How to Build Trust Online and Why You Must

Trust is a vital aspect of doing business in the offline world and it is even more important online.  People must trust you before they do business with you. The problem is - building trust online can be a challenge.

It’s harder to build trust online than offline for a number of reasons:

• Unfortunately there many online scams around online. These scams are traps for the unwary and make many people, especially those who have been caught out before, reluctant to trust anything they find online.
• Many websites seem to hide who is behind the business. Some offer only a contact form as the sole means of contact.
• Buying online means electronic funds transfer is the primary means of paying and many people are insecure about using their credit cards online because they think their credit card details will end up all over the internet.

So what can be done?

How to build trust online

Trust is linked to risk. When there’s low perceived risk then less trust is necessary than when there’s high perceived risk. It’s easier to reduce the perceived risk of doing business with you than it is to try to make someone trust you. Therefore, I suggest a double pronged approach: reduce the perceived risk of doing business with you and at the same time work to build trust.

Here’s some ways to reduce perceived risk:

• Make sure you have a contact email address as well as telephone number and physical address (if appropriate) on your website.
• Offer a strong guarantee.
• Offer alternate payment methods for those who don’t want to use their credit card online.

And here’s a few ways to help build trust:

• If you’re a member of any well regarded professional associations in your field then let people know about these on your website.
• Conduct all your business ethically so your business develops a good reputation.
• Answer any enquiries from your website courteously and promptly. 
• Have photos of yourself and your team on your website – it’s much easier to trust a business when you can see the faces behind it.
• ather testimonials from your satisfied customers and show them on your website.

What to do next:

Take another look at the tips above and start applying them to your website and business where practical and appropriate. The more people trust you the greater your profits.

Trust is a huge issue and one that can greatly affect the success of your website. The above tips are a good start but if you’d like more in depth and advanced help with building trust online then contact us today.