It is not wise to assume that people would trust everything you demonstrate in the online space. Today’s people are well-informed and research-oriented, and they look for signals of reliability before they arrive at an important decision.
And as an ecommerce business owner, you are expected to build that trust among your prospects. The trust comes from two different angles – by showing them your positives and not being afraid to tell them the truth when something isn’t that sunny.
Why is it important to earn the trust of your customers? Because your business’s growth is directly linked to the trust of your customers. If you have created a strong customer base who trust you and who are ready to recommend you to their friends and family, you not only make new leads in your business but cement the existing customers more closely to your client list.
One of the most effective ways to build customer trust is through trust signals. With the help of ecommerce trust signals, you can easily convert your wavering prospects to actual customers.
Importance of Having Trust Signals in Ecommerce
The ecommerce business arena is loaded with hundreds of sellers. People won’t become your customers unless they realize what merits and perks they would enjoy if they went with your service. They will know those benefits only if you demonstrate them.
The benefits you offer them should not just be free shipping and reward points but also the trust factor because ecommerce is one of the most attacked cyberspaces today. You can certainly boost your conversion rates if you could leverage that aspect.
With more and more people preferring shopping online as compared to traditional shopping mode where they have to physically visit a mall, purchase things, and carry the purchased items back home, the extent of growth you can make in the ecommerce is immeasurable. But that comes with some efforts in trust-building. Here are the eight most popular ecommerce trust signals you can consider for your website.
Display Statistics of Customers
If you are a beginner in the ecommerce industry, you will certainly need to wait for some time to get your name across to people. Do not expect them to blindly order products through your site.
It is good to demonstrate how authentic you are by displaying statistics about the volume of your customers, the number of products being sold, and more. These statistics would help a customer know that you are not a scam but a service that can be relied on.
Utilize Customer Logos to Build Your Brand
If you have associated with any well-known brands or customers whom their logos can easily recognize, get their permission to use them on your site to show your customers your reliability and trustworthiness.
You must first develop a good connection with those brands or people. A prospect will be more likely to take a big purchase decision on a product or service through your ecommerce site if it showcases the logo of another well-known brand. This will show them that several legitimate organizations are willing to trust you.
Customer Reviews
Customer reviews or testimonials are among the most impactful trust signals on an e-commerce site. Even if you give a very long and convincing product description on the site coupled with catchy images, people will not take them for granted without analysing a few reviews.
People do have more trust in products that have been bought by the greatest number of customers and that have more positive reviews and higher ratings. Including reviews on your ecommerce site is like saying to your customers, ‘we have given you enough information about the product and its benefits; now listen to what our certified customers have to say about it and make an informed decision.’
Get an SSL Certificate for Your Website
Many ecommerce sites are rejected by people just because they do not have an SSL certificate. There are plenty of cheaper to medium to costly SSL certificates, such as Comodo Positive SSL, RapidSSL certificate, and Thawte SSL 123 certificate. You must choose one based on the volume of user data your website should carry.
SSL enables domain and business validation of a business and establishes a secured connection between the server and the user. It encrypts user data and makes it impossible for hackers to leak them and use them for covert purposes. Moreover, if your website is not secured with a reliable SSL certificate like Comodo Positive SSL and other types discussed above, it would display the warning ‘not secure’ when someone tries to load your website on their browser.
Improve User Experience
Make your website smooth to load on devices such as computers, tablets, and smartphones. Make sure that all pages are fast to respond to and load.
Slow-loading pages will irritate people, and they will instantly hop on to an alternative service. If they receive a better experience, chances are slim they would ever return to you. Additionally, incorporate high-resolution images of the products.
Include a Detailed Product Description
Product descriptions are another great trust signal. There should be a clear, easy-to-understand description of the product you want to sell on your site. Depending on the product, the type of information needs to be written varies?
For instance, if the description is about a smartphone, all related information such as its screen size, resolution, weight, hardware specifications, software specifications, and all related information should be given with relevant images. A clear and comprehensive description will improve a prospect’s trust in the product, and he will be enticed to buy it.
Include Social Media Links
If you want to create trust in your brand among people, it is essential to have a social media presence. Create pages on all social media pages like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Keep the accounts updated regularly.
Also, on your site footer, add the links to these pages. Your ecommerce site does not show how many people buy your products or how popular you are among people, but your social media pages clearly show your followers’ count, which is a clear trust signal.
Add Contact Information
And finally, list down your contact information – email address or phone number to get in touch with you for any assistance. If you offer quick-to-access customer service, people will certainly have more trust in your service.
Final Thoughts
To sum up, there are numerous trust signals you can improvise on to increase the conversion rate. With each trust signal added, people’s confidence in your service increases. Some steps like the integration of the SSL certificate will help boost people’s trust in your ecommerce brand and increase the security of your website.