Website visitors don’t engage with websites they don’t trust, this is why it is important to build up trust the minute a visitor comes to your website. Unfortunately there are some huge mistakes some businesses make on their websites. Even though those mistakes may be unintentional, they can make your company appear to be untrustworthy.
So consider what you're presenting to your visitors on your website—are you making these costly mistakes?
Little information about who is behind the Website
Websites with a missing or skimpy “About Us” page feel impersonal, and thus, less trustworthy. The same with missing contact information, it makes users think the website is hiding something. A study from Southampton University found that this is one of the most important reasons people choose one website over another
Poor Design
Were you aware that 94% of a website user's first impressions are design-related?
According to researchers, readers will often make a decision on a website’s trustworthiness based on visual appearance alone.
A website that looks like it was created a long time ago and is not meeting the latest technical requirements will not seem trustworthy.
Signs of poor design include:
Not mobile friendly
Poor user experience and unclear navigation
Spinning, blinking or scrolling text
Low-quality images
Flashing letters
Tiny fonts
Crazy and inconsistent colour scheme
Poor Content
Content is the most important thing and the backbone of any successful website. Issues like broken links and ‘recent’ articles written several years ago are a sign that a website has been abandoned and visitors may wonder if the business still exists. Updating your content regularly keeps your website fresh and will also improve your SEO.
Too many ads and interruptions
Readers are unlikely to trust websites where ads constantly pop up and crowd out the text on the page. The time of interruption marketing is over. It is about making sure you have the right information out there when prospects come looking for it.
Poor Privacy Policy
Website which do not clearly state what they do with their user information will drive the security-conscious away.
Lack of testimonials
Whether you're a small business or a large corporation, you have to establish some credibility with your target audience. By adding reviews or customer testimonials to your site, you're giving prospects a reason to trust you. If you've worked with well-known companies in the past, put that information out there! If you haven't, talk to your best customers and ask them for their honest opinion about your company. A review from their perspective will speak volumes louder than anything you could write about yourself.
Conclusion
Building trust with potential customers is an important step for every business to take. Think of your website as a valuable resource for your visitors and keep it up to date. What are they looking for? How can you make it easy for them to find? What could you provide them that's truly useful? This is the demonstration of trustworthiness.
Please do get in touch if you need more advice and help with your website.
