7 Trust Signals That Help Increase Conversions on Your eCommerce Site

Every business has to earn its target market’s trust. This helps gain valuable leads, increased conversions, and loyal customers. However, buyers’ confidence in a brand should never be demanded, and marketers should be patient enough to get their consumers to believe in the company.

Most companies are unsure about how to implement credibility into their strategies. It has to be well-planned, properly executed, and continuously improved. The first step is to fully understand what the common signals of trust are and how to utilize them in marketing strategies.

What Are Trust Signals?

Trust signals are basically evidence that marketers use to give assurance to their audience. It helps spark confidence within your place in the industry. Your brand’s integrity can come in different forms – paid, organic, subliminal, or direct.

Using indicators that encourage confidence in a brand is vital for eCommerce sites. It helps your buyers decide whether they want to support a brand or not. There are thousands of eCommerce sites today that are untrustworthy and unsecured, and you have to show your leads what differentiates them from you.

What Are the Advantages of Using Trust Signals?

Investing effort in making your eCommerce website dependable has many benefits for your business.

A Reliable Brand

Marketers and entrepreneurs with a reliable business model that takes their security seriously increase their sales and the overall performance of their businesses.

According to Business Insider, the global online shopping market hit almost 4 trillion in 2020. Furthermore, eCommerce sales are projected to increase in individual national markets which is another good reason to invest in implementing trust signals.

Dependability Encourages Word of Mouth

As the number of people trusting your business increases, more and more people will recommend your products and services to others. If they’ve had a good experience with your firm, then they are more likely to talk to other people about it.

Your Sales Will Increase

People tend to buy from websites they feel are secure. If they have had a good purchasing experience with your brand, the chances of becoming loyal consumers increase.

3 Advantages of Using Trust Signals

What Are the Different Types of Trust Signals?

There are about four different types of eCommerce trust signals that you can use on your website. These include the following:

Partnerships With Associations

Displaying your partnerships on your website tells the audience that if a well-known brand has put their faith in you, then why shouldn’t they?

Companies like to display their partnerships with brands that are familiar to the public, as this confirms their place within the industry.

Additionally, media mentions of these co-operations also help increase the credibility of a company.

Guarantees

Money-back offers and other forms of guarantees are some of the most common types of website trust signals. They give consumers peace of mind knowing they can return an item if they are not satisfied.

Refund and return policies are some of the most common guarantees that you can add to your eCommerce website.

Types of Guarantees to Use on Your eCommerce Website

Memberships

Memberships with well-known organizations such as the Better Business Bureau can greatly increase your buyers’ trust. Professional organizations usually have a number of rules and requirements that websites and businesses must adhere to. Even just posting the logo of the organization and adding a caption that says that your business is accredited by them can be a huge game-changer.

Social Proof

Social proof includes testimonials from past clients as well as word-of-mouth recommendations. Most people are hesitant to buy online as they do not physically see the product. Instead, they tend to turn to reviews to confirm if a product is worth buying.

Now that we have discussed what trust signals are, their benefits, and their different categories, it’s time to delve into how you can properly implement this into your marketing strategy.

5 Common Types of Social Proof

Gather Customer Testimonials

Encourage your past consumers to leave a review on your social media pages, on Google, and on sites like Yelp. You can then take the positive and detailed reviews and put them on your website for your potential leads to see.

According to Bright Local, 87% of online shoppers paid attention to local business reviews in 2020 which indicates that customer reviews can greatly affect your web visitors’ buying decisions.

However, you have to show more than just one review to your clients. The average consumer will read about two to ten reviews before deciding on a purchase. Having only a few reviews usually indicates that not a lot of people are interested in a product.

Link Your Social Media Pages to Your Website

If you haven’t created social media pages for your business, you are missing out. Start by creating a Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even a YouTube account and have your profiles linked to your website. Not only can this leverage your social proof, but it can also be a gateway to additional reviews.

Furthermore, you should remember to post regularly. Include relevant information, answer questions, and interact with your customers to show you care about them and what they think about your products.

Lastly, show the number of followers you have to indicate that you are an established brand. Be sure to respond to your customers’ queries so they’d know that they can easily contact you if they have any complaints regarding your service or products.

Show Your Awards and Certifications

As we have mentioned earlier, displaying your awards and certifications lets your customers know that you are an established and well-respected brand. It shows them that you abide by the rules and that your client’s satisfaction comes first.

Moreover, you can also show your employees’ certifications. People like to know that they are dealing with people who excel in their fields. Showing off achievements can help strengthen your customers’ confidence in you.

Be Specific With Your Product Descriptions

People read product descriptions and view pictures before putting them on their cart. They want to know if these products will add value to their lives and if they can solve their pain points.

Your description doesn’t have to be lengthy – it can be in the form of bullet points so it’s easier to scan and read. Just make sure that you have included every single detail that your customer might need. This includes a complete specification of the product and images to support the text.

Take a look at this example from Amazon:

It has a complete description of everything that a client might ask for. It’s informative and detailed, which helps the buyer see if this is what they are looking for. They also have photos and videos showing the item from every angle.

Put yourself in your customers’ shoes and create a list of questions that they might possibly ask. Then answer them briefly in the description. This will make it easier for your consumers to decide whether the product meets their needs.

Add an SSL Certificate

eCommerce websites are undoubtedly prone to hackings or security breaches, especially if your website is not secure. This will automatically turn customers off since they don’t want to give out any information that can put them at risk.

SSL certificates can prevent malicious hackers from obtaining sensitive information. This includes payment methods, personal information passwords.

These certificates are usually provided by your chosen domain company. If they do not offer one, you can choose to buy certificates from trusted websites like GoDaddy.

Benefits of Using an SSL Certificate

Offer Multiple Payment Methods

Not everyone uses the same method of payment. So by offering your buyers a choice, you show them that you are flexible and willing to work with your customers so that their checkout process is easy and hassle-free.

According to Statista, some of the most well-known payment methods include PayPal, credit and debit cards, Alipay, Union Pay, WeChat Pay, Masterpass, Visa Checkout, gift cards, prepaid cards, Apple Wallet, and Google Wallet.

Wrapping Up

To sum it all up, here are seven ways you can add trust indicators to your eCommerce site:

1. Collect client testimonials.
2. Connect your social media pages to your website.
3. Display your awards and certifications.
4. Be specific with your descriptions.
5. Make your company’s contact details visible.
6. Use an SSL certificate.
7. Provide multiple payment methods.

Earning your buyers’ trust takes a lot of time and patience. Assurance is not a one-size-fits-all, and you need to remember that your customers have different beliefs. Determine which of the signals are the most important to your audience and implement them into your strategy.

Committing to giving customers what they need from your business is a surefire way to success.

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Marketing Team