What is it that makes people choose one brand over another?

Initially, buyers make shopping decisions based on price, design, novelty, or personal values. But at the end of the day, the brands they stay loyal to are those they trust to consistently deliver an exceptional customer experience.

Now, generating brand trust can be a challenging (and time-consuming) task. After all, building up your organization’s reputation isn’t something you can do overnight.

However, the good news is that there are a few sure-fire ways to establish your brand’s credibility, trustworthiness, and authenticity. And it turns out that investing in your website is one of them.

So, if you’re ready to take your business to the next level by implementing a few tried and tested web branding strategies, the following are the eight best ways you can employ your site to generate trust in your brand.

Showcase Third-Party Accreditations

One of the easiest methods of using your website to build trust is to show off third-party accreditations.

Sure, you can make your own trust-oriented claims that appeal to your target audience. However, knowing that 98% of today’s consumers actively seek out online reviews before making a purchase, it quickly becomes evident that buyers don’t automatically trust brands’ sales propositions.

Quite contrarily, people are constantly looking for proof that what they’re being promised is what they will get.

With this in mind, it’s not a bad idea to enrich your website with high-impact elements that will help you verify your products and content as being reliable. To guarantee that this action results in a genuine boost of brand trust, make sure you choose to display reputable third-party accreditations. (Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Facebook were the most frequented review sites in 2021.)

8 Ways Your Website Can Generate Trust in Your Brand

Source: reviewtrackers.com

If you’re looking for inspiration for showing off third-party certifications in a way that positively influences consumer trust, check out the following three examples.

Firstly, on the Chrono24 homepage, you’ll see that the brand aims to establish its dependable reputation by relying on the backing of Trustpilot, one of the world’s leading review sites. Note how the brand’s rating is highlighted in more than one place and how the website copy calls visitors’ attention to the fact that the store is “Powered by Trustpilot.”

8 Ways Your Website Can Generate Trust in Your Brand

Source: chrono24.com

For a slightly different approach to building trust, check out Acne Studios. This brand boosts buyer confidence at the final stages of the shopping process by stating that “All transactions are secure and encrypted.” On top of that, it also features the logos of reliable payment processing services like PayPal and Klarna.

8 Ways Your Website Can Generate Trust in Your Brand

Source: acnestudios.com

And finally, if you look at Each night, you’ll see that building trust with third-party certification isn’t exclusively reserved for your brand’s homepage or product pages. You can also list them on your blog posts as shown in their Best Mattresses of 2022: Top Brands Reviewed post below.

Research shows that the most credible brand ambassadors include scientists, experts, and those sharing knowledge. Using trust signals to communicate that Eachnight’s posts are “fact-checked” and “medically reviewed” by a doctor guarantees that potential buyers feel safe taking advice and converting into paying customers.

8 Ways Your Website Can Generate Trust in Your Brand

Source: eachnight.com

Make Your Claims Credible and Relatable

Consumers trust brands that are committed to solving their needs.

A recent report published by Adobe reveals that 76% of buyers find it essential for brands to show empathy and demonstrate that they fully understand consumer pain points.

So, if you want to use your website to generate trust in your brand, it might not be a bad idea to look at your copy and sales propositions and find ways to make them more believable.

Generally, the way to achieve this effect is to stick to a few simple rules:

  • Don’t use jargon, as it will harm your audience’s ability to comprehend your offer.
  • Make sure your claims are backed by references, measurable metrics, or numbers.
  • Never make claims that are obviously impossible or unrealistic.

For inspiration on how you can make your USPs more convincing (and use them to establish your brand’s credibility), you can look up to Apple. Despite its tendency to overexaggerate the capabilities of its new tech products, this brand actually does a solid job of proving its claims.

If you check out the MacBook Air product page, you’ll see that Apple includes a variety of graphs and performance test results below its sales propositions. These elements are all deliberately placed on the page to back up the brand’s promises. And considering the fact that they’re detailed and informative, it’s no surprise they’re successful at driving trust.

8 Ways Your Website Can Generate Trust in Your Brand

Source: apple.com

For an even better way to ensure your website generates trust, you could also choose to back up your claims with scientific references. Aveeno does a stellar job at this, with an entire page dedicated to the science behind using oats in skincare, complete with a full list of research papers for potential users to check out.

8 Ways Your Website Can Generate Trust in Your Brand

Source: aveenomd.com

Don’t Limit Reviews to Product Pages

As you explore the role of your website in generating brand trust, it’s essential that you have a base understanding of how people consume online content.

According to UX research from the Nielsen Norman Group, users spend 74% of their page-viewing time looking at content in the first two screenfuls of their display. In other words, they interact the most with the content they see first. And, chances are, the web page they land on when visiting your website is your homepage.

This information implies that the best way for a website to drive results (whether the goal is generating conversions, trust, or something entirely else) is to position high-impact elements in a way that guarantees they’ll be seen by your web visitors.

So, if you know that social proof, especially in the form of user reviews, generates trust, it’s not a bad idea to look for ways to make it more prominent on your site.

KURU Footwear, for example, incorporates its aggregated reviews in the hero section of its homepage, where they’re bound to be seen by first-time web visitors (and potential buyers).

8 Ways Your Website Can Generate Trust in Your Brand

Source: kurufootwear.com

Airship does something even more advanced, using the section right below the homepage hero image to display social proof collected from reputable brands like Shell, NBC Sports, and Chipotle.

8 Ways Your Website Can Generate Trust in Your Brand

Source: airship.com

Both of these approaches work great in generating trust. And, considering the fact that they’re easy to recreate, they’re an excellent strategy for you to try out for yourself.

Show Potential Customers You’re Available to Them in Real-Time

In the era where 8 out of 10 consumers want more self-service options, businesses produce extensive knowledge bases, and content creators publish unlimited how-to YouTube videos, investing in next-level customer support may not seem relevant for winning customer trust.

However, if your goal is to establish your brand as reliable, it’s still not a bad idea to show potential customers you’ll be there for them, even after they’ve made a purchase. Especially if, in addition to boosting conversions, you’re also interested in generating customer loyalty.

Explore ways to highlight the unique value your brand can deliver by having a support team on-hand 24/7. Then, make sure you point out your customer service team’s availability.

For example, if you have in-person, real-time support available (either through chat or telephone), make sure the fact is clearly shown on your website.

ActiveCollab does this by placing its live-chat icon in the lower-right corner of the screen, where potential customers are bound to see it. Moreover, the chat widget communicates whether the brand’s support team is online and even shows the number and profile pictures of the customer service agents currently available.

8 Ways Your Website Can Generate Trust in Your Brand

Source: activecollab.com

Or, for an even more elevated customer support experience, you might also try and emulate B&H‘s approach. This strategy relies on providing web visitors with information about store opening hours, different contact options, and even estimates on how quickly in-store pickups can be ready.

8 Ways Your Website Can Generate Trust in Your Brand

Source: bhphotovideo.com

Make a Big Deal Out of Your Earned Media

One excellent strategy for using your website to generate trust in your brand is to employ as much social proof as possible.

Admittedly, we already covered the issue of where to show these trust-driving elements. Nonetheless, it’s not a bad idea to focus on the types of social proof that will be successful at driving results.

One of the easiest ways to convince your target audience of your brand’s trustworthiness is to rely on the authority of established publications in your industry.

If your business has been mentioned in the media, you can easily create an “As featured by” section. For inspiration, check out the one on the MarketBeat website.

By doing this, you can effectively (and without coming off as cocky) inform web visitors that you’ve been recognized as a brand delivering quality services or products. Plus, you can genuinely benefit from the fact that your target audience already trusts online magazines such as Entrepreneur, Forbes, and Inc., and build your reputation around their authority and seal of approval.

8 Ways Your Website Can Generate Trust in Your Brand

Source: marketbeat.com

Or, you might even choose to go with something a bit more specific, as done on the Troop Messenger homepage. On this site, the “Press release” section includes links to specific articles mentioning the quality of this SaaS product, actively generating brand confidence and encouraging potential users to try out the SaaS product.

8 Ways Your Website Can Generate Trust in Your Brand

Source: troopmessenger.com

Shine a Spotlight on User-Generated Content

In its latest State of User Generated Content Report, TINT reveals that the best way for brands to build trust and credibility in 2022 is to rely on UGC. According to this research study:

  • 65% of consumers think it’s important for brands to channel more than just one voice.
  • 45% agree that too much self-promotion will cause them to unfollow a business.
  • 72% feel that user-submitted content is more credible than branded messages.

So, knowing that people prefer UGC over branded messages, it’s safe to say that shining a light on high-quality user-submitted images or testimonials makes for an excellent way to generate trust in your brand.

The brand Joseph&Joseph does a particularly good job of displaying UGC on its product pages.

By encouraging its customers to use a dedicated hashtag, this company gains access to hundreds of user-generated visuals of its products. And the best part is, these images work to show potential buyers how well-loved Joseph&Joseph products are, automatically serving as a powerful trust-generation strategy as well as a conversion-boosting element.

8 Ways Your Website Can Generate Trust in Your Brand

Source: josephjoseph.com

Tell Your Customer Stories

As you consider the different ways your website can help you generate brand trust, don’t forget that one of the best strategies for establishing your company’s reputation is to use your site as a content publishing platform.

More specifically, employ your site to tell customer stories.

If you’re not entirely convinced that investing in this format of social proof is worth the effort, all you have to do is look at the latest content marketing research.

According to the 2022 B2B Content Marketing report, 73% of the most successful content marketers in the last 12 months used case studies. Moreover, case studies were quoted by 39% of marketers as having produced the best results in 2021 (preceded only by webinars, original research, short-form articles, and white papers).

And, if you look back to Edelman’s research, you’ll see that consumers (Gen Z in particular) consider individuals similar to themselves to be one of the top 3 credible brand spokespeople.

8 Ways Your Website Can Generate Trust in Your Brand

Source: edelman.com

With this in mind, it’s essential that you find ways to make case studies and customer stories a part of your website so that you can convince potential buyers to trust your organization.

You can look at Digitarial Agency as an excellent example of a brand that has a dedicated case studies page. And the best thing is that the page is not just filled with use-case information. Perhaps even more importantly, it is given a prime position on the brand’s homepage, ensuring that all visitors see it.

8 Ways Your Website Can Generate Trust in Your Brand

Source: digitarialagency.com

Use Customer Video Interviews

Lastly, as you explore strategies that will allow you to drive customer trust with your website, don’t forget that video is one of people’s preferred content formats for learning about products and services.

So make sure that you find ways of incorporating it on your website, especially with the goal of telling customer stories. For inspiration, you can check out this video by Slack.

Or, for an even more personalized approach, check out how Dropbox passes the microphone to its customers, who share their work processes and pain points and describe (in their own words) the ways Dropbox’s products have helped them overcome obstacles.

8 Ways Your Website Can Generate Trust in Your Brand

Source: dropbox.com

Wrapping Up

The great thing about using your website to generate trust in your brand is that you can achieve exceptional results with minimal work.

So, whether you implement just one or all of the trust-driving strategies discussed in this article is entirely up to you.

However, as you work towards positioning your business as trustworthy, reliable, and authentic, don’t forget that the key to doing this is to always stay true to your brand’s identity and core values. That way, you’ll ensure that your target audience connects with you on a meaningful level. Plus, you’ll also set the foundation for building strong and long-lasting relationships that will help you transform trust into customer loyalty and loyalty into success.