Even if your business holds a sterling reputation, many people will often reserve a certain amount of skepticism when Web browsing. When Web scams and viruses abound, who can blame them? To ease the fears of online shoppers, you should add a few key features to your website that elevate your site above other, less altruistic, websites. It’s not only important to stamp your website with reassurances; you also need to know what to avoid in order to gain your consumers’ trust.
Adding a Better Business Bureau (BBB) Accredited Business seal to your website can immediately identify your site as a safe place to make purchases or add personal information for a user account. With this seal, your website will be added to the BBB safe shopping mall list, increasing your website’s exposure to consumers as a trustworthy site.
Compared to websites without the certificate, a website with an HTTPS certificate offers added encryption protection for those who enter information on the site. This stamp of approval also validates the identity of the site, so visitors can be sure that the site isn’t fraudulent. A website’s URL will show an “https://” prefix rather than “http://” if it has received the HTTPS certificate.
To gain trust with visitors, people expect to a see a full, registered company name, physical address, email address, and either a customer service telephone number or contact form on a "Contact Us" or "About Us" Web page. If people can’t find these things on your site, doubt can quickly settle in. Photographs and bios of employees can also add credibility and trust between you and online consumers, as these things help humanize your website.
Some features on websites can cause apprehension for visitors. For instance, an abundance of pop-ups and flashing ads often make websites look less-than-reputable. Links to your website should also reflect your company name or something your shoppers will easily identify with. A slightly misspelled company name in the URL often signifies a scam. Also, images that don’t fit with your written content will raise a red flag with consumers.
