How to increase sales by making your website more credible

Your website’s overall credibility plays an important role in helping visitors determine whether or not they want to continue browsing or if they’re going to leave to check out the competition.

Let’s take a look at what goes into building a credible website.

Design

Think of your website like an actual storefront. If you’re walking in to a store for the first time you would probably feel more comfortable in a space that’s brightly lit, clean and easy to navigate opposed to something dark, cluttered and unkempt. The more at ease you feel the more likely you are to stay a little longer. Any feeling of uneasiness or frustration will probably lead you to turn around and walk right out the door.

People are drawn to aesthetically pleasing things. Studies show that 70 per cent of people won’t trust a website based solely on how it looks. If your website looks dated or unprofessional it will negatively impact your credibility. That being said, it’s definitely worth it to invest in professional website design.

Up to Date Content

Publishing new content regularly not only keeps Google happy, it shows people that you’re relevant and that helps to establish trust. A website that’s full of past promotions and events or a blog that hasn’t seen any new content in years is going to raise some red flags. It may even lead people to believe that you’re no longer in business.

Avoid making a bad first impression by publishing new content regularly and ensuring that your content is free from spelling and grammar mistakes and broken links.

Social Proof

You don’t need to have thousands of followers but you do need to have a presence on social media. When researching a new business, it is becoming increasingly more common for potential customers to turn to social media to help them make a decision. Choose at least one social media platform based on who your target market is and take the time to set up your profile and start posting regularly.

Make your social media profiles easy to access by prominently displaying links in the header, footer and contact page of your site.

Security

Online privacy has become a major concern and rightfully so. As more and more data breaches are making headlines people are becoming less and less comfortable sharing their personal information online.

As of October 2017, if you visit a website that does not use HTTPS Google will display a security notice to warn you about submitting any personal information through the website.

HTTPS means that the information that you send from your browser to a website is encrypted and therefore no one can steal it.

If the visitors to your website don’t feel safe it’s unlikely that they’re going to have any confidence in your business.

Speed

Most people expect a website to load in 2 seconds or less. Let’s face it; nobody likes to wait especially when there are so many other options in the search results just waiting to be clicked!

A site that loads quickly will not only help to increase a visitor’s confidence in your site but it will also help you to rank higher in search results as Google favors sites that load faster because they provide a better experience for the user.

Share your location

A legitimate business has a physical location and a telephone. Even if you think it’s irrelevant, always display your location and phone number prominently on your website, it will give you credibility. If this information is hard to find or doesn’t exist at all you’re going to send a message to your potential customers that you do not want to be contacted which can make people feel uneasy.

Reviews and Testimonials

The impact a review or testimonial has on a consumer’s decision making process is undeniable. You believe in your business but that’s not always enough to convince a potential customer to believe in you too.

Consider reviews to be like word-of-mouth recommendations. 88% of consumers trust reviews online as much as a personal recommendation. They are incredibly persuasive and quite possibly one of the most effective ways to boost your credibility.

Reviews will help to build your reputation in ways that a website simply cannot do on its own. Not only will they ultimately help increase sales, they will also provide you with valuable insights about your customers which you can use to grow your business.

Not only will your potential customers appreciate the vote of confidence, Google will respond favorably as well. Positive reviews give your site more authority which can improve your ranking.

Stay tuned for our next blog which will focus more on this topic and why you should be actively seeking out reviews from your clients.

Having a credible website will help you generate leads and gain potential customers. Are you concerned about your website’s credibility? Contact WSI today to find out how we can help.