When people visit your business website, they judge you.  They decide if they trust you.  That impression is one of the most important factors in engaging them.  Here are some tips on how you can develop your content to evoke a feeling of trust.

There are two elements to website design and content that are fundamental to winning business through website marketing.  Without these, the finest design in history won’t convert.

The first is communicating that you have a solution to the visitor’s problem.  You have what they need.

The second is getting people to believe that you’ll keep your promises.  You are trustworthy.

The first element is fairly straightforward, depending on how well you communicate your value proposition.   You must make a connection between the need of the visitor and your solution.

The second, however, is not straightforward.  We like to think that trust is something we can prove rationally.   In other words, if you are trustworthy and you act in a transparent way so people see your trustworthiness,  they should trust you.

But that doesn’t cover it.  Trust is emotional rather than rational.  It’s a gut feeling.  We base hunches on symbols, perceived connections, and nuanced communication.

Earning trust on a website is a discipline unto itself.  The design and content come together to create a personal impression.  In many ways, it’s worth thinking of your website like a person – a member of your staff who offers the initial handshake to prospective customers.

Well before you have the chance to speak to prospects, they’ve decided if they trust your business.

So how do you evoke trust with website content?  Here are some tips.

Dress Like a Professional

A considerable part of the impression your website makes – especially as it connects to trust – happens almost instantaneously.

In less than a second, people start to judge the way your website looks.  This is similar to how we judge people based on their attire; it’s why we dress nice for a job interview.

Your website needs a professional, modern “style”.  It can still be simple – even understated – but it needs to look up to date.

An outdated website causes immediate questioning of your trustworthiness.  You’re showing a lack of cultural awareness like walking into a job interview in cut-off shorts and flip-flops.

Today, it goes without saying that this carries over to the mobile experience.  If you don’t look good on mobile you’re missing half your audience.

Look at your website for just a couple of seconds.  Does it look like professional work, or does it look cheap, amateurish and outdated?

Visitors will transfer this first impression into assumptions about your work.  If your site makes a weak impression, they’ll wonder if you have a service they’ll want.

You’ve lost before you can even communicate what you do.  There is no reason to put yourself at that disadvantage.

Use a website design service to update your site with mobile responsive technology.  Our projects are fast, affordable, and well worth it for the trust they establish as soon as someone arrives on your website.

Be Direct

When someone does a search online, they are often looking for an answer.  They may want information, or need a product or service.

When they get results and click-through to a website, what they want most is to understand that you have the information they need or the solution they seek.

Every moment they have to take figuring out what you do, where you are, and what action they can take, trust erodes.

Small business websites don’t do well with cryptic brand messaging.  Filler content that’s overripe with fluff and buzzwords loses their attention.  Big, beautiful images – that have nothing to do with the product or service – are skipped over.

Like with the first impression, time is not on your side.  You have about 7 seconds to communicate how you are a solution to the visitor’s problem or you’ll lose them.

Be direct with your website content.  Front-load the important stuff so people see it first.  Use hero shots that show your solution in action instead of irrelevant stock photos.

Many businesses overestimate how much visitors will infer from their content.  Assume that your visitors:

• Know nothing about you
• Care only about what you can do for them
• Read at a 5th-grade level
• Don’t know any buzzwords or jargon from your industry
• Are in a hurry and feeling impatient

When you are direct by communicating clear value and orienting visitors so they know they’ve found what they’re looking for, it evokes a feeling of trust.

When you confuse them, it does the opposite.

If you are an eCommerce website, note that this feeling carries through in the check-out process.  When it’s seamless and simple, people finish their transaction.  If there is any confusing info or sidetrack, they abandon cart.

Never give up clarity and the trust it creates for the sake of a funky design or superficial content.

If you’re unsure about how your content is performing, run a quick usability test.

A Trusted Reputation

Even when you do everything we’ve discussed right, consumers will still be suspicious.  Sure, you claim you’re awesome, but you have an ulterior motive.  You want to sell your stuff.

Who else can verify your excellence?

A major part of today’s digital marketing is your online reputation.  Word of mouth recommendations are a huge boon to building trust.  But today they come in the form of testimonial and online review content.

There are few products or local services that don’t need the support of online reviews.  In eCommerce, Amazon shows without a doubt the importance of customer reviews.  Google’s new Home Service Ads platform focuses on customer reviews and uses them as a major factor in search rankings.

Your business website has a reputation.  You’ll get this reputation in the form of online reviews whether you want it or not.

Furthermore, people will check your reputation on reviews sites that include Google, Facebook, Yelp, HomeAdvisor and Top Rated Local.

On your website, you can start to earn trust by including testimonials directly in your content.  Put them on your homepage, on landing pages, and near calls to action.  Use them in your company video.   If you can put a face to a name, all the more trustworthy:

Use the Top Rated Local trust badge and have it link to your reputation page:

On Top Rated Local, you’ll have a rating score which is an aggregate of all your online ratings.  A high score here is a strong trust factor.

Social Media

Businesses often wonder why they should maintain active social media accounts.  One of the best reasons is that they are great platforms for devleoping trust in your brand.

Lively, updated, useful social media channels that have a strong following create a sense of trust.  When people say to themselves people like me like this it creates a sense of affinity.  We trust people – and brands – that fit for our lifestyles.

You may be on Facebook or Instagram publishing content that has little to no sales value.  But it shows a personal side to your business that engenders a sense of trust.

Remember, people like to buy from people they like.  Social media is a good place to show the personal side of your business.

With the popularity of social media today, expect people to take a look at your presence on these sites.

Conclusions

This bears repeating.  There are two things you must do with your website.  The first is make a needs-based connection.  You must have what the visitor needs.  It’s your job to make sure they understand that need and how you fulfill it.

The other is trust.  If – for any reason – someone doesn’t think you’ll keep your promises and deliver on the value your present, you’ll lose.

Trust factors are a good thing to look at if you have low conversion rates but feel you’ve done most everything else correct with your web marketing.  This requires to you to look at how people perceive your offer, and how they respond to your content on an emotional level.

Professional presentation, clarity communicating your main offer, content that creates an affinity, and a strong reputation are the pillars that evoke trust through web content.

Trust is hard to measure.  There is no “trust metric” in Google Analytics.  But the byproduct of trust is more conversions.  You’ll know it when you have it – and when you don’t.

Trust your own instincts.  Do you seem trustworthy?  Is there anything about your offer or presentation that seems sketchy?  Would you buy from you?

You should feel your business is totally trustworthy.  If you don’t, careful, skittish web consumers won’t either.