Imagine your car broke down and you need a mechanic to fix it. Who would you trust more:
- A random mechanic you came across in the street working from his backyard garage, who has no registered company, and no one you know has ever heard of, or
- A certified one who is specialised in the car make you own, has a registered company, is a member of a professional organisation, and is widely recommended by his former customers and authorities?
It’s an easy question! The second one, right? Sure, because there’s some proof you can trust that person.
It’s similar with online store websites, too.
If you want to buy a watch, sunglasses, a bicycle, or any other not-so-cheap product online, would you turn to an online store with NO visible signs of being trustworthy? Of course, you wouldn’t!
These signs may include their privacy policy, returns and refunds, testimonials from other satisfied people previously buying from them, their certificates, awards, detailed About us page presenting the whole team and the story behind the company, clear contact information, third-party relationships, clarity of product and price information, professionally designed and easy-to-navigate website and the like.
All these mentioned details (and many more) can be called trust marks, and you as a copywriter must be familiar with them in order to build trust among the customers and increase sales within the store you’re working for.
Therefore, in this lesson, we will go over the following subtopics:
- What trustmarks are
- Why they’re important for online stores
- Different types of trustmarks and their advantages
- How copywriters would integrate trust components into all areas of an online store website to get the best possible results
- Where to place trust marks within your online store website
Once you learn all this, you’ll certainly be able to stand out in the crowd of other eCommerce copywriters and to offer truly valuable skills to your future employer.
So, let’s make you highly knowledgeable and competitive in this massively growing industry! Ready?
We’re going to start with defining key terms.
What Are Trust Marks?
Ever seen any of these on an online store website?
We bet you have. They’re called trust marks.
Trust marks are also known as trust seals, trust icons, photos, badges, or trust components. These terms are all used synonymously.
They indicate:
- A website is trustworthy
- It got approved and certified by a well-known online authority because it meets various relevant criteria regarding specific product characteristics, and their honest and fair business practice
- It follows certain rules about customers’ rights
- Your delicate private information will be protected, so you can safely shop there
These small icons verify a website is legitimate, thus helping customers distinguish reliable online stores from those that cannot be trusted at all.
What’s more, the results of one study show that ‘consumers who are more familiar with the trust-promoting seals are more willing to buy from an unknown storefront bearing a trust-promoting seal than their counterparts’.
But the trust is NOT all about these icons. Quite the contrary! Many customers don’t even recognise most of those seals.
There’s much more to it, but we’ll talk about various online store components that can boost trust and help you build long-term relationships with your customers in great detail as soon as we explain to you why using trust marks in eCommerce is so critical.
The Importance of Using Trust Marks in Online Stores
Before we proceed, let’s make this straight – from now on, when we use the term trust marks, it refers NOT only to trust icons you’ve seen above, but to ALL those eCommerce website components that play a significant role in building trust among customers. (More details about them can be found in the subsections to follow)
Back to the point now – their importance!
The use of trust marks brings about reducing risks or even better ensuring customers there are no risks, which leads to reducing customers’ anxiety. It further increases their motivation to cooperate with you and strongly influences their final decision to buy a product from you rather than from any one of your numerous competitors.
On the other hand, if you can’t make your potential customers trust you, your attempts to increase your web store profitability are bound to fail as well. After all, isn’t your ultimate goal to make that shop sell? You see the point?
No trust means no sales!
That’s why all those who’re doing an online business should NOT take trust for granted. It’s difficult to earn and retain it because there have been many fraudulent practices since the very beginnings of the Internet.
Guess what – conveying trust will be one of your responsibilities once you start working as an eCommerce copywriter.
So, always be aware that not gaining trust means losing sales, money and customers. Should we mention the consequences for a business in the long run? Certainly not.
Anyway, have we mentioned that trust marks help with conversion rate optimisation? (Follow the link provided to find out what it is, why it’s important, and all the other basics.) Actually, there are a number of studies on this. Here are two that have proven that adding trust marks boosts sales conversion 14% or even that trust badges resulted in 32% increase in conversions. Check them out.
Furthermore, not only does using trust marks strongly influence search engine rankings and conversion rates, but it also helps online stores overcome one of their most common problems – shopping cart abandonment. According to a survey, ‘61% of participants said that they have at one time NOT completed a purchase because there were no trust logos present’.
Thus, displaying trust marks at particular points (especially where customers have to provide their credit card details) can further reassure the customers and prevent them from not completing their purchases.
OK. So far you’ve certainly realised how significant trust marks are for online stores. Now, we can move on to all those various components of an eCommerce website that can reassure customers and convey trust.
Different Types of Trust Marks
As we’ve already mentioned, a matter of trust is much more complex and delicate than just displaying those tiny icons somewhere on a store’s website. So, in the following subsections, we’re going to present you with the basic overall components of an online store that can establish trust.
What’s more, you’ll learn how to integrate them into all areas of the website, which will make you a serious highly skilled copywriter.
Logos
When someone says trust marks, most people usually first think of various icons, badges and logos from the third parties certifying that an online business is genuine, trustworthy, and secure. There are numerous such logos, so we’re going to briefly mention the most well-known business, security, customer, partner, payment and press ones.
Here are some of the most highly-trusted business accreditation and security logos/seals that prove your website is absolutely secure e.g. since the customers’ sensitive data are encrypted:
To see what some of these icons look like, you may get back to the image within one of the subsections above What are trust marks? or you may search the Internet and find out.
Now, take a look at how WiredatHome displayed some of these logos at their Home page to ensure that their customers shop with confidence in their store.
And here’s how Gazebos Australia did it at the bottom of every page to reinforce trust.
Here are some more logos that are useful trust marks.
Association Logos
Such as our example below can be used to show your store does business with or is a part of a bigger recognised association, thus trustworthy.
Payment Logos
Displaying high-quality logos of the credit card types and payment methods your store accepts and making them transparent from the beginning of your customer’s purchase process actually makes the customer more confident.
These recognised icons, especially if wisely placed near the ‘Buy’ buttons will add to your credibility and reduce shopping cart abandonment because customers will feel confident to buy. So, you can present something like this on your website:
Or you can create a separate payment page to display and explain all the payment methods you accept if necessary like Ashford did.
Also, check out these awesome 20 Free Payment Method & Credit Card Icon Sets to use in an online store, too.
Partner, Brand or Customer Logos
Saying your business partners, brands you work with, or former satisfied customers include big institutions or companies, e.g. the government, a particular bank or any other renowned company or partner like e.g. Visy packaging can massively increase trust.
That’s why it’s wise to find some adequate space within your store to display their logos. This proves you’re experienced in working with other renowned businesses. Who wouldn’t want to turn to you and follow their footsteps to success?
You can show off your previous successful work in different ways, too. For instance, Simple Tire and WiredatHome created separate pages with all the brand icons and links listed. Then, Gazebos Australia included an animation showing the brands they stock in turns at the top right corner of their website:
On the other hand, Leisureshop Direct chose to display the icons of their prominent partners within their About us page, as you can see below.
For more information and examples refer to the subsection The number of customers served towards the end of this lesson.
Media Logos
Many online stores showcase a few most prominent media logos on their Home page and even on a separate page with excerpts or links to the articles about their business that appeared in magazines, newspapers, on TV etc.
They write something like ‘As seen in’ or ‘Featured in’ to introduce those logos. Take a glance at how Golden Moon Tea did it.
More examples and details on this can be found in the subsection Providing social proof – Mentions in the press further in the lesson.
If you want to find out more details on the logos mentioned in this subsection or even more, don’t hesitate to do your own research as well as to refer to the following suggested articles:
- Should your business become BBB accredited?
- Benefits of BBB accreditation including BBB logos and how to utilise them (video guide)
- BBB name and logo policy
- Trust Guard vs. McAfee Secure – which seal converts better?
- The world’s most trusted SSL brands (including RapidSSL, Symantech, GeoTrust, Thawte)
- Everything you need to know about SSL certificates
- Which trust seal do people trust the most? (2013/2016 survey results)
- Impressive Association Logo Helps in Association Branding
- Awesome, free eCommerce Graphics To Make Your Online Store Stand Out
- How to design an online store logo?
You see how putting well-known logos on your website really helps you a lot to build trust? Keep reading to learn how you can take it a step further.
Inhouse Icons
It’s a fantastic idea to create your own icons/badges/logos to promote certain aspects of your business such as guarantees, isn’t it? Just choose the right design and colours to convince your visitors of your trustworthiness and your product quality.
Inhouse icons, those ‘home-made’ ones are perfect for achieving this. Not only do they look great and are easy to make (or even download from other online sources), but they function as important trust marks on your website. Why would you use words only to convey a message to your visitors when you can make it more effective, engaging and visually appealing by creating an icon instead?
Also, why would you rely only on the third party logos for building trust? The best way to tailor your specific trust messages via icons is to create your own.
Let’s illustrate what we mean by that on the Best Buy example.
Now, here are a few strong messages to consider conveying i.e. business aspects to promote via these types of icons in your unique way. Why? Because offering these guarantees will prove everyone you firmly believe they’ll be satisfied with your products.
So, let your imagination and creativity loose and watch your business grow.
- Money-back guarantee
- Price match guarantee
- Free and easy return guarantee
- Fast delivery
- Free shipping
- Lifetime warranty
- In business since…
Let’s check out some example stores’ good use of inhouse trust icons.
Example #5: Cielo Pill Holders
Example #7 Sprinter Parts Depot
Offering guarantees like e.g. money-back or free and easy returns is a massive trust booster since it substantially diminishes your customer’s risks of being stuck with a product they don’t like without the possibility to get their money back. Don’t you agree?
These are basically the things that customers want to see and hear. It’s what gives them confidence to click that ‘Buy’ button.
However, there’s much more to trust marks than just a bunch of inhouse icons, logos or badges from third party test sites, as you already know. There’s also the reality that not every customer can initially identify logos especially if they are first-time online shoppers.
You need to be aware of this because establishing trust is an essential factor in generating sales, and trust marks should be at the forefront to make your store credible and trustworthy even at first glance.
That’s why we have included many other various forms of trust marks in the following subsections. So, let’s continue.
Animations
Using different animations is an excellent way to make your website look quite alive and promote trust at the same time, which is what everyone should strive for. You wonder how and what animations can help you achieve that?
Here are a few suggestions.
Google Map Showing Purchases
A map showing people buying a product (live sales) is fantastic for establishing trust because it clearly shows your first-time visitors that there are other people involved from all around the world. They don’t have a reason to doubt your trustworthiness then, right?
Look at how Gazebos Australia has a map showing live purchases on their About us page.
Also, Tiny Hands displayed a map of all the countries and cities where they’ve shipped their products worldwide on a separate page with their customers’ testimonials. Doesn’t it prove they’re genuine and reliable? Of course, it does, although it’s not even animated.
Real-Time Popup Windows
Popup windows showing real sales are another similarly effective trust mark, which also makes a website look more vivid and interactive.
For instance, pay closer attention to the bottom left corner of Beltman online store. You see how small popup windows appear telling their website visitors who bought which product, where, and at what time? That’s what we’re talking about.
Exactly the same used to happen at the same corner of the old website of the MyHydrate online store. The only difference used to be that they didn’t show their customers’ names but products sold, times, and places only.
Tiny Hands also have those popup windows showing real-time purchases on every page of their online store. Take a look.
Don’t you think this brings about trust?
Tracking of Parcel Over the Globe
Once your customers order a product, they get rather impatient while waiting to get it. Who wouldn’t? Luckily, there’s another great way to help them control that growing impatience and soothe their fears that they’ll never see that product and the money they gave you.
Enable them to track their parcel over the globe easily whenever they want to. If you create an animation for that, you get some bonus points, too.
Here’s an example of a hassle-free order tracking option Emazing Lights offers to their customers.
This is a highly effective trust mark.
But, what about types of trust factors other than icons, badges, animations, and the like? Read on to find out how other components of your store website speak for you about trust.
Photos or Videos
Photos and videos are what people like to see. Not to mention how much search engines also love this type of website content. That’s why these act as major trust aspects in an online store.
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Would you rather do business with a faceless entity or with someone whose face you can see or even whose voice you can hear?
Got it? By including photos and videos in your website, not only do you make it more inviting and engaging, but you also prove people that you stand by what you do.
So, give that online store a personal touch. Find the perfect spots to display various relevant visuals such as the following:
1. Photos of the team, the store founder, even the dog (or another pet if you have one) e.g. on your About us or any other page you find suitable – to help people establish a firm connection with you more quickly and easily.
Here’s a great example of a team photo (with their pet dog) on the Softy About us page.
All the team members are smiling and holding the product they sell, and they look relaxed and natural. There isn’t much text, just a short introduction about their mission. There’s also a link to a separate page about the company founder with his inviting message and an interesting, high-quality, authentic, and relevant photo, which looks like this.
2. Photos of your building or warehouse – so that people realise you’re a serious real business, not a one-man show working from your garage.
Take a glance at this great example of a real good-quality photo of the building that can be found at the top of Bodybuilding About us page. Don’t you get the impression it’s a big trustworthy company with a lot of people working there?
Now, take a look at how Gazebos Australia included a photo of their warehouse, with physical and email address, as well as their phone number at the bottom of every page within their online store. What’s more, their Home page is packed with their authentic product photos.
Don’t you think this photo’s saying ‘you’re welcome to visit us’?
3. Videos such as a short introductory welcoming video on your Home page, or a similar one within your helpdesk i.e. Help Centre, FAQ page, or step-by-step how-to video guides about using the products you sell as part of your blog if appropriate, and the like – those short video tours of your particular business aspects will give visitors confidence to buy from you online.
Check out this warm and cheerful welcoming video on BeeFriendly Home page and at the bottom of their other pages. They go one step further and include another more reassuring Why buy from us video next to the introductory one, as well as their customers’ testimonials. Do you feel you can trust them when you see this?
Another fantastic example of an online store making great use of authentic videos is Cheap Sheds. In addition, here’s how they incorporated videos in their FAQ page, but also take a look at how they did it well throughout their whole online store. Watch and learn! Pay special attention to the first video, which shows how they grab every opportunity to build trust.
All in all, what you could learn from the outstanding examples above is – make sure you don’t (over) use those widespread marketing stock images. They can look fake and will probably have the opposite effect. Instead, always use your own high-quality authentic photos and videos to show people who they’re buying from.
Providing Social Proof
Average online shoppers will Google a new store and check their social media accounts to find out about previous shopping experiences others have had with it, and read their opinions and reviews before they hand over their credit card details to a website they haven’t used before. Logical, right?
But you have absolutely no reasons to worry since you’re honest and you wrote that on your website, right? Wrong!
Stop talking (writing) only! Bragging about your good reputation won’t make a new visitor to your online store trust you. What will, then? Prove them that many other people before them trusted you and had an exceptional experience shopping from you. That’s what counts in building trust.
Moreover, make that information easily accessible because an average online shopper is rather impatient.
So, don’t just say ‘Your can trust us’. Show it! Prove it to encourage those new visitors to convert! Let your satisfied customers speak for you.
When people visit an online store for the first time, they usually think:
‘Will I get ripped off i shop here? How do I know this company is real and not just a man in a shed business?’
It’s your responsibility to make them think like this instead:
‘If so many other people had such a positive experience shopping here, why wouldn’t I trust them, too?’
OK. You get it, but how to achieve that? How to reassure those insecure visitors?
There are a few elements that can prove you have a remarkable online reputation and boost your credibility:
- Your customers’ testimonials and reviews
- The number of your social media likes, shares, followers
- Mentions in the press
- Your awards and certifications
Let us show you how to make the most of each of these. Ready?
Testimonials
Providing social proof via authentic customers’ testimonials or reviews is critical. Everyone usually trusts a business a friend recommended them, right?
By reading your previous happy customers’ comments, your potential new customers identify with them more quickly and easily. It brings them closer to the decision to convert and press that ‘Buy’ button since this sort of proof minimises their fears.
Wouldn’t you trust someone who has already solved the same problem you have using a particular product? Of course, you’d identify with such a person and follow their steps to the solution. This human element is precious because it’s pretty convincing, isn’t it?
Sure, but how can you get those comments?
You can get written testimonials from your customers via email and put them on your website. Just send your customers a follow-up email asking how they’re satisfied with your products and service, and display (parts of) their answers on your website if they agree. As simple as that!
Look at this example review from Tiny Hands they received via email and displayed among their Rave Reviews:
Notice that, besides this one, there are many other different reviews received via social media on this page. There’s also a great map showing all the countries and cities where they’ve shipped their products for further reassurance.
Another way is to use automated software like Yotpo, Shopper Approved, Trustpilot, Stamped or any other which collects testimonials and pushes them into your web page.
Using third party providers additionally increases trust because you cannot easily manipulate those systems.
Take a look at how Simple Tire displayed their customers’ testimonials and reviews on their Home page. There are the customers’ names, dates, short comments and ratings, as well as the button ‘View all reviews’, which leads to the third party (Shopper Approved here) page with all the ratings (over 23,000) from actual customers, which looks like this.
In addition, The Bro Basket uses a prominent third party icon (Stamped in this case) at the bottom of every page to prove their customer reviews are verified. It links to a separate page with all their reviews and testimonials. Have you noticed it?
These testimonials become even more powerful trust builders when you don’t use words only but add the following trust boosters:
- Customers’ names with URLs and dates – because when people truly believe in something they don’t hide but provide their names and other details as in two examples above or this one from Leisureshopdirect with names and dates included, or the links to their webpages or social media accounts so that anyone can make sure they’re real people.
- Customers’ photos – attaching a face to someone’s words adds a personal touch since you know who those words came from. It’s even more convincing if you see people’s happy faces while using a specific product as in the Evelo example below, isn’t it?
- Video testimonials – connecting the face to the voice provides further reassurance since the body language is also involved. Here’s an example of a genuine recorded customer testimonial from Cheap Sheds. Follow the link to see more.
Each of the trust factors stated above gradually increases trust in the order we mentioned them.
So why wouldn’t you put these components into your website when you know they’ll reduce all your indecisive potential customers’ anxieties? Especially when there’s a study which found that customer review widget increases sales by 58.29% for an eCommerce website.
Last, but not least, when displaying your customers’ reviews and testimonials, be transparent and include the negative ones too. You wonder how that can help? Well, people are more likely to believe you if those reviews are not 100% positive because they appear to be more realistic then. Don’t you agree?
Besides testimonials, it’s necessary to include some proof of your social media presence and the impeccable reputation you have there. Here’s how to do it.
Social Media Presence and Reputation
Nowadays, if you don’t exist on at least several of the omnipresent social media networks, it’s like you don’t exist at all. Already heard of that? Sure. That’s why you should NOT neglect your professional reputation there, but nourish it.
Social media networks are great tools for building trust. They’re places where you can address your prospects’ needs and concerns directly and show you’re really there for all those who need your assistance. It’s crucial to be responsive and engage with your followers regularly.
In return, they’ll probably feel the urge to strongly recommend you and share your valuable content (which is another trust booster we’re going to talk about a bit later).
There are plugins you can use to show those social media icons and e.g. the huge number of your likes, shares, or followers just like iHeartDogs did at the top of their pages.
Or something like Propaganda Poster Store did at the bottom of their pages.
But is it enough just to show that number in a corner of your website? Of course, you can use that precious information much better.
For example, instead of just showing how many followers your business has, or saying e.g. ‘Like us on Facebook’ or ‘Follow us on Twitter’, it’s more effective to say something like this:
‘Join our community of 100,000 followers and be among the first to find out the latest news and our special offers for members only!’
Perhaps do something like Golden Moon Tea did at the bottom of every page to invite people to subscribe or join them on social media.
Moreover, don’t just write the message but think about the design to make it eye-catching. Got the point?
This type of information plays a vital role in reinforcing your credibility, so be careful and smart when displaying it on your website.
Here’s another example from Golden Moon Tea for more ideas on how to make use of social media and integrate them into your website store pages. Take a look at how they displayed some tweets with engaging photos and links to their Twitter account.
Also, check out how they included some of their Instagram photos and linked to their account towards the bottom of their Home page.
Here’s where you can find Facebook, Twitter and Google+ widgets. Make sure you put them in a prominent position within your website to showcase how many happy customers already trust you and invite other people to join you.
Mentions in the Press
Plenty of instances where your company has been favourably mentioned in the press can also positively influence your reputation and help you promote trust. Thus, exhibit them to demonstrate how recognised, professional and trustworthy you are.
You can do this by including some quotes with the sources, the featured excerpts, or even various clickable media logos linking to full articles. If you find it appropriate, you can dedicate a whole separate page to this trust component, as well.
Take a look at how others did it and learn from them.
Emazing Lights displayed the media logos leading to their articles or videos on their Home page like this.
Analog Watch included the media logos on their separate Media & Press page, where you can also find the links to the articles, overviews and main points, some great photos, or quotes. Go ahead and check it out.
Another good example is a separate Tiny Hands As Seen On page with links to the articles (apart from the media logos displayed at the bottom of their Home page as well).
When your online store appears in various magazines, newspapers or other media, it means that other people consider your business worth promoting. That’s why you should display it.
Got it? Great! What else can you showcase? Your awards, of course!
Awards and Certifications
The certifications and prestigious awards you earned for your exceptional performance and achievements are very important real trust signs, so do not hesitate to display them.
Here’s an example of how Cheap Sheds did it:
- On their separate Awards page and
- within their About page.
Don’t you agree these are effective ways of increasing your website visitors’ trust and respect? So, follow these great examples to success.
Moreover, create your own way to success! It’s worth it! Here’s an idea.
The following example cannot be easily categorised, but it’s definitely worth mentioning when talking about providing social proof.
Check out how Nite Watches created a wonderful Community page with subsections about their latest news, and their community ambassadors – real people who promote their products, their profile, photos, testimonials, and links to their social media accounts or websites included.
Also, they went a step further and included the world map of their product owners and proud members of their community. How clever that is!
That’s what we mean by being unique and different. Don’t be afraid of experimenting as long as you rely on praiseworthy models of successful businesses. On NO account does our recommendation to follow some basic principles of building trust mean you must fit into strictly defined categories. Quite the contrary!
Once you learn and apply all these tips, your employer’s business will not be the only to thrive. The same is bound to happen with your online career too! Eager to learn more? That’s the spirit!
Here’s what else can help you make people trust the store and convert.
Clearly Presented Business Information
In the following subsections, we’re going to show you that really strong, specific, visually appealing and properly placed business information greatly matters when it comes to conveying trust.
Studies have shown that people who visit a website for the first time spend NO more than 6 seconds before they judge whether they consider it trustworthy or not. Yes, they’ll navigate your online store, take a quick glance at the content, colours, layout, grammar, or any other information they may find interesting, and make their big decision – to trust your company and buy from you or not – in the blink of an eye!
It means you MUST do your best to create a powerful first impression because you may not get the second chance.
We know that convincing an unknown person to trust you and give you their money in just a few seconds sounds like mission impossible, but it’s not. That’s exactly why you need to learn about all these trust factors and clearly present them within your store in the right places to show it’s reliable.
Here are some simple guidelines about how to do it to achieve the best possible effect.
Comprehensive Contact Page
An easy-to-navigate and comprehensive Contact page (possibly with the FAQ section included or linked to as shown below) is absolutely necessary for every online business.
You may think it’s nothing special and it’s enough to just list your email address or provide a contact form on that page, but it’s far from being true if you want your business to grow.
Take a look at The OIL collection example below and think again. Does this look trustworthy and convincing enough?
It surely doesn’t.
Now, check out another Best Buy example with the FAQ section neatly organised and included in their Contact page.
Although this isn’t a perfect example, it’s much better and the difference is obvious, isn’t it?
Also, compare our initial example with this one from Evans Cycles. Notice how uncluttered their Contact page is. Yet, it contains plenty of useful information (FAQs and other relevant links included) in addition to five different ways the customers can get in touch with them. Let’s check out how it works!
You see? Don’t you find this page easy to navigate?
Remember – ALL the contact details you display, as well as where exactly within your website they’re placed can have a huge effect on building trust and making your visitors convert.
Here’s what these details tell about you and why each of them matters.
The more ways your customers can reach you listed on your website, the more they’ll feel confident to buy from you. Why? Because there’s a great chance of easily getting in touch with you if something goes wrong or they have questions during or after the purchase process.
If they depend only on a contact form or a single email address, they’ll probably feel like you’re trying to avoid direct contact with them and they’re left on their own. Since people usually believe no one answers or even reads those messages, they’ll naturally turn to your competitor who’s provided more contact details. Sounds logical, right?
Therefore, apart from a contact form and email address, it would be wise to include the following information in your website as well and to place it as suggested (besides including it in the Contact page).
- Prominent street address with your location photo in the footer or header of every page.
A prominent physical address not only within your Contact page, but at the bottom or top of every page on your website accompanied with a photo of your building, warehouse, or a map showing your location is vital because it proves you’re real.
Check out how Strapworks did it. Here’s their Contact page. The design is not brilliant, but they offer various contact options and use active verbs to invite customers to email, call or fax them, find them on social media networks, use live chat, write to them or even visit them, providing a map with their location marked.
What’s more, they include that map, their postal address, phone number, and clickable social media icons in the footer of every website page, as we suggested. Take a closer look at it.
Gazebos Australia also includes the phone number, email and postal address with the photo of their warehouse at the bottom of every page, as you can see below.
- Live chat option on every page
Availability of this option shows you’re always there for your customers, being on their disposal and providing support any time while they’re navigating your website. However, spoken words have a stronger effect on people than written communication. So make sure you display one or more phone numbers, as well.
As you’ve probably noticed while analysing our previous examples, this option is also included in every page, but it could be more prominent such as in the example of Apparelnbags.
Should we mention that besides their prominent live chat option, they also displayed their phone numbers and social media icons on every page? That’s another smart move.
- Your phone number(s) on every page
At least one phone number will ensure customers they can talk to a real human being if they have any difficulties while shopping from you. So, supply it on ALL pages (at the top or bottom, or even both) for further reassurance. You get bonus points if the number is toll free as in this example from BeeFriendly.
- A genuine person photo with contact details
What’s more, showing a genuine, professionally-looking person’s photo (e.g. of your Customer Service Representative) with your contact details would provide additional reassurance, indeed. Also, you could consider linking to a separate Customer Service or Help Centre where you can introduce the whole team dealing with your customers’ enquiries if you find it suitable.
Have a look at how The Bro Basket added a fun picture of their team to other contact details on their old Customer Service page, which was their Contact page at the same time. (It looks different now.)
SimpleTire would also be a nice example if it didn’t lead only to a contact form on a separate page when you click on the Contact us button. These people look real, warm and friendly, don’t they? It’s a pity that their Contact page isn’t more detailed and engaging and that this photo might be somehow misplaced on the website.
Anyway, here’s another decent example of properly displayed phone number on every page, accompanied with a professional contact person photo from Propaganda Poster Store.
This is what it looks like in their header:
Besides the icon with the phone number, there are other trust marks here: easy returns inhouse icon, free worldwide shipping guarantee for that day, and transparent easily accessible shopping cart information with no surprises.
In the footer of every page, they included a more prominent phone number and a CSR photo. In addition, they provided further reassurance by encouraging customers to contact them.
Strong About Us Page
A strong About us page is a huge factor since it gives your online store an identity, so pay particular attention to every single detail you include there. By visiting it, your customers will form an impression of who they’re buying from within the first few seconds, remember?
Thus, don’t miss this valuable opportunity to build a firm long-term connection with your website visitors and make them become your customers.
Nice, but how? Luckily, not that difficult as it may seem!
For start, create a visually stimulating and descriptive page. Also, make it personal and unique. Tell your authentic story. However, avoid having the page with a looong story no one will ever read if it consists of big blocks of text only, but find some better ways to show the world what your mission is.
Instead, include your team photos, descriptions of their skills, and some other relevant and interesting details about them. You can also display some pictures of your business ‘behind the scenes’, which will show people you’re real and honest. Mind you – the photos should be authentic and spontaneous, not the marketing ones.
Don’t just tell, but SHOW who you are, why people can and should trust you, and give them solid reasons to choose you over your competitors (e.g. by creating a Why buy from us page as a separate one or within your About us section).
To achieve that, you may include some other attention-grabbing easy-to-follow visuals, such as a timeline to present your company history and show how long you’ve been around. Most people tend to trust businesses with long tradition because it’s likely that they’re not going to sell them a product and disappear from their lives just like that, but be on their disposal in case customers encounter problems and need help with those products later.
However, be careful – we’re NOT advising you to overwhelm your About us page with ALL the suggested elements at any cost. What you should do is find out what works BEST for your online store and put that on your page.
Enough theory now! Let’s analyse some examples of how real stores did it to make sure you get the point and some more ideas.
Example #1: The OIL Collection
OK. We told you not to overwhelm your pages, but this is definitely NOT what was meant by that! Seriously? Three sentences only on the whole page?! No further comments needed, right?
Example #2: IdealPetX
Here’s some more text. Do you find it convincing enough to buy from these people?
It isn’t enough to use words only and endlessly brag about how honest, hardworking and committed to the customers’ satisfaction you are. Anyone can and probably will say the best about themselves and their business to make money, so the point has been missed here. Don’t you agree?
Example #3: Discount Watch Store
Similarly, do you find this page persuasive enough for the first-time visitor to realise who’s behind the company and trust them enough to become their customer?
They’ve included some relevant information here, but the whole page looks dull and the goal is to make it attention-grabbing and engaging so that people get interested, stay, read what’s been written, and finally trust you enough to make purchase.
How could they make this page a bit better?
For example, by presenting the brand logos instead of just listing them in a sentence and linking to some. Or by creating some colourful visuals (inhouse icons) to show how many customers they’ve served, or how many different styles and brands they offer.
They could also add a map with their location, or a photo of their building to show they’re real. Instead of just saying many people recommend them, they could have proven that by including some genuine customers’ testimonials in the page. Remember what we were saying above? You continue…
You wouldn’t believe how many bad pages there are on the Internet, so you may get the wrong impression that it’s not difficult to stand out on the market. On the other hand, there are luckily plenty of decent and even fabulous ones you can learn from. So, let’s turn to those now for comparison.
Example #: 4 Simple Tire
Here’s what’s so good in this example:
- It includes nice relevant photos, a short engaging video and graphics (inhouse icons) explaining how the process of buying tyres online works.
- The most important details are made the most prominent: the number of brands, suppliers, products they offer, installers, and their company guarantees.
- Their mission is simply and clearly stated, and their history is shortly explained, as is their business model. No heavy text blocks!
- Their team members’ names, friendly photos, short descriptions of their roles and expertise, as well as their awards, beliefs and values are included.
- Their major partners’ brand logos are displayed, with the button which links to the separate page where all the other brand partners are listed.
- Clearly presented contact information: phone number, live chat option, and the link to their Contact page (which could be much better, by the way) on every page top, while their email and postal address can be found at the bottom.
- An icon leading to their customer reviews gathered by the third party is placed at the bottom left corner.
Now, take a peek at all the mentioned points.
Isn’t it strikingly different from the previous few examples? Let’s check another good one!
Example #5: The Bro Basket
Here are some good elements within this About page that convey trust. (Note: This page looks different now.)
- It also displays contact details at the top and bottom: phone number, email address, live chat option, their social media accounts, and the prominent link to their contact page.
- Their story is perhaps a bit long, but once you start reading it you probably won’t stop till you finish since it’s authentic and interesting enough.
- The excerpts of their best blog articles, and links to them are included, as well as readers’ comments.
- The team members are presented with spontaneous authentic photos and given additional fun roles. Also, their social media accounts and contact forms are included, so that people can easily reach each of them.
- They’ve provided enough social proof by displaying the press coverage for the company with links to the articles, some ‘behind the scenes’ videos and the raving reviews by influencers/bloggers (articles and videos), all accompanied by their witty comments. Also, there’s a prominent icon at the bottom leading to all their customers’ reviews gathered and verified by the third party.
Now it’s time to take a closer look at the page we’ve just analysed.
Example #6: Evans Cycles
This page consists of much more textual information than we would recommend although it’s been divided into smaller chunks. There are certainly some points to be improved, but we chose it because you can learn more from it.
Here are the highlights:
- The way they organised the information and presented the long text without cluttering the page is very good, and the page is easy to navigate. This way the readers can refer only to the sections they’re interested in.
- The photos they’ve chosen to present their team are natural, so that you can believe these are real people behind the company and not some actors.
- The rest is more or less similar to the previous two examples, so we’re going to avoid repetition. However, what sets this About page apart from the others is an excellent timeline they used to present their company history.
Let’s quickly check what these major good points of the page look like.
Don’t you think the effect of this timeline and the details they used to present their company history is more powerful than just writing a text with some facts and figures? Now you see the point!
Years of experience will definitely instill trust in your future customers by proving them how knowledgeable in the field you are.
So far, you’ve hopefully realised how significant for building trust it is that you provide enough information about your company, properly place it, and clearly present it in the website. As we said, every single detail matters! So, come up with inspiring and compelling ways to present your team, location, history, contact details, where you source your products from, and other relevant business credentials.
Apart from these, let’s see what other aspects of trust there are.
The Number of Customers Served
Let people know how many customers you have served if you think they will be impressed by the number. Furthermore, highlight the most prominent ones!
When first time shoppers visit your website and see that some notable people or organisations purchased from you, they’ll feel more confident and assured that buying from your store is no risk at all.
Here’s how Strapworks showed this type of information on their Home Look who trusted them! Why wouldn’t you? Right?page.
Look who trusted them! Why wouldn’t you? Right?
But again, be smart. Don’t think it’s enough just to say ‘We’ve served (number) of customers’ and expect people to be automatically impressed by that information.
You can do it much better. Use powerful expressions to explain how other (more or less remarkable) people have benefited from your business instead.
It means it’s more effective to say something like ‘Saving (number) of people over $x on (your product)’.
Here’s a fantastic example of how Gazebos Australia did it on their About us page. What’s more, they added how long they’ve been in business assuring their future customers they’ll be here for them for a long time.
Privacy Policy
Don’t forget to create a separate Privacy policy page within your online store. You might think it’s boring and no one will ever read it, but it actually shows people that you have certain rules about how you treat their delicate personal information, which actually functions as further reassurance.
That’s why it’s critical for every online store and it must be properly placed to be visible enough.
Take a peek at this Golden Moon Tea Privacy policy page. You see it doesn’t necessarily have to be text-heavy and overwhelming as it usually is? Isn’t this one well organised and easy to skim-read?
So, always show that you respect your customers’ privacy.
Creating Helpful and Relevant Content
Is there a better way to prove you’re knowledgeable and professional than sharing those pieces of your precious specialised knowledge in the industry? Definitely not.
So, go ahead! Create some valuable content (e.g. how-to guides, blog articles, knowledge base etc.) and offer it to your website visitors for free on a regular basis. People will refer to you in search for helpful tips and reliable useful information, which will lead to building a long-term relationship with them.
Let’s briefly check a few examples.
Here’s how Emazing Lights created tutorials for the customers about using their products like professionals as a part of their separate learning centre. Amazing, isn’t it?
Then, check out how URBNfit provides their target audience with relevant blog posts and videos showing their products in use and how customers can benefit from them. Smart, right?
Similarly, Golden Moon Tea writes blog posts about tea recipes, tea storage instructions, guides on how to brew tea, customers’ health benefits and other helpful relevant content. (Follow the link to find out more.)
You see? Isn’t offering marvellous content also a perfect way to establish authority in your niche, connect with your potential customers, and build trust and repeat traffic to your website? It certainly is.
Remember that all these factors previously discussed in the lesson increase trust thereby increasing sales. So, not only should you know what to include in your store but where to display it, as well.
Where to Place Trust Marks Within Your Online Store Website
Before you decide where to put trust marks, you have to carefully consider and choose those most suitable ones for your online store. You don’t think it’s a good idea to use ALL those we’ve mentioned in the lesson, right? We hope so because the effect will be the opposite of the one you want for sure.
Always bear in mind that ‘displaying too many security logos and reassurances can be counter-productive’.
Anyway, there are various great options that we’ve discussed here. Find those that work best for your business and use them. Got it?
Next, there’s absolutely NO use of trust marks if no one notices them, is it? That’s why it’s important that you properly place them within your online store website.
OK. Got it. But what exactly is proper placement?
That’s the tricky part. It all depends on the business, the trust marks you’ve chosen to display and the website organisation. So, it’s your call.
Of course, you’ll create separate pages for valuable content you provide, your privacy policy, or other relevant business information such as contact or about the company details.
However, you may want to highlight certain key points from those pages and include them in some or all other pages (as you’ve seen in our examples in this lesson).
Again, it’s entirely up to you to use your common sense and decide whether it’s more effective to place a certain trust mark or seal e.g. at the top/centre/end of your Home/product page or at the top/bottom of any/all other pages.
It’s important that you define the critical points for displaying trust marks first, such as for example, when customers are expected to provide their credit card or other personal details. These are perfect places for showing your trust seals to reassure people – remember?
Luckily, there are plenty of examples for you to analyse and learn from, so they’ll help you make your final decisions. Also, there are always team members you can count on for advice since online job is all about excellent team work.
Remember – when it comes to instilling trust and confidence in your target customers, one size does NOT fit all. One strategy may perfectly work for some businesses while not for yours perhaps. It depends on various factors e.g. your products, brand, previous reputation and much more, so you’ll have to take them all into account.
Whatever you decide, make sure your carefully chosen trust marks are in prominent positions within your online store.
In Summary
No wonder customers always choose the best for themselves. Your task is to convince them you’re their best choice, and various trust components properly placed on your store website will help you achieve that.
Thus, consider implementing some of the following elements into your online store to increase conversions and prove people shopping from you is NO risk at all:
- various logos, badges, third party and inhouse icons;
- fun and relevant animations, photos, and videos either to show who stands behind the business or to display some real-time purchases for further reassurance;
- customers’ testimonials, reviews, your awards, certificates, mentions in the press or your social media presence and massive audience can provide solid social proof for your first time website visitors;
- clearly presented business information such as different ways people can contact your store, or your unique and engaging story about the company, or transparent total price information throughout the whole purchase process;
- showcasing any other information you know will impress your target customers, e.g. your long tradition, number of customers served so far, and the like;
- offering people free relevant and valuable content will prove you’re an expert in your field and help people solve their problems with your products.
After all, bear in mind that e.g. having a brilliantly designed website for an online store means absolutely nothing if you fail to build trust. If your visitors don’t feel confident to shop from you, all the previous effort and work has been in vain.
Trust is among the biggest barriers an eCommerce business has to overcome in order to unlock its full potential, and you as a copywriter are the perfect person to help them achieve their goals.
Observe every contact an e-store visitor makes as an opportunity for you to instill trust and you’ll make the right decisions.
Ready? No need for fear. Surprised the role of a copywriter is so powerful? Don’t be. Learn and develop your skills to build not only trust for your employer but a successful online career for yourself.
We wish you the best of luck!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How can you provide social proof to your customers and prove your business is real and trustworthy?
a. By displaying previous satisfied customers’ testimonials and reviews with their names and photos included. Or even better, by using their recorded video testimonials showing your products in use by those happy customers.
b. By displaying your awards, certifications and mentions in the media for your exceptional performance and achievements.
c. By inviting your website visitors to connect with you on social media, engaging with them regularly and showing how responsive you are and how many people already trust you.
d. All of the above.
2. Offering your website visitors free valuable and relevant content cannot actually convince them you’re knowledgeable and trustworthy.
a. True.
b. False.
3. www.bestmadeco.com/visit-us is an example of a unique, authentic and effective, yet so simple and well organised page with all the business information clearly presented and evoking trust in website visitors.
a. Yes, it definitely is something to look up to!
b. No, the quality of this page is below average and it doesn’t convey trust at all.
4. tinyhandsonline.com uses NO popup windows to show real-time purchases.
a. True.
b. False. If you spend a few moments on the website, you’ll notice them in the bottom left corner of every page.
5. http://paperista.com/design/team/ is an example of:
a. A poor example of a Contact page within an online store.
b. An average FAQ page – nothing special.
c. An excellent page for meeting the store’s team members that boosts trust.
6. Is ao.com/ContentHubRoot/HelpAndAdvice/General/help-with-my-order/about-us a good About page that instills trust?
a. Yes.
b. No.
7. There are some good inhouse icons on hotmix.cc Home page.
a. No, there aren’t.
b. Yes, there are some icons illustrating free shipping, easy returns, and secure online shopping.
8. gazebosaustralia.com.au has some good inhouse icons displayed?
a. No.
b. Yes.
9. It isn’t important which trust marks you use and where you put them on your store website. The smartest way is to use as much trust components as you can possibly think of and place them wherever there’s some free space.
a. Quite the opposite! You should carefully choose the trust components that work best for your online store and decide where to place them based on the nature of your business, products, and many other relevant factors to achieve best effects.
b. Definitely. The more trust signs there are no matter where you put them, the more people will trust your business.