If you want your visitors to return, or if you want to turn your visitors into customers, a base rule is that you need to gain their trust. Only, gaining visitor trust through a website can be easier said than done. In fact, it involves being able to portray an open and honest vibe throughout the entire website in a way that makes them not feel like they have to look for another. The following points should be considered when trying to gain visitors’ trust.
Give the user the information they want and need easily.
Visitors love it when all of their questions are answered right then and there on the website. It just has a way of making life easier since there is no need to search around for other websites, or to have to contact the website owner. This method also makes it appear as though you want the visitor to know everything there is to know about your site instead of making it feel like you’re hiding something. The easiest way to do this is to add all of these pages, as necessary, to your site:
About Us
Write a thorough About Us page so that visitors can get to know the company better. Photos can always help put a face behind the name, as well, and most people can associate better with someone they view as a real person. Besides this, it helps to tell of any successes and achievements made that will help you stand out amongst others in the same field.
Frequently Asked Questions
If someone has asked you a question, chances are that many other people have the same one. Create a frequently asked questions page that will cover all of the information not given anywhere else on the site.
Contact
Create a contact page that includes all of the various methods of getting in touch including email, phone and mailing address. If you are also on social networking websites, include that information as well if it is another way to be easily reached.
Testimonials
Feedback from previous customers is a marketing goldmine. It gives users honest information from people other than the company or website owner while also selling the product or service for you. Including a page of testimonials is highly recommended.
Privacy Policy
A privacy policy is essential if you are running an ecommerce shop especially. It lets visitors know the ways in which their personal information may or may not be used if they should decide to become a customer.
Postage, Payments & Returns
Details covering the specifics of postage, payments and returns for your website, if you sell a product, is vital. It helps customers make informed decisions on whether or not buying from your site is a viable option right from the beginning. In addition, having a return policy clearly set out on the site may give them more confidence for making a purchase.
Create multiple channels of feedback, support and transparency.
The easier you make it for customers or visitors to get in touch with you, the better. Multiple channels of feedback or support make it so visitors have more options, so they are able to choose a method that suits their needs. It also makes it so the company or endeavour appears more transparent to the public, and like mentioned above, it lets them know there’s not some scam hiding in the background.
Social Networking
Social networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, have been utilised by many companies and online presences as a way to interact more frequently with potential customers. Integrating these avenues of feedback into your existing setup can be a worthwhile time investment that let your visitors know they can rely on you always being accessible.
Other
Other methods of adding increased openness with visitors is by adding a forum, integrating a blog, and just plain consistently and quickly responding to emails.
Moreover, gaining a visitors’ trust can be summed up as easy as this: don’t do, say or promote anything that you wouldn’t enjoy as a visitor yourself; and definitely do, say and help the visitor as you would. What are some examples of tactics you’ve seen web presences use to gain a visitor’s trust?
