Category: Blogging
12 Ways to Build Trust Online
Low conversion rates means you’re not closing on your leads. That’s bad for business. Maybe, the reason why your visitors refuse to buy your products is because they don’t trust you yet.
Proving your website as a trustworthy source is critical for any online business. Without trust, it’s hard to convert potential customers to positive leads. Visitors will just leave your site and not make a purchase if they feel like your products and your site is unreliable.
Not to worry, there are proven ways to resolve these trust issues. Though, others may require a little more work, below are effective ways to help you build trust with your visitors.
1. Make your website attractive and engaging. Your website should display professionalism and detailed. If it looks like your website is rushed, then will view your site as amateurish and careless.
2. Create flawless navigation. Navigation should be simple. Avoid too many links or your visitors might get overwhelmed. Use drop down lists, scroll bars and so on. Choose whatever is appropriate for your website. Don’t make it any harder for your visitors to see your products.
3. Add a bit of personality. Web visitors feel more comfortable with sites that have a human element to them. Add your own pictures, writing styles to add a personal touch.
4. Add new content regularly. Don’t make your readers find sources elsewhere. Update your website regularly with relevant, timely and informative content.
5. Build a community. Building your own community of loyal readers is the heart and core of your website. Your community helps you build trust and authority in your niche.
6. Add an About Us Page. Let your visitors know that you are a real human with real goals and philosophies. This will make them trust you more. Your About Us page does not need to be very detailed. You can tell a short a story of how you started and what you have achieved so far.
7. Create a Contact Us Page. Not only it is easy to create, a contact page allows you to receive feedback and promotional ideas.
8. Be honest. Lying is probably the worst thing you can do to your site. It’s an instant kill. Readers are smart enough to research your claims or ask people about you.
9. Include Creditable Certificates. This is critical for e-commerce websites. If you own one, adding BBB or McAfee hacker Safe will help your buyers feel more secure in purchasing.
10. Connect using social networking profiles. Let your visitors know more about you. Add social media buttons on your website and let users interact with you. This is also helpful in gaining more readers and retaining regular readers.
11. Comment on readers’ comments. Readers like to feel appreciated. Do this by commenting on their comments. Start fun and meaningful conversations to keep them engaged and wanting for more.
12. Include testimonials, case studies or reviews. Readers won’t trust you at first glance. Back your claims with customer testimonials or reviews to help potential customers decide to purchase your products or services.
Is your website trustworthy enough? This comparison chart/checklist below will help you evaluate you trust scale.
Source: SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog (www.seomoz.org)
The Northern Office Innovative Marketing is an independent sales and marketing consultancy firm in the Philippines with clients based worldwide. TNO’s dynamic web development team can help improve your website trust by implementing appropriate and effective strategies. Services include sales support, online marketing, content design, social media management, content development, back office support, e-mail campaigns, and marketing consultancy. For inquiries, email us at inquiry@thenorthernoffice.com.
Top 5 List for Corporate Blogging
Blogging, which was initially described as an online journal, has evolved significantly in the last few years. Gone are the “dear diary” days when blogging is used for personal use only; it is now an essential aspect of the online marketing strategy of a business.
Why? Because blogs affect your site’s ranking and therefore traffic and consequently SALES!
Still need convincing about placing a blog on your business site? And why do it now?
Here’s the The Northern Office’s Top 5 List detailing the main advantages of a business blog.
#1 Search engine marketing. A blog is a great addition to any marketing plan. Considered as Google traffic magnets, blogs with good content are food for search engine spiders. If you keep packing your blog with rich relevant content, you’re sure to win over Google, Yahoo!, and Bing, to get targeted traffic to your site.
#2 Customer engagement and business relationship improvement. Blogs are also designed to facilitate conversation and engage existing and potential customers. To spark a meaningful conversation, content must also be meaningful and interactive. There’s a reason the phrase “content is king” is used so often when talking about blogs!
#3 Thought leadership. Earning trust and credibility are two of the major reasons we engage in online marketing and interact with customers. To become a leader in your industry, you should offer information, insights, and ideas which can all be presented in a blog. Blogging even makes you think on your feet and note ideas that can be beneficial for future developments. Providing your readers with quality and well-thought out blog articles positions you as a thought leader.
#4 Company’s human voice. Blogs are usually written in a more conversational tone. Something that you should take advantage of as it puts a more personable tone to your company. People prefer talking to real people instead of communicating through automated answering machines or contact forms connected to automated support ticket systems. This goes back to building trust and reputation with your market.
#5 Crisis handling. A blog is a powerful update tool. You can post in an instant, eliminating all the hassles and the waiting time for publishing an urgent announcement via traditional media.
The Northern Office Innovative Marketing Support helps you reach the top of search engine results by generating organic traffic to your website through content creation, guest writing, blogging, and great design. TNO focuses on online marketing support for corporate websites and e-commerce websites. For further details and inquiries, email us at inquiry@thenorthernoffice.com.
