letting them know how much you care about them getting great products or service. Your love and enthusiasm will build confidence.
5) Mission, Vision or USP – If there is something unique or market leading about your product/service – get this message across here – you can still link to references in other sections of your website. If you have a unique selling proposition ( USP) ensure you get this across and if you are more of a corporate ensure your Mission statement and Vision comes across.
6) Testimonials – Testimonials are the online equivalent of walking into a physical store or office that seriously impresses you and gives you confidence that this is a strong business doing well. A couple of testimonials from a range of genuine customers/clients will have that same strong impact online. Don’t neglect this even if you are new to business – then you should grow this as your business grows and actively seek testimonials from early clients.
7) Images – A picture paints a thousand words and a poor out of focus makes you look like a dilapidated business in a falling down building. Always use quality images and in your ” About us” page – let them show what your business is about and ideally show real people that visitors can relate to.
Summary:
The information on your about us page should come across as showing your vision and expertise, your passion, your customer care, and be backed up by quality images and Testimonials. The about us page does not have to be a novel – but should be thought through in terms of having a sentance or short par and pics that reflect the 7 steps above.
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