1. A CLEAR AND DESIGN PROFESSIONAL
You'd better think twice, because it also applies to websites that users will decide in less than 7 seconds if they want to stay or not on a site. Therefore, if the design of your website gives the impression of having been made by a 5 year old on amphetamines, you may lose many potential customers at the first visited page (you will find also a high bounce rate on most of your pages, for sure).
This first impression is crucial to gain the trust of your users, and there is no better prove your reliability to the users a clear and professional design.
Unless you are a whiz with Photoshop, I advise you to call in a professional to design your website:
Call a freelance web designer or a reputable web agency (always favoring word of mouth);
The logo is the central element of any professional design, so tune-y attention. To do this, I recommend the 99designs.com Design website: send your brief, hundreds of options are available, and you just have to make your choice;
You'd better think twice, because it also applies to websites that users will decide in less than 7 seconds if they want to stay or not on a site. Therefore, if the design of your website gives the impression of having been made by a 5 year old on amphetamines, you may lose many potential customers at the first visited page (you will find also a high bounce rate on most of your pages, for sure).
This first impression is crucial to gain the trust of your users, and there is no better prove your reliability to the users a clear and professional design.
Unless you are a whiz with Photoshop, I advise you to call in a professional to design your website:
Call a freelance web designer or a reputable web agency (always favoring word of mouth);
The logo is the central element of any professional design, so tune-y attention. To do this, I recommend the 99designs.com Design website: send your brief, hundreds of options are available, and you just have to make your choice;
If you are using a standard platform like Magento renowned (for E-commerce sites) or WordPress (for websites and blogs content), you can buy predefined themes of incredible aesthetic quality. Woothemes gives a good overview of the design of premium WordPress themes available.
On the Internet, time is running at lightning speed, and the colors and style of your theme may already be out of date.
Ask yourself the question: how old my current design? If the answer is more than 3 years, it is time to seriously consider a facelift.
2. reassurance MULTIPLY THAT BUT BE SURE TO USE THE RIGHT
The reassurance elements are small badges or logos that you can display on your website to indicate that your company is part of a professional association, or to show that your company has managed security testing or data confidentiality.
Show your customers that your site is secure (in terms of data collection) can greatly boost your conversion rate, especially during the payment phase.
According to a study commissioned by McAfee, Inc., online security specialist, in 2009, 63% of online shoppers would do no purchase on a website showing no reassurance element, and 92% of buyers would concerned about security when buying them on a web site of a recent brand still unknown.
By posting reassurance elements and labels, your site is gaining authority and trust that users give to these organizations.
But you must be very careful as to reassurance elements you choose to display. A more recent study (dated August 2011) carried out by the excellent site acutalinsights.com, it is important to use elements reassurance that customers recognize rather than use just for fun.
The best advice I can give is:
Check the websites of your competitors: what reassurance elements do they use? Why?
Perform quick usability tests and ask your potential customers what reassurance elements that challenge the most and have the most value to them.
3. MAKE SURE THE ITEM CONTACT IS HIGHLIGHTING
If users find it easy to contact you from the site, they will be more confident, especially if a problem arises when purchasing, or after the purchase, such as a delay in delivery.
Clearly display your information shows that this site is run by human beings, and helps create a climate of trust:
Add a link to the page Contact section on ALL pages. Put the link prominently in the header of your site, and repeat it in the footer;
If possible, provide a phone number, and put it also in evidence throughout the site;
Ensure deadlines réponsebrefs to any requests sent via the contact page. The worst thing to do is to provide a contact service, and then wait 4 days for a response following a backlog.
4. RESPECT YOUR PRIVACY OF YOUR USERS
If your customer buys a press presseoranges.com oranges on your site, do you really need to know his date of birth? Is it really essential that your customers become "members" of an exclusive club when buying them?
The answer to both questions is no, your client does not consult your site to begin any semblance of a relationship with you, so do not force it;
Restrict sensitive information to a minimum: just ask the necessary information to order and not infringing on their privacy;
Allow your customer to finalize its order without password. If necessary, send them a password in the post-purchase follow-up e-mail to facilitate subsequent contacts.
5. SHOW YOU KNOW IF MANAGING LOCATION SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS
Your service guarantees are promises you make to your customer on the service provided, and in particular the inconveniences that might occur in the order, such as:
Your returns policy (which pays for the shipment?)
Repayment guarantees if the customer is not satisfied with the product
The delivery guarantees: to what extent are you responsible if a delay in delivery occurs?
Worrying about what might go wrong is a natural human reaction: we care to control the situations that present themselves to us. We fear that things go wrong. Be sure to manage these concerns and reassure your customer by ensuring that if something should go wrong, you will find a solution. To do this, areas of the site to focus on are:
Homepage - to earn that trust from the start site
Product pages - service guarantees are associated with products
cart
Pages payment
6. PUT FORWARD AWARDS YOU WON
The awards are part of your Unique Proposal and you have value to them before because they can make you an edge over your competitors in the eyes of prospects.
However you need to be careful because the rewards can be double-edged. If the price you have won from a dark source that none of your clients is likely to know, it is best not to talk about. The rule of reassurance elements also applies to rewards (see above point 2). They must be legitimate (that is to say, recognized) for the value.
It is better to focus the prizes awarded by sites or combinations of known consumers, your customers will know and will therefore be more meaningful.
View your rewards in your footer;
If possible, add a link to the page showing black on white that you are the winner:
If you have won a prestigious award that you're particularly proud of, and you are sure that your customers will recognize, try to put forward. You can even make an A / B test with your current version to see if the price allows you to gain commitment (lower bounce rate, higher CTR on your homepage etc.).
Another tip: ask your users what they think of your rewards at the next usability test. For me, having a qualitative and subjective return of real users is the best way to find out how and where to see the rewards.
You will find below a relevant example of how to include prices in a Unique Value Proposition to reassuring goal in the footer - as can be seen on the site hosting imhosted.com:
7. ADOPT A ZERO TOLERANCE FOR SPELLING MISTAKES AND GRAMMAR
Grammar and spelling mistakes will not only have direct impact on the conversion rate of your website, but they can also destroy the relationship of trust between you and your users.
A level of French (or any other language of your website) poor is one of the best ways to lose credibility. A visitor who notices a grammatical error on the site will think that this negligence and lack of attention reflects your entire company.
Make sure to correct any grammar and spelling errors on your site
Re-read several times the entire content published on your site;
If necessary, call a professional to read the content of your site;
Pay particular attention to areas of the sensitive site for customers, such as shopping or check out.
8. ENSURE THAT YOUR SITE IS FAST
It's a fact: a slow website will reduce your conversion rate.
But it will be the same for the confidence of your users. Pages that are slow to appear sow doubt in the minds of customers. "Is it working? "" Why does it take so long page to load? "" Why is it white screen - am I wrong (e) of address? »
There are several ways to improve the performance of your site, and this article will not address all of them. What you should know:
Make sure all your pages load as quickly as possible;
Pay attention to your home page, your product pages, especially your cart and your payment phase;
Stay tuned to the bugs and do your best to limit to a minimum.
9. CREATE A COMMUNITY (SOCIAL) DEVELOP AND MONITORING FAITHFUL
If you do not put the social networking revolution advantage to win the trust of your users and develop a loyal tracking, you have a late train on your time.
The website users with Facebook or Twitter accounts expect that sites and brands are living with their time and do the same to obtain updated information on their products and services.
The average Facebook user spends more than 20 minutes per day on the site, so this is the place to talk directly (see, humanely) with your customers.
Seth Godin, marketing guru for small busniesses, says the old marketing model (invest in advertising) is dead, and the Internet allows easier to follow people and companies that interest you.
People do not want to follow a group, they want to follow someone
I highly recommend taking the time to watch the following video, where Seth Godin demonstrates how the Internet (and in particular the social networking revolution) is shaking up the playing field for small busniesses, which are able to react quickly and create "tribes" by leveraging the power of social networks.
10. SHOW THEM THE WAY
A key way to win the confidence of users of a site is to simplify use. How can you trust a site, the navigation and use are complex?
Navigation on your site must remain easy, and include a limited number of links to prevent visitors from feeling overwhelmed. A clear navigation system, well organized and logical allow visitors to better understand your site, and it will contribute greatly to gain their trust.
Also, be sure to best manage the expectations of your users and to accompany them during the purchase process. There are several ways to do this, but here are the most effective:
Buttons "call to action" clear and marked that maintain the momentum towards the purchase;
Using a tracker progress bar (especially during the payment phase), which indicates exactly your customers where they are and what they need to do to make the purchase;
Easy access and well placed to a help topic or FAQ.
If they lose, tell them the way to a clear site plan and include a link to this section in the header of your site.
11. KEEP SITE UPDATE
Put your site regularly update will allow you to effectively gain the trust of your visitors, as it proves once again that a human is behind the site, and shows potential customers that you are a brand or a company active and comfortable with the web.
It's hard to trust a website that is not updated regularly. After a moment, he looks like a wasteland construction site which nobody seems to care, abandoned at the roadside.
Do not let your site to end up like that - a regularly updated website will give users the impression that your busniess is run efficiently and reliably.
Pay particular attention to:
product descriptions
price
Terms, conditions and service guarantees upon payment: for example, your shipping costs are they up to date?
If you have a blog (which is a very good idea in itself to win the trust of users, since it allows you to communicate with them on a more personal level), be sure to add new content at least 1 to 2 times per week.
12. INTEGRATE COMMENTS AND CLIENTS TESTIMONIALS
On the Internet, customer feedback - if managed properly - are almost as valuable as word of mouth. Most purchasing decisions we make in life are based on word of mouth, so its impact is strong. In whom can we have confidence that our loved ones.
Try to take advantage of that emotion on your website:
Make available to your users a place where they can give their opinion on the products they have purchased on your site. If possible, allow them to support their comments to a picture of them (see point 13);
Of course, you will need to moderate comments, but make sure to leave negative feedback to improve transparency: it is normal that opinions vary;
If possible, divide the comments into two distinct categories: the opinions on individual products, it would be appropriate to include in the product pages, and evidence on the overall quality of your service to present rather on a separate page, adding a link to this section in a visible part of the site, such as footer.
13. DO NOT BE SHY - SHOW WHO YOU ARE
Everything is man vs machine, and as I write this, I can not help but think the Terminator trilogy.
See actual photos of real managers of the site is an effective way to gain the trust of users, as this helps overcome the mechanical, binary and somehow "invisible" to the Internet and to bring out the dimension human.
After all, a website can not exist without the work of one or more persons, and highlight this fact is a great way to earn the trust of users ... This goes well beyond the lines of code.
So be sure to have a page "Our team" illustrated real pictures of members of the team managing the site.
You can see below how balsamiq.com reveals his sense of human authenticity from its home page with a simple black and white of the team:
14. ADOPT AN ABSOLUTE TRANSPARENCY THROUGHOUT YOUR SITE
You must provide your customers with all the necessary information about the products and your service. Transparent information will enable them to give their bank details in confidence:
Use real product pictures, not pictures of the fake appearance stock: contact a professional photographer;
Write detailed product descriptions and do not omit any information;
Check the total price including shipping costs: nothing is more irritating for prospects to see the price doubled due to additional shipping charges.
A tourism website for which I worked there a few years ago had for each product, a "Truth" section, where they gave honest opinions on hotels with which they collaborated to design vacation packages.
If the hotel was near a busy road, they indicated; if the swimming pool was shared with 6 other apartments, they also indicated
This has contributed significantly to obtain transparent products descriptions: customers could see for themselves why a hotel was cheaper than another, and there was no shock (read: of sense of betrayal ) once there.
15. DO NOT OVER PUBLICITY, GO WITH THE USER
Most sites use advertising, whether internal (product promotion) or external (other companies who pay to be on another site).
Unfortunately, with the recent emergence of banner blindness, advertising is not as well regarded as it was.
Avoid over spam your users and limit advertising as much as possible;
Emphasize your users and the reasons leading them on your site;
Focus your efforts to drive your users to your conversion goal, and do not let the ads distract them.
CONCLUSION: IT'S A MATTER OF HUMAN APPROACH
If you read the 15 points above, you will notice a concept emerges.
All these points converge to "bridge the gap" between the two-dimensional support that your client will use to do busniess with you (or your website) and people behind this site and company officials.
If you are able to talk to people visiting your site (including their weaknesses), you will succeed in bridging this gap, and, I think, to gain the trust of your users.
What about you? This list seem to you complete? Feel free to leave a comment below to let me know.
On the Internet, time is running at lightning speed, and the colors and style of your theme may already be out of date.
Ask yourself the question: how old my current design? If the answer is more than 3 years, it is time to seriously consider a facelift.
2. reassurance MULTIPLY THAT BUT BE SURE TO USE THE RIGHT
The reassurance elements are small badges or logos that you can display on your website to indicate that your company is part of a professional association, or to show that your company has managed security testing or data confidentiality.
Show your customers that your site is secure (in terms of data collection) can greatly boost your conversion rate, especially during the payment phase.
According to a study commissioned by McAfee, Inc., online security specialist, in 2009, 63% of online shoppers would do no purchase on a website showing no reassurance element, and 92% of buyers would concerned about security when buying them on a web site of a recent brand still unknown.
By posting reassurance elements and labels, your site is gaining authority and trust that users give to these organizations.
But you must be very careful as to reassurance elements you choose to display. A more recent study (dated August 2011) carried out by the excellent site acutalinsights.com, it is important to use elements reassurance that customers recognize rather than use just for fun.
The best advice I can give is:
Check the websites of your competitors: what reassurance elements do they use? Why?
Perform quick usability tests and ask your potential customers what reassurance elements that challenge the most and have the most value to them.
3. MAKE SURE THE ITEM CONTACT IS HIGHLIGHTING
If users find it easy to contact you from the site, they will be more confident, especially if a problem arises when purchasing, or after the purchase, such as a delay in delivery.
Clearly display your information shows that this site is run by human beings, and helps create a climate of trust:
Add a link to the page Contact section on ALL pages. Put the link prominently in the header of your site, and repeat it in the footer;
If possible, provide a phone number, and put it also in evidence throughout the site;
Ensure deadlines réponsebrefs to any requests sent via the contact page. The worst thing to do is to provide a contact service, and then wait 4 days for a response following a backlog.
4. RESPECT YOUR PRIVACY OF YOUR USERS
If your customer buys a press presseoranges.com oranges on your site, do you really need to know his date of birth? Is it really essential that your customers become "members" of an exclusive club when buying them?
The answer to both questions is no, your client does not consult your site to begin any semblance of a relationship with you, so do not force it;
Restrict sensitive information to a minimum: just ask the necessary information to order and not infringing on their privacy;
Allow your customer to finalize its order without password. If necessary, send them a password in the post-purchase follow-up e-mail to facilitate subsequent contacts.
5. SHOW YOU KNOW IF MANAGING LOCATION SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS
Your service guarantees are promises you make to your customer on the service provided, and in particular the inconveniences that might occur in the order, such as:
Your returns policy (which pays for the shipment?)
Repayment guarantees if the customer is not satisfied with the product
The delivery guarantees: to what extent are you responsible if a delay in delivery occurs?
Worrying about what might go wrong is a natural human reaction: we care to control the situations that present themselves to us. We fear that things go wrong. Be sure to manage these concerns and reassure your customer by ensuring that if something should go wrong, you will find a solution. To do this, areas of the site to focus on are:
Homepage - to earn that trust from the start site
Product pages - service guarantees are associated with products
cart
Pages payment
6. PUT FORWARD AWARDS YOU WON
The awards are part of your Unique Proposal and you have value to them before because they can make you an edge over your competitors in the eyes of prospects.
However you need to be careful because the rewards can be double-edged. If the price you have won from a dark source that none of your clients is likely to know, it is best not to talk about. The rule of reassurance elements also applies to rewards (see above point 2). They must be legitimate (that is to say, recognized) for the value.
It is better to focus the prizes awarded by sites or combinations of known consumers, your customers will know and will therefore be more meaningful.
View your rewards in your footer;
If possible, add a link to the page showing black on white that you are the winner:
If you have won a prestigious award that you're particularly proud of, and you are sure that your customers will recognize, try to put forward. You can even make an A / B test with your current version to see if the price allows you to gain commitment (lower bounce rate, higher CTR on your homepage etc.).
Another tip: ask your users what they think of your rewards at the next usability test. For me, having a qualitative and subjective return of real users is the best way to find out how and where to see the rewards.
You will find below a relevant example of how to include prices in a Unique Value Proposition to reassuring goal in the footer - as can be seen on the site hosting imhosted.com:
7. ADOPT A ZERO TOLERANCE FOR SPELLING MISTAKES AND GRAMMAR
Grammar and spelling mistakes will not only have direct impact on the conversion rate of your website, but they can also destroy the relationship of trust between you and your users.
A level of French (or any other language of your website) poor is one of the best ways to lose credibility. A visitor who notices a grammatical error on the site will think that this negligence and lack of attention reflects your entire company.
Make sure to correct any grammar and spelling errors on your site
Re-read several times the entire content published on your site;
If necessary, call a professional to read the content of your site;
Pay particular attention to areas of the sensitive site for customers, such as shopping or check out.
8. ENSURE THAT YOUR SITE IS FAST
It's a fact: a slow website will reduce your conversion rate.
But it will be the same for the confidence of your users. Pages that are slow to appear sow doubt in the minds of customers. "Is it working? "" Why does it take so long page to load? "" Why is it white screen - am I wrong (e) of address? »
There are several ways to improve the performance of your site, and this article will not address all of them. What you should know:
Make sure all your pages load as quickly as possible;
Pay attention to your home page, your product pages, especially your cart and your payment phase;
Stay tuned to the bugs and do your best to limit to a minimum.
9. CREATE A COMMUNITY (SOCIAL) DEVELOP AND MONITORING FAITHFUL
If you do not put the social networking revolution advantage to win the trust of your users and develop a loyal tracking, you have a late train on your time.
The website users with Facebook or Twitter accounts expect that sites and brands are living with their time and do the same to obtain updated information on their products and services.
The average Facebook user spends more than 20 minutes per day on the site, so this is the place to talk directly (see, humanely) with your customers.
Seth Godin, marketing guru for small busniesses, says the old marketing model (invest in advertising) is dead, and the Internet allows easier to follow people and companies that interest you.
People do not want to follow a group, they want to follow someone
I highly recommend taking the time to watch the following video, where Seth Godin demonstrates how the Internet (and in particular the social networking revolution) is shaking up the playing field for small busniesses, which are able to react quickly and create "tribes" by leveraging the power of social networks.
10. SHOW THEM THE WAY
A key way to win the confidence of users of a site is to simplify use. How can you trust a site, the navigation and use are complex?
Navigation on your site must remain easy, and include a limited number of links to prevent visitors from feeling overwhelmed. A clear navigation system, well organized and logical allow visitors to better understand your site, and it will contribute greatly to gain their trust.
Also, be sure to best manage the expectations of your users and to accompany them during the purchase process. There are several ways to do this, but here are the most effective:
Buttons "call to action" clear and marked that maintain the momentum towards the purchase;
Using a tracker progress bar (especially during the payment phase), which indicates exactly your customers where they are and what they need to do to make the purchase;
Easy access and well placed to a help topic or FAQ.
If they lose, tell them the way to a clear site plan and include a link to this section in the header of your site.
11. KEEP SITE UPDATE
Put your site regularly update will allow you to effectively gain the trust of your visitors, as it proves once again that a human is behind the site, and shows potential customers that you are a brand or a company active and comfortable with the web.
It's hard to trust a website that is not updated regularly. After a moment, he looks like a wasteland construction site which nobody seems to care, abandoned at the roadside.
Do not let your site to end up like that - a regularly updated website will give users the impression that your busniess is run efficiently and reliably.
Pay particular attention to:
product descriptions
price
Terms, conditions and service guarantees upon payment: for example, your shipping costs are they up to date?
If you have a blog (which is a very good idea in itself to win the trust of users, since it allows you to communicate with them on a more personal level), be sure to add new content at least 1 to 2 times per week.
12. INTEGRATE COMMENTS AND CLIENTS TESTIMONIALS
On the Internet, customer feedback - if managed properly - are almost as valuable as word of mouth. Most purchasing decisions we make in life are based on word of mouth, so its impact is strong. In whom can we have confidence that our loved ones.
Try to take advantage of that emotion on your website:
Make available to your users a place where they can give their opinion on the products they have purchased on your site. If possible, allow them to support their comments to a picture of them (see point 13);
Of course, you will need to moderate comments, but make sure to leave negative feedback to improve transparency: it is normal that opinions vary;
If possible, divide the comments into two distinct categories: the opinions on individual products, it would be appropriate to include in the product pages, and evidence on the overall quality of your service to present rather on a separate page, adding a link to this section in a visible part of the site, such as footer.
13. DO NOT BE SHY - SHOW WHO YOU ARE
Everything is man vs machine, and as I write this, I can not help but think the Terminator trilogy.
See actual photos of real managers of the site is an effective way to gain the trust of users, as this helps overcome the mechanical, binary and somehow "invisible" to the Internet and to bring out the dimension human.
After all, a website can not exist without the work of one or more persons, and highlight this fact is a great way to earn the trust of users ... This goes well beyond the lines of code.
So be sure to have a page "Our team" illustrated real pictures of members of the team managing the site.
You can see below how balsamiq.com reveals his sense of human authenticity from its home page with a simple black and white of the team:
14. ADOPT AN ABSOLUTE TRANSPARENCY THROUGHOUT YOUR SITE
You must provide your customers with all the necessary information about the products and your service. Transparent information will enable them to give their bank details in confidence:
Use real product pictures, not pictures of the fake appearance stock: contact a professional photographer;
Write detailed product descriptions and do not omit any information;
Check the total price including shipping costs: nothing is more irritating for prospects to see the price doubled due to additional shipping charges.
A tourism website for which I worked there a few years ago had for each product, a "Truth" section, where they gave honest opinions on hotels with which they collaborated to design vacation packages.
If the hotel was near a busy road, they indicated; if the swimming pool was shared with 6 other apartments, they also indicated
This has contributed significantly to obtain transparent products descriptions: customers could see for themselves why a hotel was cheaper than another, and there was no shock (read: of sense of betrayal ) once there.
15. DO NOT OVER PUBLICITY, GO WITH THE USER
Most sites use advertising, whether internal (product promotion) or external (other companies who pay to be on another site).
Unfortunately, with the recent emergence of banner blindness, advertising is not as well regarded as it was.
Avoid over spam your users and limit advertising as much as possible;
Emphasize your users and the reasons leading them on your site;
Focus your efforts to drive your users to your conversion goal, and do not let the ads distract them.
CONCLUSION: IT'S A MATTER OF HUMAN APPROACH
If you read the 15 points above, you will notice a concept emerges.
All these points converge to "bridge the gap" between the two-dimensional support that your client will use to do busniess with you (or your website) and people behind this site and company officials.
If you are able to talk to people visiting your site (including their weaknesses), you will succeed in bridging this gap, and, I think, to gain the trust of your users.
What about you? This list seem to you complete? Feel free to leave a comment below to let me know.
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