Before you start trying to drive traffic to your website, you need to master one factor.

I’m talking about credibility.

credibility-detail

Without a credible website, you’ll struggle to get more customers and increase conversions.

Plus, credibility shows you’re trustworthy.

If you’re offering something without a trusted name or brand behind it, people will be hesitant to buy what you’re selling.

From my experience, trust is one of the fundamental factors you need to address if you want to improve your conversion rates.

Any small detail that decreases trust drives your potential customers away. Fortunately, on the other hand, any small detail that increases trust, increases the number of buyers and improves your business.

I have never seen this rule fail, and I don’t expect I ever will.

This doesn’t just go for websites that sell a product or service.

If you have an informational site, credibility will make it easier for other websites to cite statistics, images, infographics, and other data off your website when they conduct research on the subject you cover.

This will also help drive more traffic to your site.

No matter what type of site you operate, here are some easy ways for you to improve its credibility.

(Check the article for descriptions of each, with examples and pictures, where necessary.)

  1. Limit advertisements
  2. Customer service that’s easily accessible
  3. All your contact information
  4. Reviews and testimonials
  5. Security badges
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  6. Validation from other media sources (“Featured in” section)
  7. Awards
  8. Social proof (From what I’ve seen, you can’t have too much of it. When you think you’re crossing the line with overloading visitors with too much social proof, you can safely double it, and it still won’t be too much. Trust me. I’ve tested it many times.)
  9. Guest posts (post on other websites or let others post on yours)
  10. A design that’s simple and professional
  11. Typography and grammar
  12. Ease of navigation
  13. No glitches or technical errors
  14. Page loading speed (this is very important, and very often ignored; probably because the responsibility for this belongs to tech team, not marketing or conversion)
    conversion-rate-by-page-load-time
  15. Photos and biographies of your staff
  16. Clearly state all policies
  17. Back up all your data (cite your sources)
  18. Be upfront about your prices
    reasons-for-abandonment
  19. Make sure everything is up to date
  20. Secure the checkout process

Making minor adjustments to your page can really improve the way it’s viewed through the eyes of a visitor.

The tips on this list are really easy to implement.

First, remove anything from your site that appears untrustworthy.

Next, add certain elements that improve the overall credibility.

Treat the list above as a cheat sheet or a checklist. Compare it against your website and start improving it.

It won’t take much time at all.

Trust me, you’ll notice a big difference right away.

 

The Top 20 Elements That Add Credibility to Your Website


 

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