Value and credibility are the two most important factors when it comes to growing your website. Even if you have a great product and marketing funnel, you can still lose conversions if your site lacks credibility. In general, there are almost limitless ways to add value and increase your website’s credibility. In this article, we’ll go over five proven methods for addressing these two factors.
1. Certify your Testimonials
It’s no secret customer testimonials can give credibility to your website. Unfortunately, some people have taken this idea and gone too far. Although they are the minority, some webmasters have resorted to creating fake testimonials for their customers to see.
Because of this handful of internet marketers, ALL testimonials will instantly be “under fire” when a customer visits your website. Sure, you might have real testimonials from real people, but how do your visitors know this? By certifying your testimonials, you are giving your readers the tools they need to do research. If the testimonials are fake, they will be able to find out for themselves.
There are two main ways to certify your testimonials. First, you can create a bread crumb path leading back to the writer of the testimonial. You don’t have to give out addresses and phone numbers, but you can give out the website which is associated with that particular testimonial. This gives your visitors a chance to see for themselves whether or not your website is credible.
The second method involves using a company like "vouch for this" which certifies your testimonials. These websites work by e-mailing the author of your testimonial. Once the author receives the email, they then have the opportunity to acknowledge that they wrote it or say that they didn’t. Depending on their answer, that testimonial is marked as either “certified” or “uncertified.
2. Press Release Submissions
Press releases are a great way to get your website or company name out there. Whenever you launch a new website or product, draft and submit press releases to major and local news websites using a service like PRweb.com. If the news is related to the specific website, there’s a good chance they’ll pick it up and report on it.
This instantly generates a lot of credibility for your website, as most people trust a company that is endorsed by their favorite news channels and websites.
3. Social Proofing your Website
When people visit websites, they want to know what other people think of the website or the products being sold on it. When other people like something, your visitors will figure there is value to be gained by either reading your website or buying your product.
The best ways to show new visitors that you have social proof is with social network badges. The most popular badges are as follows:
• A Facebook Badge indicating you have fans or “likes”
• An RSS Badge showing you have subscribers
• A Twitter Badge to show you have followers
This is a great way to social proof your website, but you need to get the ball rolling first. If you have no “likes” on your Facebook badge or no subscribers to your RSS feed, people are going to automatically assume your website delivers no value. Once you start getting “likes” and followers/subscribers, putting up these badges will inevitably attract you more positive behaviors from your visitors.
See our article on Facebook marketing for more information about how to do this.
4. Use Customer Feedback to Find Vertical Markets
As mentioned in our post on gathering feedback, you can use customer feedback to understand exactly what your customers are looking for. Although you might start your website or business out with a specific idea in mind, you should be flexible with that idea. Listen to what the market is telling you. If the market tells you to move in a specific direction, ignoring feedback is going to make you lose value and credibility.
Following it, on the other hand, will show you truly care about what your visitors are saying. When you do this, it creates a relationship with your visitors and leads to the formation of a community.
5. “As Seen On” Badges
Lastly, adding “as seen on” badges to your website can dramatically increase your credibility. If you were recently featured on a news program, for example, you could add an “as seen on” badge linking to the news website. Obviously you need to be seen on something for this to work, but it isn’t too difficult to get some publicity for your website using press releases and by teaming up with non-for-profits.
This is why some of the most credible and respected sites have multiple “as seen on” badges on their websites. New visitors like to see the website they’re visiting has been featured on media outlets they respect.
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Each of these methods is specifically designed to increase the credibility and value of your website. Although these aren’t absolutely necessary, they will absolutely help your website following grow– especially in the beginning.
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