One of the most important factors for customers when choosing whether or not to shop on your e-commerce site is trust. If you lack the essential components that build trust with your customers, then you are in for a tough time. To help you, we list ten things you can do to effectively allay your customers’ fears and make them more inclined to buy your products online.

1. Make sure your content is up to date

The text on category, product and other pages should be maintained to promote freshness. Consider holiday-relevant products, for example. This is also important for identifying broken links, mistakes, copied content, etc.

2. Have a professionally designed site

Would you part with your money on a shoddy looking site? Didn’t think so. A template design might seem like a good idea when you’re starting out with limited funds, but it will not provide a good foundation for your business to develop in the future.

3. Place certifications and memberships to instil trust

Security is important to your customers. Including things like SSL certificates and membership, logos communicates positive trust signals to your visitors. Consider the complete customer journey and make sure trust signals follow them at every turn.

4. Have links to review sites

A customer is going to be much more receptive to the positive experiences of your customers than what you’re saying. Providing links to review sites will act as an excellent indicator of trust among your visitors.

5. Make sure the site loads fast

A customer will not wait around for your product pages to load and this is certainly going to have a negative impact on your conversion rates. Site speed is also an important factor for Google’s algorithm and can have a negative impact on ranking.

6. Have a good about us page

The personal touch can make a big difference. Including pictures of offices and employees on your ‘about us’ page will promote the human factor, while a personal twist unique to your e-commerce business can also work wonders.

7. Show your address and telephone numbers

There have been too many occasions when I have visited an e-commerce website and been unable to find a physical address or telephone number. This is nothing short of a grievous error. Customers want to confirm the validity of your site, so don’t let them down by failing to provide this essential information.

8. Proofread your content

Sloppy content with misspellings and poor grammar is an unnecessary cause of site exits. Although it can be a gruelling task, especially if you have a lot of products, allotting time for proofreading can make a big difference to customer trust.

9. Have trust seals on e-commerce sites

Online shoppers are smarter than ever before and actively look for trust seals when they visit your e-commerce website. Don’t make the mistake of hiding security logos, but instead include them on the homepage to inform visitors that you care about their safety.

10. Use video for customer testimonials or product videos

Text testimonials are a fine way to show that others trust you – but video testimonials done right can be even better. Make sure these maintain the human factor and tell a real story. Product videos can also make it easier for customers to evaluate how a product will look in their living room, as an example.