Marcus Richards
The user must trust it. But how to increase the online trust of your users?
Here are the five foolproof strategies to gain online reputation and trust.
1. Reviews
Reviews are a huge starting point for building your online reputation.
For the physical store, it’s easier: if I’m not satisfied with what I bought, I know I can find you again the next day at the same address, and for small businesses, I’ll find the same person again.
For online, on the other hand, the matter changes: a site can be shut down and disappear into thin air in a matter of minutes.
But there is good news! If your business has many customer reviews, verified and truthful, the user will feel much more comfortable and may decide to buy from you even if your product costs more.
2. Your website must become your “online home”
Your website is your chance to create an “online home” where you can put everything you want the way you want it.
Don’t think of the classic “showcase” site where the only message that goes through is “Here are my contacts”, and “Here are my services or products”.
Rather, it would help if you envisioned yourself as a virtual place where your values and everything that revolves around your company are shared. Such as an “About Us” page, text optimization, and links to the various social media that will help you gain the trust of your potential customers.
3. Create quality content
Content marketing is a very effective strategy that has been gaining momentum over the years, which is the company’s ability to create content (video, audio, images, or text) to tell and inform its customers (or potential customers) about everything the company is about.
4. Portfolio
Another system widely used by companies is building a portfolio that allows potential buyers to understand whom they have worked with and, more importantly, how they have worked.
5. Clarity and transparency (especially for e-commerce)
Imagine you were the customer, and you couldn’t understand anything about the shipping and return terms of an e-commerce store. Would you trust yourself to buy? Probably not.
That’s why, even if the entrepreneur is bona fide, the potential customer doesn’t trust it: he doesn’t understand what’s written, even more so if the conditions are written in terms that are too “legal” and complex!
Try to make the contract terms as straightforward as possible, even giving examples. The user will understand, feel confident, and finally buy!
6. Honesty and authenticity
How do you measure a company’s level of honesty and fairness when you don’t know it yet and have never purchased anything? Among the many things already mentioned above, such as creating an online identity and being clear and transparent, it is crucial for a company to be able to give a reliable image of itself to potential customers with whom it comes into contact for the first time.
Whether it is products or services, it is important to allow potential customers to test your product, to take a look at it even before finalizing the purchase, or in general, to show them online in the most complete and detailed way.
A great example of platforms that allow you to test the physical product might be Zalando, a company that gives you the option of returning the product and receiving your money back.
As for a service platform, on the other hand, an example would be gambling platforms. To play online, one must trust the website one visits, especially if it involves money. For this reason, the platform allows players to reverse money immediately and opt for the no deposit bonus casino option. This means the new user is more driven to try this new platform because they do not have to pay right away, but they can play their favorite games without spending anything. This builds trust in the platform and prompts players to return. Furthermore, the website not only offers promotions, but it also has a section where you can read real reviews, as well as playing guides and legal information, all of which are extremely useful to potential customers.
7. “Pamper” your customers.
The principle of this last point is simple: after the purchase, don’t disappear. It’s not worth it!
Try to help your customer the best you can, and you will see that he will recommend you to friends and family and then come back to buy.
Too many companies underestimate the possibility of the customer coming back to buy. But if they were comfortable and received assistance, why shouldn’t they return to you?
