How to Improve Site Trust Through Content: Full Guide
As almost every industry has dozens of businesses offering the exact same products and services, consumers start relying on trust to make a choice. This is especially evident in e-commerce when a website’s content can easily persuade visitors to move ahead into your sales funnel.
In this article, we will explain how to improve site trust through your content and why it’s so important in today’s digital world. Read on to learn from our experience.
Why Trust is So Important for Business
According to PwC’s 2023 Trust Survey, 58% of consumers recommended a company they trusted to friends and family while 64% of employees stated they recommended a company as a workplace because they trusted it. This demonstrates that trust is a highly important element for a business to keep its customers.
By making your business trustworthy, you can increase your chances of repeat purchases and build long-term relationships with your customers and employees. Trust can also reduce marketing costs, as you will have to spend less money to convince consumers to buy products from you, as you would have a competitive advantage on the market. This list can go on forever, but the main point is that if you want your business to succeed, your customers should trust you.
What Makes a Site Trustworthy
As websites are a brand’s digital identity, it is necessary to ensure they look and feel trustworthy. And it’s not just about technical aspects or design, although those matter too. A reliable website should demonstrate:
- Expertise and experience. Content should be written by people with relevant knowledge or background in the subject. For example, a medical article written by a certified doctor carries much more weight than one without any author credentials.
- Credible sources. All the info should be backed by reliable data, research, or well-known experts who know what they’re talking about. Users can tell when a site is just repeating information versus providing well-researched, properly sourced content.
- Transparency. Trust grows when it’s clear who’s behind the site. Including author names, photos, short bios, and contact details shows accountability and signals that there’s nothing to hide.
- Recognition in the field. Being featured on respected platforms like Clutch, Yelp, or industry-specific directories demonstrates that others in your field acknowledge your credibility. These third-party sites act as independent validators, offering real customer reviews and additional context that builds trust beyond your own claims.
How Content Marketing Builds Trust: 3 Essential Tips
If you want to maintain a stable digital presence and sell your products online, then your website’s content is one of the determining features for your company. Research shows that 63% of marketers improve site trust with content strategies. This helps them develop loyalty with current customers and attract new ones.
Here is how you can increase site trust through content marketing.
1. Helping Over Selling
Content marketing is all about providing valuable and relevant information to your customers. Putting their needs, concerns, and interests as a first priority demonstrates that you value their well-being. This approach develops a sense of trust as your audience can rely on you as a helpful resource.
2. Proof of Expertise
Consistently publishing high-quality content in your industry proves your expertise, showing your audience you’re a reliable authority in the field. This makes it more likely that they will trust your recommendations and opinions. While expert content requires a lot of time before it starts working, it’s a long-term game that will bring you immense results in the end.
3. People Behind the Brand
Sharing the stories and personalities of the individuals within your company humanizes your brand. People connect with people, not faceless corporations. By introducing your team and showcasing their expertise and dedication, you build a sense of authenticity and transparency, which, in turn, develops trust.
Best Practices for Creating Content That Improves Trust on Your Site
Now, let’s find out how to build trust with internal content to boost your business organically. This is necessary for both getting into the SERPs’ first pages and developing a long-lasting relationship with your audience.
1. Minimize Industry Jargon
While jargon is useful to prove your expertise in specific industries, it is generally recommended to use language that is accessible to a bigger audience. Excessive terminology is only needed when working with clients that require it (for example, this could be factories that purchase specific materials).
2. Keep Your Tone Consistent
You can improve site trust through content if your brand maintains a consistent tone of voice on your website, social media, and external marketing, as customers will remember and recognize it better. This forms a certain connection because it depicts your company as a personality with specific traits and characteristics.
3. No Aggressive Sales
Aggressive marketing will push away all your customers. While it is okay to use CTAs and different prompts to make a purchase, using helpful and inspiring content will show better results. People don’t trust anyone who shouts, “Buy my product now!” at each step.
4. Update Key Information
You’ve probably seen many websites that look like they’re from another decade. It’s even more frustrating when you try to reach them and find out that they no longer use the email indicated on the website. If you want to build trust on a site with content, then all your online resources must be up-to-date. This includes your contacts, working time, products, blog posts, and other information that users might want to see.
5. Customer Reviews
One of the main ways to improve site trust by content is by adding client testimonials and reviews. You can use text reviews from reliable platforms like Trustpilot and others that have a verification process. However, video testimonials are known to have better trust because they provide a sense of reality and are less likely to be forged.
6. Certifications and Awards
Almost every industry has certain certifications and awards. It is necessary to demonstrate all of them on your website to show users that you’re recognized by different organizations in your area. This would be a “green flag” for your audience.
7. Fix Broken Links
404, 502, and 504 errors make visitors leave your website immediately. This increases the resource’s bounce rate, reducing its SERP rankings. Also, if users cannot access your site because of these errors, they might simply abandon your brand and move on to a competitor’s resource. Troubleshooting these issues is a must.
8. Show Your Experts
If you’re wondering how to improve site trust by content, then showing your team’s experts and publishing their content is a great option. It’s especially essential for companies that provide consulting services as it proves that your experts know their industry.
9. Publish Trust Badges
Many third-party organizations provide companies with trust badges that confirm their website’s legitimacy. These can cover security protocols, accepted payment options, and others. For example, many consumers use them to automatically determine whether they can pay online by card.
10. Show Famous Clients
Demonstrating your clients and partners who are famous brands is a great idea because customers are likely to recognize some of them. Seeing a well-known brand being related to your company will assure your customers that you can be trusted.
11. Quality Media
There must always be an ideal balance of written and visual content. You can have an ideal text with mastermind copy, but a poor-quality image or no image at all might kill the effort. That’s why you should also ensure that all media on your website is effective, clear, and user-oriented.
Conclusion
Now you know how to build site trust with content and grow your business organically. This is a long-term game that requires a lot of work from your team. By prioritizing the needs of your clients, demonstrating your expertise, and implementing best practices, you can establish and maintain trust, leading to increased loyalty and attracting new customers.
Consider Livepage as Your Trusted Partner
Livepage is a growth marketing agency with 10+ years of experience and hundreds of successful cases. Our team can help your company get high-quality expert content and enhance your website’s SEO to increase its visibility for millions of users. We have professionals with experience in multiple industries, ensuring you’ll get a tailored approach based on the best practices in your field. Book a consultation today!