5 Ways to Make Your Website More Trustworthy

One of the hardest things for any website to do, especially new sites, is to make their visitors trust them. After all, there are so many scams on the internet today, and savvy web surfers are on high alert. This means that in order for your website to be successful, you need to actively convince potential customers that your website is completely legitimate by removing anything suspicious and by adding key trust-building information. (Image Credits: purplejavatroll )

Here are 5 ways to greatly improve the credibility and trustworthiness of your website.

1. Add Contact Information.

There are so many web-based businesses out there that sell products and services, all without any interaction with their customers. And while this works for most online shoppers, some people do like the option of direct contact.

So sometimes, all that it takes to inspire trust is to add contact information to your website. In most cases, this means that you’ll add a phone number or an email address. If your business has a physical location, you might also consider posting the address along with a map. And finally, to make it really easy for visitors to contact you, it might be a good idea to add a simple dynamic contact form.

2. Professional Design

If your website looks like an amateur built it, your visitors will probably leave right away. And while you don’t need to spend an exorbitant amount of money on a professional web designer, there are a few things that you can do to improve the look of your website. These include:

1. reducing advertising. People visit websites for information. Don’t overwhelm them with Google Adsense or affiliate ads.
2. limiting colors. A simple color scheme of no more than 5 colors should be used on all pages.
3. adding images. Ever heard of the age old adage, "A picture speaks a thousand words"? Choose the right pictures and you can convey trust.

3. Have Sufficient Content.

If you are attempting to sell a product or service, be sure to have sufficient content describing what you have to offer. One simple way to feature your content is by creating a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page.

4. Use Secure Pages

If you request any personal information, even if it is just a home address, you will inspire trust by protecting your visitor’s information via SSL encryption. SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, encrypts information that is transmitted between the user and the website, making sure that it cannot be intercepted and used by other parties. To add this to your website, you will need to buy and install an SSL certificate, and submit forms to urls that begin with the https prefix.

5. Display Samples or Testimonials

Last, but not least, many websites build confidence by proudly displaying samples of their work or by showcasing testimonials that have been submitted by their customers or clients. Of course, testimonials can be easily crafted by a company, so they may not always be convincing. So to make sure that your testimonials are believable, be sure to include a web address or a note mentioning that past customers can be contacted.

Looking for more website improvement tips? See our article 25 Ways To Improve Your Website.