11 Ways to Make Your Online Presence More Trustworthy

As the unstoppable rise of internet fraudsters continues, customers are rightly becoming more suspicious of businesses they’ve found online. Even once reputable marketplaces such as Checkatrade are vulnerable to scammers, with fake companies sometimes taking thousands of pounds from customers before vanishing without a trace.

For this reason, it’s essential to build an online presence that shows you are legitimate, dependable and trustworthy. From website design to customer service, in our article we explain all.

1. Create a Professional Website

The first port of call when building a trustworthy online presence is a website that looks professional and displays all the relevant information.

Presentation is key. An outdated design, misaligned fonts and blurry images look hurried and are off-putting to customers. Otherwise, make sure to include the following:

  • Photos of the work you’ve carried out – before and after, if possible
  • Consistent contact details on every page
  • Insignia of trade associations and accreditations
  • Customer reviews, preferably embedded from an outside source such as Trustpilot or Google Business
  • Detailed and specific case studies

Don’t be afraid to ‘get personal’. Images and videos of you and your team put a face to a name and make customers feel at ease.

If you’re at all concerned about the design of your website, then get in touch with a web design agency for expert advice.

2. Maintain an Accurate Google Business Profile

If you’ve ever tried to create a Google Business Profile for your business, you’ll know it’s an involved and complex process requiring document and video verification. This level of verification makes it a relatively trustworthy platform for customers.

Google Business is often the first thing customers see when searching for local services on Maps or through Google Search. To that end, it’s important to create and maintain an accurate profile. Fill it out as comprehensively as possible, including service descriptions and up-to-date opening hours, and post regular updates and photos. Not only does this make your profile look more reliable, but it’s also great for local SEO.

Optimised Google Business Profile

3. Solicit and Respond to Authentic Customer Reviews

Whether it’s on Google Business or Trustpilot, customers want to see positive reviews – and lots of them.

Encourage satisfied customers to leave a review by offering them a card with a QR code linking to your Google Business Profile. Should you receive a negative review, keep your cool and respond professionally, listing any extenuating circumstances or falsehoods. Reply to positive reviews to demonstrate a healthy repartee with customers.

4. Ensure Your NAP Details and Branding are Consistent

You may have added your business to a number of online directories to broaden your reach and enhance your SEO.

If that’s the case, make sure the NAP (Name, Address and Phone Number) details are consistent. Nothing raises an eyebrow more quickly than a business that claims three different addresses as home.

Equally disagreeable is inconsistent branding. If you’ve changed your logo or name recently, make sure this is reflected across all your online channels, otherwise, customers might become suspicious of who exactly they’re dealing with.

5. Maintain an Active Social Media Presence

What better way to show you are a legitimate business than posting up-to-date content on a social media page?

Social media is a great place to show your face and demonstrate your work. Hone your voice and make it engaging and personal to build trust.

6. Publish Regular Content

Content, such as blog posts, demonstrates your expertise. It can also build a bond with prospective customers by offering ‘free’ advice. Publish regularly and, where possible, address contemporary or local issues to show the content isn’t derivative.

7. Seek Publication in Journals, Magazines and Newspapers

Although even the Forbes cover editor has been hoodwinked by the occasional fraudster, in general, getting published in local and trade publications helps build your online credibility.

Typically, such journals are ‘gated’, which means an editor will solicit or accept work. To that end, any business they publish has been peer and quality-reviewed – this gives customers confidence and can act as a strong recommendation. 

8. Engage in the Local Community

Engaging with the local community not only builds your brand but also creates a respectable digital footprint. If customers are referred to your website through their local sports team or a charity, you’ve already won their trust. Now you just need to convert.

local institutions linking to a business's website

 

9. SEO!

While not infallible, Google Search goes to great lengths to ensure the results it recommends are credible. Users, therefore, inherently trust results at the top of the page. 

Search engine optimisation is a whole topic in and of itself, and its benefits are far broader than just credibility. If you’d like to learn more, check out our extensive blog posts on SEO for Local Businesses.

10. Transparency in Policies and Pricing

It’s not always possible to post pricing online, particularly if you run a quote-based operation. However, displaying reasonable pricing does help reassure customers that your business is legitimate.

Be transparent in your return and complaints policies to show that you are serious about delivering an excellent service or product – and that when it doesn’t work out, there’s room for reparation.

11. Be Easily Contactable

Last but by no means least, make sure it’s easy for prospective customers to get in touch. Display your contact information on every page of your website and place clear call-to-actions at appropriate intervals.

If you’ve got the means, a pop-up chat box that routes to a live operative can provide an easy first point of contact. From there, you can build the relationship and make the sale.

How to Build a Credible Online Presence: Final Thoughts

As the saying goes: “Trust dies, mistrust blooms”. By building a credible online presence, you can keep your customers’ trust alive and avoid spreading the seeds of doubt.

We hope our guide has been helpful. As Surrey’s premier digital marketing agency, we have years of experience building clients’ online reputations. If you have any questions or would like to know more, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

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