If you’re going to get results with your website, whether it’s a business website, a site for a charity organisation, or simply a site where you want to share your expertise and see what happens, you need to make sure it’s trustworthy. Just because you’re trustworthy doesn’t mean people will automatically know this if your site is not up to scratch. There are quite a few things these days that can make your site look undesirable and make people question its integrity.
Read on for some pointers that will help you to see why visitors don’t trust your website:
You Don’t Have An SSL Certificate
An SSL certificate is pretty easy to get, but many sites still don’t have one. If you don’t have an SSL certificate, getting one ASAP should be your priority. This is something visitors can see as soon as they enter your site. Many don’t know what they are, but they will still feel more at ease as soon as they see the ‘secure’ label attached to your site.
There Are Easily Fixed Errors On Your Website
If there are errors on your site that are easy to fix, then people will wonder why you haven’t spotted them or done anything about them. Things like spelling errors, grammatical errors, and broken pages are easy to fix and yet so many sites have them.
Check your site for errors regularly and make sure it looks as professional as possible. Although a simple spelling mistake might not seem like a big deal, some visitors will immediately question your professionalism and authority.
You Don’t Have Social Media Profiles
Any reputable business should be active on social media in 2020. If people can’t find you on social media when they look for you, they will wonder if your business or organization is legitimate. Being active on social media might feel like a chore, but it can help you to bring more people to your site and create a loyal following. It can also be a good way to create various types of content for different audiences, and of course, to network!
You Don’t Have Any Social Proof
Social proof is something most people look for now when deciding whether to work with a business or not. They want to see pictures of your product being used in real time. They want to see reviews from real, verified people. It can take time to build social proof, but if your business/service is good enough, it should happen. Make sure you ask for reviews and photos – if you don’t ask, you might not get.
Your Site Is Too Slow To Load
A slow to load site is frustrating when we can get the information we want in a matter of seconds most of the time. A cheap vps can still keep your site running smoothly, as long as the provider is trustworthy.
You Don’t Have Professional Pictures
Professional pictures of you/your team to go with your about us page could make a big difference to how people view your business and whether they decide to trust you.
This personal bio of Travis Preston with CalArts is a good example – it informs the reader exactly who they’re dealing with and creates a reassuring sense of transparency. When sharing photos and information of you and your staff, make sure to keep your photos and writing high quality, and always ask staff members for their permission before sharing photos.
You’re Overwhelming Your Visitors With Ads
Too many ads and visitors will quickly become overwhelmed and leave. Aggressive pop-up ads containing irrelevant or controversial content can be particularly off-putting. As much as you may want to earn that extra ad revenue, you don’t want to make your site too ad-heavy to the point that you lose customers. Be sensible!