​Earn Customer Trust With a Credible Website

Amanda Clark
Amanda Clark

Trust is an invaluable commodity for any business owner. Simply put, you won’t have any customers if people don’t trust you to follow through on your promises.

It’s especially important for home-services businesses. Nobody wants to invite a pumper to their home without first ensuring the business is legitimate and trustworthy. The best way to do that is to judge your website.

So how can you ensure that your website conveys the needed credibility? Here are five factors to consider.

Social proof

Social proof is an important concept for trade service businesses. Basically, people are more likely to trust your business if they see that other customers have taken the plunge and had a positive experience.

The two primary ways to offer social proof are reviews and testimonials. Consider adding these elements to your website — whether in the form of a dedicated testimonials page, or simply a link to your Google reviews. The ultimate goal is to be transparent about the experience of your previous customers.

Site updates

Another thing you can do to increase the credibility of your website is update it regularly.

Have you ever been to a website that hasn’t been touched in years? It can make you wonder if the company is even still in business. Make sure you refresh your content every year or two. Ideally, you can launch a blog to offer regular content updates, too.

And if you have a company news section, make sure it has some recent entries. If the last “news” update is from 2014, maybe it’s time to just get rid of the page altogether!

Ads

Hosting third-party ads on your website can generate some extra income, but it can also cause your credibility to erode.

The presence of ads makes it seem like your business is desperate or illegitimate. Plus, it makes for a less pleasant user experience. Best to avoid them altogether.

Bios and photos

Anything you can do to humanize your company will ultimately help you build trust. An “About Us” page with photos and bios of your team members helps customers feel like they are dealing with real people, not some faceless corporation. And that can be a source of comfort!

Contact information

Finally, it’s optimal to have NAP data (your company’s name, address and phone number) listed on every page of the website. This makes it obvious that you’re not hiding from anyone. You can always be reached in the event of a question, problem or emergency.

By contrast, if you don’t allow people to contact you, it seems like you’re trying to be elusive — and that hardly facilitates trust.

Adding trust to your website

With the right elements in place, your website can exude credibility and help your customers feel as though they can trust you. Use these tips to turn your website into an exemplar of your reputation and integrity.



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