How Trust Badges Increase Website Conversion Rates
Increase Website Conversion Rates with Trust Badges
It is probably one of the most frustrating things to see as an online retailer: abandoned shopping carts which can impact your conversion rates.
We have all done it – we have gone online, shopped for something, added it to our shopping cart and then did not follow through with the purchase dues to lack of trust badges.
We left our shopping carts abandoned with items remaining in them. It is similar to going to the grocery store -putting items in your cart then walking away and leaving it in the middle of an aisle.
Shopping cart abandonment can happen for a variety of reasons.
According to recent survey online retailers can lose on average:
-75% of their sales to shopping cart abandonment.
– 17% due to concerns about security.
– 21% complicated checkout process.
This increase highlights how important online security has become to most consumers over the years.
That is why trust badges can increase conversion rates on your online e-commerce website.
This means that you could potentially increase your sales by ten percent or more and gaining the trust of your consumers by just adding trust badges.
It is a small pretty substantial increase after all and it is a simple fix.
Let us discover the top five trust badges to help increase your conversion rates.
Table Of Content
Below are the content on How Trust Badges Increase Website Conversion Rates.
Click on any of them to get diectly to your prefered section or you can scroll down slowly and read from the start.
What is a Trust Badge?
A trust badge is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a badge that you place on your web page that induces or inspires trust.
You often find them during the checkout process but more and more retailers are placing them on their landing or home pages. They are simple tools that can boost sales and satisfaction when browsing your website.
Behind these trust badges are some security features that help keep the customer’s credit card information and personal information safe.
The trust seal company that agrees to place their badge on your website confirms that your business is authentic therefore users know that all processes taking place on your website are safe and secure.
The Secure Sockets Layer or SSL is part of a complex system for internet safety that will encrypt certain information sent over the internet.
In general trust seals are issued when these secure systems are implemented and they increase conversion rates in e-commerce sector.
You can tell whether or not the site you are visiting is using some kind of SSL safety protocol by the little lock symbol that is next to the URL or by checking that the web address starts with HTTPS instead of HTTP.
Not everyone is aware of this hence that is why it is so important to have the trust seal visible on your site.
Further Reading: How to Improve SEO Rankings
What Impact Do Trust Badges Have?
Actualinsights* asked study participants two key questions to see how trust badges has had an impact on them.
Here is the first question:-
A whopping 75+% of people did not buy because they did not recognise the particular logos – which shows that it is important to use the right trust badges that consumers recognise.
Here is the second question.
You can see – over 60% of consumers did not make a purchase because there were no trust badges.
Consumer’s still had a significant amount of doubt regarding a brand’s security measures when trust badges were not present.
Failure to use or include the right ones could be a potential deal breaker and can affect your overall conversion rates.
Can Trust Badges Improve Conversion Rates?
In today’s digital world it is normal for consumer to be cautious of online shopping since a lot of people have been losing their identities, security, cash and more simply buying a product online.
When customers come to your e-commerce website for the first time they are being introduced to your brand.
You want to ensure that they know your e-commerce website is a safe, secure and trustable for them to complete their purchase.
On average over 75% of potential customers who visit an e-commerce site abandon their carts. Trust badges may be the answer to battling shopping cart abandonment.
There are numerous reasons why almost three-quarters of customers do not complete their purchases.
A study from the Baymard Institute outlines the major factors:
- 17% of respondents said that they did not trust the website with the credit card information
- 21% of them pointed to the lack of trust or complicated online checkout.
It is clear that building that trust is an integral part of increasing your conversion rates.
There were a lot of different elements that play a role in building trust but the most important factor was having trust badges displayed on the website.
A whopping 48% of respondents said that trust badges reassure them that the site is secure and trustworthy.
The same survey found that:
- 76% of respondents said trust seals affected their sense of trust in a website.
- 61% said that they had not made a purchase because there were no visible trust badges or logos when they went to a website.
Further Reading: Get Traffic to Your Website Fast
There are five main types of website trust badges that you can implement on your site. Each one has its own meaning and use.
You can decide which trust badges to use on your site based on the desired effect you would like to achieve.
Below you will find explanations for five different kinds of trust icon as well as examples of each and how to acquire them to increase your chances on conversion rates.
You can either use a couple or all of them on your website simultaneously and it depends on what you are trying to achieve and these will impact your conversion rates on your website.
Further Reading: What is SEO Friendly URL Structure
This site badge may be the most important of the five. These are the trust badges that you get when you sign up with a company that provides an SSL certificate.
SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer and can be a little confusing but it protects the internet connection and the information that is transferred.
This type of trust badge will indicates that your checkout process on your website is safe and secure, the information shared is encrypted and that your customers’ identity or credit card information will not be stolen.
Instilling this type of trust in your business will help tremendously with increasing your overall conversion rates.
Using the most trusted and recognised safe checkout badges will quickly make your customers feel safe and secure.
The number one most recognised and trusted SSL badge is from Symantec.
Symantec owns what used to be called VeriSign as well as Norton and LifeLock. All of these names are well recognised and trusted security certificate providers.
Symantec offers a variety of options and packages to suit your needs.
Another well recognised and trusted security system is PayPal. You can purchase protection from PayPal just like from Symantec and receive the trusted security badge for your site.
Further Reading:Create Engaging Content for Social Media
Shopify is one more example of an increasingly recognisable SSL provider.
If you open an ecommerce store using Shopify then you will automatically receive an integrated SSL certificates.
When ecommerce customers shop at a Shopify store they know that their personal information will be kept safe.
Keep in mind that one of the reasons the safe checkout trust badges work so well in increasing conversion rates is because they are recognised.
Brand recognition does play a major role in building trust since they are Accepted Payment trust badges.
All these examples are of trust badges paid version. Display these badges near your Add to Cart buttons and at your checkout page.
They need to be clearly visible in order to have the desired effect. They can also be displayed at the bottom your landing page or home page to increase your conversion rates.
2. Accepted Payment Badges
Nothing instils confidence more than seeing a brand that you recognise. Having the Visa, MasterCard or PayPal badges listed as accepted payment options can boost the level of trust in your website without having to do a ton of legwork.
A study performed by cxl.com revealed a whopping 42% chose Visa-MasterCard as the most recognised brand while PayPal was voted as the most trusted brand with 25%.
Furthermore it states that:
The hypothesis that familiarity accurately predicts a population’s perception of security is generally supported. For most part greater familiarity also meant greater feeling of security.
The best part about these trust badges is that they are free and easy to get.
Visa does have a verified by Visa merchant program so when you sign up you receive a Visa Verified badge for your site that will boost confidence and conversion rates.
These badges are more commonly displayed at the bottom of each page on your website.
They do not necessarily need to be at the centre of attention or glorified in any way.
Further Reading: Ways To Create Quality Backlinks
Third-party endorsements can help induce trust in customers by showing them that you have credibility.
These programs generally involve an application process and a review of your site before being granted the badge.
If you cannot think of any third-party endorsement badges think about the Better Business Bureau Accredited Business and Google Customer Review badges – two of the most trusted examples.
The Better Business Bureau Accredited Business badge adds a significant amount of trust to your site.
According to the Better Business Bureau – 173 million people search BBB.org annually for existing business profiles in order to check their ratings.
After being granted this badge customers can click on the badge and verify your accreditation. Go to the Better Business Bureau website to find out more about the accreditation process.
The Google Trusted Store badge was a recognised and trusted badge.
Please note that Google Trusted Store was closed in 2017 and moved to Google Customer Reviews badge.
To earn Google trust seal – you must apply and meet the requirements that Google sets for this program.
Once Google has approved your store your customers begin to receive surveys after making purchases. You are granted a badge after Google decides that the reviews are good enough.
These trust seals can take a little extra time and work but they are worth the effort and may also increase conversion rates for your online store.
It is a great way to show off your excellent ratings and reviews and at the same time increase trust for your customers.
Think about when you shop on Amazon – you look for highly-rated items with lots of reviews and even an Amazon Best Seller badge if you can.
The same goes for your E- commerce store. Consumers are more likely to buy from you if they know that other customers have had a great experience buying from your store.
These badges are usually placed in the footer of your website and should be more prominent than the accepted payment badges.
Further Reading: How to Write Good Title Tags for SEO
This is possibly the most effective trust badge of all – the money-back guarantee trust badge. It eliminates the fear and perceived risk of buying a product or service online.
Although this does not address any of the technical security issues but it lets potential customers know that you have their best interests in mind.
Also called the Homemade Special – this badge is completely free. You can either make these badges yourself or easily find a downloadable version.
The idea is to help eliminate the fear and perceived risk of buying online which is one of the biggest factors in conversion rates. By doing so, consumers feel safe and are more likely to purchase from you.
If you have a Money-Back Guarantee Badge – you should display it loud and proud. You want to make sure that every single customer sees it and takes note to validate increase in conversion rates.
It should be in the same places as your Safe Checkout Badge – near the Add to Cart button and the Checkout pages.
5. Free Shipping and Returns Badge
This is another free trust badge which makes your customers aware that you offer free shipping and/or returns through your store.
Gaining the trust of customers is important. By offering free shipping and free returns you are letting your customers know that you believe in the quality of your products and also value their happiness and satisfaction
It highlights your store policy and excellent customer service.
This badge has more flexibility in placement and can be used effectively in an array of places across your website.
We highly suggest having a Free Shipping and Free Returns badge on all Add to Cart and Checkout pages.
It can also be effective on your homepage – consider adding it to your header – and on you Frequently Asked Questions page or a dedicated Shipping and Returns page.
This trust badge should be displayed along with the money back guarantee badges should you choose to use them to increase conversion rates on your online store.
There are many options when it comes to trust badges. Some of the most esteemed badges are expensive example – McAfee Secure starts at $15/month but scale up as the size of your business grows.
If PayPal is one of the ways you accept payments then their free trust badges are a perfect way to start increasing your conversion rates.
With downloadable PNGs or as source code available you can have a PayPal trust badge up on your e-commerce store today.
Click on the image below to view full list.
They have three different types of trust badges available:
- Return Shipping is On Us
- Backed by PayPal
- Support Small Businesses
If you have a Shopify E-commerce store then this app is available through the Shopify App Store and it is a perfect addition to your website.
Click on the image below to view full list.
You have access to 670 different accepted payment trust badges in a variety of design styles that you can easily drag and drop to your product pages.
If you upgrade to premium then you can have your accepted payment trust badges on your cart page, homepage and the footer.
Further Reading: How to Create Video Marketing Strategy For Businesses
Convertful’s free downloadable PNG badges are great for any e-commerce store with 60 different free badges that cover 6 major sales objectives.
Each badge comes in five different styles so you can choose something that works with your store’s design.
Click on the image below to view full list.
Convertful are looking at the problems that customers identify that lead them to abandoning their carts and tailor their badges to solve those problems and increase their conversion rates.
Trust Badges include:
- Secure Payments for those worried about sharing their information online.
- Money-Back Guarantee to inspire trust in your product and services.
- Express Checkout to avoid losing the 35% of people who abandon carts when they have to create an account.
- Free Shipping & Free Delivery to combat the extra costs that are too high.
- Fast Shipping & Delivery for those worried about slow shipping times.
- Payment Options to list the variety of payment options you accept.
TrustLock.co has over 120+ free website trust badges that you can use on your e-commerce store.
You must link back to their homepage to use them for free but that is a small price to pay for a somewhat recognisable badge.
Click on the image below to view full list.
The free trust badges include:
- 30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
- Credit Card Processor Logos
- Fully Secured SSL Checkout
- 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
- 100% Money-Back Guarantee
- Guaranteed Safe Checkout
- AES 256-BIT SSL Secure
- Best Price Guarantee
- Free Shipping
- PayPal Logos or Stripe Logos
The free trust badges do not have the TrustLock logo featured on them. To access badges with the logo you need to pay for a premium account which costs anywhere from $9 to $20 per month.
Conclusion
With the number of data breaches that have occurred and identity theft being such a huge topic of conversation these days – it is understandable why consumers are so cautious about their online purchases.
You have approximately five seconds to build trust with your potential customers.
Displaying trust badges on your website is a cart abandonment solution that creates trust with your customers and guarantees increased conversion rates and return on investment in the long run.
However if you are finding it difficult then seek an experienced marketing agency like Best–Digital Marketing Services to help you set up strategies to recover sales through shopping cart abandonment.
Contact us today and see how we can help you increase or boost your conversion rates through implementing these trust badges.
For full Content Marketing package functionality
and select the package that suits your business needs.
If you prefer to discuss your requirements first just
or fill your details with a message of your requirements at
For more information about our services and how we can help you with your Video Marketing needs:-
Hope you are enjoying and learning a lot with abundance of information about:-