How to Increase E-commerce Conversion Rate using Trust Badges
Trust Badges increase conversion rate for small businesses
For any business customer trust has always been a key element that can lead to success or decline.
It is directly connected to a brand’s self-image and long-term sustainability.
This is why it is something that businesses need to do – putting their customers at ease with trust badges.
One area where buyers are particularly concerned about is a site’s security since they are giving out their personal information.
If they become victims of identity theft, their finance, emotion and images are all affected.
So trust badges are your business’s promise to take care of their sensitive information.
But do trust badges really work? Can they really make customers feel safer?
Do your conversions, leads and sales increase with them? Which trust badges should an online store use?
Those are the questions that we will explore and answers in this article. Read on to find out more
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What are trust badges?
A trust badge is a badge that you can place on your website that inspires or induces trust.
You can find them during the checkout process, on homepages, or placed on landing pages.
They are often designed as symbols that ensure a website is legitimate and customer data is collected through secure third-party service companies.
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.
These companies are famous for their reputation in internet security or transactions therefore their badges confirm that your business is safe and secure to process their money.
Trust badges can also be from your own company to let customers know you have a certain service standard and protection in place.
You can simply tell a website is using some kind of SSL safety protocol or not by the little lock symbol as a trust badge next to the URL or you can see if the web address starts with HTTPs (safe) or HTTP (not safe).
Not everyone is aware of this therefore it is important for customers to see it with visible trust seals.
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Why does a store need trust badges?
Data security has always been a huge problem on the internet these days and buyers are more concerned than ever about their personal information with threats of credit card thieves.
According to recent credit card data in the UK – over 60% of customers reported to have experienced a data breach in their history that lead them to be victims of cyber-crime .
This leads to a lack of trust and cart abandonment when buyers see signs of payment insecurity.
In 2020 – 17% of U.S customers did not trust the site with their credit card information and abandoned their carts.
You can see that you can potentially increase your sales by ten percent or more by simply installing trust in the payment processing system.
A trust badge can increase trust and reduce customers’ anxieties allowing them to purchase with ease.
You may ask – do they really work? Simple answer – Yes. Numerous studies have shown that there is a positive correlation between trust badges and conversion rates or sales.
A recent study showed that by just adding trust badges on their own sign up page has led to an incredible 42% increase in sales which is amazing.
Not every single brand will experience a dramatic increase in conversion just by adding a trust badge but it is obvious that many businesses will experience a positive impact.
If you want to get the conversion rate that you desire and build trust with customers then trust badges is a great way to do it.
10 trust badges that can increase conversion rate for small businesses
E-commerce and any online stores tend to gain the most from trust badges.
Every time a customer provides their information to complete a purchase these are the symbols of security that reassures buyers when they are making payment.
As mentioned earlier they can reduce shopping cart abandonment and encourage customers to complete transactions.
You will find ten trust badges as well as examples to implement on your site.
1. Safe Checkout Guaranteed Badge
Not all trust badges have to come from third party companies and cost you money.
You can find free symbols online that induce the message like safe checkout guaranteed badge.
This can help reduce traffic bounce rate and increase your conversion and sales.
You can download the badge above for free in PNG format.
They are simple to use – just copy the link provided and directly link to the company provided, you can adjust the badge with a bit of coding.
A source to get your safe checkout badges is trustlock.co – a company specialising in providing verification trust badges. They have a payment plan that is cheaper than most big companies.
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2. Payment Processor Badge
Trusting a brand that you recognise can really increases your confidence when buying online.
That is why you see so many E-commerce sites have PayPal, Visa or MasterCard badges listed as accepted payment options.
This can boost the level of trust for your site without doing a ton of work.
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.
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Third-party companies can help build trust for your business by showing that you have credibility.
They often have programs that you can apply to have your site reviewed and then given the badges.
These badges can either be free, one-off payment or on-going subscription.
The Better Business Bureau Accredited Business Badge is a prime example.
Over 173 million people search BBB.org every year to check business profiles’ ratings so the site’s endorsement is widely trusted.
After joining the accreditation process you can put the badge on your site and let customers view your verification.
Another trust badge that is well recognised is Google Customer Reviews badge.
Once you apply and meet Google requirements your customers will receive surveys after making a purchase on your store.
You will be granted a badge after Google decides your reviews are good enough.
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.
These third-party trust badges may take a little extra time but they are worth the effort to increase conversion for your online store.
Your customers can see your excellent rating and credibility therefore they are more likely to purchase.
4. 100% Money Back Guarantee Badge
Should you not have any third party endorsements then do not worry?
You can still show your consumers how your store has an amazing service by just showing them a 100% money back guarantee badge.
It is completely free and you can choose to make it yourself or find a downloadable version online.
This helps to eliminate the risk and fear of buying online and losing money when putting items into carts.
The money back guarantee badge provides confirmation that you will take care of your customers and assure their purchases.
This is your commitment to buyers so you can display it proudly anywhere. But make sure you can do what you promise or you risk losing even more trust and sales.
5. SSL Secure Badge
This may be one of the most important badges for your store. It is what you get when you sign up with a third party company that provides an SSL certificate.
Secure Socket Layer or SSL protects the internet connection and the information processed through it. This trust badge proves that your checkout process is safe and secure.
Customer information is encrypted and would not be stolen. Instilling such trust can certainly help your conversion rate.
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.
Paypal SSL
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.
Shopify SSL
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.
FREE SSL Badges
You can also get SSL badges for free online by using Cloudflare or FlyWheel.
But since recognition plays a huge part in trust badges performance therefore having recognised badges can build more trust for your business.
Brand recognition does play a major role in building trust since they are Accepted Payment 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.
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These seals are great to add another layer of trust showing customers that your store meets certain security standards.
The most trusted security badges are of Norton and McAfee that you can include in your online store.
There are some other names that you can use for your store like Thawte or Truste.
These security badges usually require purchase and only if your site meets the requirements.
They can be costly though as Norton Seal solely can cost $399 per year for a site.
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7. Free Shipping Badge
Another trust badge that you can put on your website for free is free shipping.
Just like the 100% Money Back Guarantee badge this can provide additional trust for your customers and highlight your customer service policy.
You can show this badge anywhere on your site from homepage to checkout page so customers know what they are getting from you.
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8. Free Return Badge
To gain more trust you can add the Free Return badge on your online store.
This together with a Free Shipping badge will portray excellent customer service that promises a good shopping experience and the badge is free too.
Here you are eliminating the perceived fear and risk of purchasing online whilst assuring customers that they can buy, return the unsatisfied item and get their money back.
Only provide this service if you are capable since it puts a lot of weight on your shipping service.
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9. Best Price Badge
If you are confident about your price then you can add the Best Price badge on your website.
This is a powerful statement about your pricing structure that not many stores can declare so customers are more likely to buy from you.
It may also be double edged blade if buyers find out other cheaper sites so use it at your own risk.
You can either design this yourself or get it for free – online. If you want the badge to match your site’s design then hire a freelancer to do it for you.
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If you want another useful statement yet not so bold then Satisfaction Guaranteed badge is the answer.
This shows your store exists for your customer’s satisfaction and they can put their trust into you.
The badge is free to design or download to add to your site.
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There are three main places that you should definitely put trust badges on your site. First is Add to Cart page.
Remember the problem about conversion rate? These trust badges help customers stop abandoning their shopping carts.
It is an important time of the purchase process and these badges can increase the likelihood of a customer going through with the transaction.
You would also want to place these trust badges near the checkout button. This will guide the buyer’s eyes and navigate them to hit the checkout button.
Secondly add trust badges to landing pages where you ask for personal information. You can place trust badges close to the call-to-action button.
Keep in mind that it is not just credit card information that consumers are careful in sharing.
Their name, phone number, address, social security number, and medical information can all potentially be exploited by cyber criminals.
To reassure users – placing trust badges strategically where you are asking for sensitive information is essential.
For the landing page – A/B testing is a powerful method to ascertain which optimal design to use on your landing page.
Thirdly – the product page is a great place to put trust badges too.
They create confidence for the customers to continue with their transaction without the fear of risking their information.
Try to use not too big or too many trust badges here since they can drive the buyer’s attention away from the product itself.
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Conclusion
Personal information is a valuable asset that no customer wants to compromise so businesses need solutions to avert customer’ fear.
Whether it is their credit card information, name, address, email address or phone number – by adding trust badges you can make the buyers more comfortable especially when dealing with unfamiliar brands.
To increase impact on sales and conversions you need to implement and install trust badges into your online store today.
The long term boost in revenue is the reward for your investment and some badges are even free.
Experiment with them and if you have any questions – Contact us today and we will come back at our earliest to resolve your issue.
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