It takes only a few seconds for a visitor to form an opinion about your company’s website. If they like what they see, they will likely continue browsing. If not, you can probably count them as lost potential customers.
While the aesthetics of your website largely determines whether a person will continue browsing or not, there’s one more factor that can affect their decision to transact with you, and that is trustworthiness.
Here are some ways to make your website more authentic and trustworthy:
1. Avoid using stock photos and videos
Stock photos can be useful in some instances, but using them for your homepage can make your website feel generic and unreal. Sure, a bunch of smiling employees can make your website look nice, but do they give your site a genuine personality?
Instead of using stock media, hire the best photographer or corporate video production company in Manchester or anywhere you’re doing business in. Alternatively, if you have in-house talent, you can appoint someone to take company pictures for your website.
2. Install an SSL certificate
An SSL certificate indicates that the connection between your server and the visitor’s browser is secure. People tend to trust a website with an SSL certificate because it means data transfers are safe, especially for sites that involve personal and bank information. If you want your web visitors to trust your website and make transactions with you, and SSL certificate is essential.
3. Limit advertisements
Too many ads on one page can make your website look spammy and suspicious. Apart from that, it can annoy your web visitors and drive them to close your page.
When putting ads on your website, limit them to only two or three at a time. Avoid making ads look like part of the website as well in an attempt to trick the visitor in clicking the ad. It’s also good practice to mark posts as ‘sponsored’ or ‘promotional’ if they have ads; it will help you appear more honest.
4. Invest in high-quality design
A well-designed website that looks clean, professional, and aesthetically pleasing is much more trustworthy than a poorly-designed site. It doesn’t mean that beautiful websites can’t be fraudulent, but in general, people are more willing to trust a company that has invested in its website design.
It is also important to keep your website updated. An outdated design can lead people to think that the site has been abandoned, and thus decide not to go on further. Show your web visitors that you are still active by maintaining an updated design, posting new content, and embedding an RSS feed on your page.
5. Post feedback and testimonials
As much as 91% of people read online reviews and 68% have an opinion after reading one to six reviews. Needless to say, feedback matters, both good and bad, and you want to provide your web visitors with genuine feedback and testimonials to earn their trust.
People are more careful with their online activities nowadays and it’s a must for companies to keep their website trustworthy. If you want to make your website more genuine and reliable, these are the tips you should start with.
