Trust logos or badges can help you add an element of trust to your website or landing page, boosting your overall conversion rate. If you’re a member of a business organization, were the recipient of an award, a stellar rating, or hold other accolades, show them off by including the logos or badges on your page. Examples include anything from Rotary membership badges or Better Business Bureau ratings to the logos of well known clients who have trusted your work. Try including them in close proximity to known anxiety-producing elements, such as lead forms or transactional buttons. By displaying trust badges, you can help reassure your users of your good reputation and that they won’t be cheated or scammed.
Mention your privacy policy near the form or submit button
One of the top reasons users don’t fill out lead forms is the uncertainty of what might be done with their information. Set expectations. Provide a link to your privacy policy under or near your form that ensures their personal information will be safe and won’t be sold or distributed to third parties. If you don’t have an official privacy policy, try implementing a short line of copy that reassures users their contact information won’t be abused.
Address fears, doubts and uncertainties
Find out what fears, doubts and uncertainties your users have and address them. Consider what you’re asking of your users. What risks do your customers face by interacting with or making a purchase from your site? Does the reward outweigh the risks? Depending on your scenario, it could be as simple as adding things like an SSL security certificate, trust emblems, testimonials, or offering some kind of guarantee. You may also consider addressing any specific concerns directly through strategic page copy. If you need more insight into your users’ thought processes, there are a number of tools and usability testing software and services available, such as UserTesting.com, which offers some quick, free user testing services.
Make contact and other identifying information easy to find
Don’t be too anonymous. Not publishing things like names, photos, phone numbers or physical addresses makes it seems like you’re trying to hide something. You wouldn’t trust just any old stranger off the street, so don’t expect your visitors to trust one either. Make contact and other identifying information easy to find. Include it in areas of the page where it’s most commonly found, such as header and/or footer areas to reduce user anxiety.
Use testimonials or reviews to boost credibility
User anxiety is one of the biggest conversion killers. Displaying customer testimonials or reviews is a great way to help eliminate some of the uncertainty and boost your credibility. People trust customer reviews 11 times more than they trust descriptions written by manufacturers! The more detailed they are, the better. Don’t just use generic responses. Specific statements are much more believable. So, if your conversion rate increased by 43.78%, don’t just say that it increased by “over 40%”…say that it increased 43.78%! And don’t neglect to reveal some specific details about the person doing the review as well. Including things like the person’s name, city, and even a photo can help to create a more personal connection with your potential customer.
Stop using the word “submit” on your form submission buttons
It used to be that the word “submit” on a form submission button described what the system did when it was clicked. Now, with the tendency toward a more user-centered approach to website design, users have come to expect everything to be much more about them– and less about the technology.
Filling out a form is already one of those things that produces at least a little bit of anxiety in most users. It’s not something we ever really enjoy doing. Do you think the negative connotation behind the word “submit” helps relieve someone who’s already concerned about where their personal information is about to end up? It’s likely that it’s only reinforcing every worry about identity fraud that’s ever crossed their mind. Try using different language on your submission buttons that implies positive results. How are your users expecting to benefit from completing the form?