It takes users less than a second to form an opinion about a website and decide whether or not it’s trustworthy, according to multiple studies. This means you have mere milliseconds to convince visitors of the value your website brings to them so they stay and browse through your pages.
With such a small timeframe to make a good first impression, your website needs to have all the right elements to prove its reliability and usability. Below are five website trust factors in web design that build your site’s credibility, drive high-quality traffic and help generate more leads.
Our 5 Top Website Trust Factors
Website Trust Factor 1: Intuitive Design
Your website design is the first thing people notice when they visit one of your landing pages. The majority of online users judge a website’s authority based on how it lay out, colours, fonts it uses and the ease of navigation. If they don’t like what they see, they’ll click out of your page and find a website with more appealing features.
Thus, the first step in building trust for your website is to work on your design and user interface. Your web layout must be easy on the eyes. It also needs to be instinctive to use, meaning that the user will immediately know what to do or where to go next just by looking.
One of the most common ways of implementing an intuitive design is by organising your content according to natural eye tracking patterns. The human eye perceives the most eye-catching elements first. So, in a typical web layout, users will process content according to this sequence: size, colour, contrast, alignment, repeated elements, proximity, whitespace then texture.
Web designers often apply the F pattern on websites to abide by said content hierarchy, especially for text-heavy pages. The F pattern places the most important visual cues on the top and left sides of the page because these are the areas where people start scanning content.
Website Trust Factor 2: Testimonials
Testimonials and reviews are one of the – if not the biggest –trust factors in web design. They serve as a proof of concept for your service and show that people trust your brand. As a social signal, they are indispensable because even when a potential client doesn’t know your brand, they can at least depend on the reviews of fellow customers on the quality of your product and service.
Responses from real clients give interested people a glimpse of how it is to use your product or service. Site visitors see these testimonials as unbiased thoughts on your offerings. They use the information to form an opinion about your brand and decide whether they’ll buy from you.
Choose testimonials with elaborate descriptions of your service or product and a star rating. The star rating helps catch the user’s eye and encourages them to read the rest of the review.
The placement of your website testimonials is also important. You need to put them on pages that people only visit when they’re considering buying from you. These include your home page, landing pages, products and services pages, and your contact page. You can also place reviews at the end of your blog posts, but not for purely informative articles.
A tip: join online directories dedicated to your industry. Doing so helps increase your online visibility and makes it easier for people find reviews on your business. You can then link these testimonials to your website.
Website Trust Factor 3: Industry Certifications and Awards
Certifications and awards are effective trust signals indicating that you meet certain standards in your industry. These help site visitors feel more secure in your service since they know that you’ve put in the time and effort to meet industry standards.
Below are some of the notable industry awards in Australia:
- Housing Industry Association (HIA) award program for home builders and designers
- Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) National Awards for Excellence for real estate agents and agencies
- Australian Marketing Institute (AMI) Awards for Marketing Excellence for marketers
Awards given by local newspapers and authoritative sites are also worth including on your website, especially if you’re targeting a local market.
Website Trust Factor 4: Case Studies
Case studies draw attention to your products and services by presenting quantifiable results instead of just telling people how good they are. They highlight your previous successes and the unique processes and strategies you employed to achieve those wins. People read your case studies to know what to expect when they buy from you and what differentiates you from your competitors.
Your case studies should focus on the value your services and products provide. For instance, digital marketers often use case studies to illustrate the performance of a campaign they ran for a client. They’ll explain the overall objective of the campaign and the techniques they did to achieve it. If the goal was to drive more users to the client’s website, the case study should state what the site traffic was before and after the campaign was launched.
Another case study example is for an insulated roofing provider. If their product promises energy savings, the case study should show how the building’s electricity bills decreased after the insulation was installed.
Website Trust Factor 5: Policies and Guarantees
The Australian Privacy Act of 1988 requires all business websites collecting personal information to have a Privacy Policy. Your website must disclose everything related to your data collection practices for your users’ peace of mind.
It’s best to outline your terms and conditions in a way that users can understand without the help of a lawyer. Make sure that your Privacy Policy is accessible from anywhere on the website, as well. You can do this by linking the page on your website footer.
Other than your Privacy policy, return and exchange policies and satisfaction guarantees are also excellent ways to build website trust. These help consumers feel confident purchasing from you because they know they can contact you again in case they’re not happy with your product or service.
Build Trust with these Website Trust Factors Today!
Your website is a vital reflection of your brand. But it’s also a potential lead-generating, a conversion-driving vehicle that can significantly boost your bottom line. To do that, users need to see that your business is worth trusting and buy from you. Thus, your website’s trust level is critical to increasing your conversions.
The five elements listed above help build your website’s credibility, but it can be difficult to fit them all in your site in an organised way. Work with an experienced web designer to make sure that you meet the user’s criteria for a trustworthy website.
ZipZipe is a professional web design company in Sydney that offers exceptional yet affordable web design services. With ZipZipe, you’ll get a mobile-friendly, intuitive website that attracts visitors and improves your conversion rates. Contact us today to schedule a free strategy talk.
