Firecracker PR

6 Steps to Building Trust Online (So Google and Prospects Love You)

Let me take you back to a story from 2013: the apparent online girlfriend hoax of Notre Dame Heisman finalist Manti
Te’o.

For those that aren’t familiar with the story, linebacker Manti Te’o was an extremely popular linebacker for the Notre Dame
football team. Te’o finished second in votes for the Heisman Trophy, and played in the BCS Championship game against
Alabama.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manti Te’o’s fake girlfriend

It eventually came out that the story about Te’o’s girlfriend that he met online who supposedly died was a complete fake.

The race was on in the press to find out more details in this bizarre story. The part that everyone was wondering was if
Te’o was the victim or the hoaxer? The more we found out, the stranger the entire thing seemed.

Many people were incredulous that Te’o could have fallen in love with someone online that he’s never seen or even
Skyped with.

But in today’s world, with so much being done online, it’s really not as crazy as it sounds.

Firecracker PR started up in 2004, back when outsourcing to virtual companies was still in its infancy. Even then, we had no problems landing new clients who had never even seen me, and signed contracts purely on the basis of our website and a conversation on the phone with me.

Today, we have clients who have been with us for many years and have never met us. I use contractors for eight years that I’ve never seen and maybe only spoken to on the phone a couple of times.

This means that the trust your business projects online is more important than ever. It could literally mean the difference between a big sale and a lost sale. This is especially important for companies that aren’t selling a physical product in a retail environment.

Here are six practical steps for you to immediately increase
the trust factor of your business:

1. Create regular press releases and generate media coverage.
If a visitor goes to your website and sees a “Press & News” section
that has a press release every couple of months and some news stories
in the media, they will be significantly reassured that you are legit
and not likely to fold up shop.

Example of a press and news page

Similarly, if they Google your business name and see news stories
pop up about your company, that’s a huge benefit.

But imagine if you wanted to do business with a company and
suddenly have had no news or press releases in over a year. Does
that give you confidence? Or worse yet, there’s no news about
them at all, even though the company’s been around for 5 years.

2. Use testimonials. They work for everything from infomercials
on TV, to infomarketing in email, to selling enterprise software
or services on your website.

Example of customer testimonials

Testimonials are social proof that you can deliver what you promise.
They are extremely powerful. It’s as simple as just asking your
customers for permission to get testimonials. If they don’t have
time, ask if you can write something on their behalf and just have
them approve it. In my experience, almost no customers refuse.

3. Don’t skimp on web design. Often your website is going to be
the only thing that a prospect will have to base their initial impression
on. And subconsciously, if your website is old, clunky and ugly, they
will assume (rightly or wrongly) the same about your company and
your products.

Conversely, a sharp, crisp, clean, modern website can project
an image that makes you larger than you actually are.

Great web design and project a professional image

A great website doesn’t have to break the bank at all these days.
Most new sites use WordPress templates that have been tweaked.
The total cost to redesign your site could be done for under $5,000.

Check out these following sites for some WordPress templates:

http://themetrade.com/
https://www.elegantthemes.com/
http://www.mojo-themes.com/categories/wordpress/
http://www.wordpressgraphics.com/
http://www.rockettheme.com/wordpress-themes
http://www.templatemonster.com/welcome/professional-wordpress-themes.php

4. Use awards, association affiliations and other indicators on your
website. These could include a Better Business Bureau seal (requires
a monthly subscription), an industry icon, a security (like Verisign)
icon, an American Business Awards logo (or any other award). Basically
these all signal to your prospect that you are not only legit, you
are exceptional.

Awards reassure prospects you are the top in your field

5. Get Google to like you. The trustworthiness of your website
isn’t just important to humans, they are one of the top key factors
to Google these days. In fact, for SEO purposes, having a trustworthy
website will go a long way towards helping you rank high for target
keywords over your competitors.

Read this awesome post by Brian Dean at Backlinko on this subject:
http://backlinko.com/google-trustrank

Backlinko article on trust and Google

6. Disseminate content. Imagine a prospect Googles your business
name and sees a video on Youtube, a Powerpoint on Slideshare,
a PDF report on some other site, articles you’ve written on various
websites and maybe even an infographic you created.

How much would that prove to the customer that you aren’t just
trustworthy, you are the leader in the industry?

Content marketing might seem like a drag, but just get started.
Do a little day by day.

Following these 6 steps will drastically increase the level of trust
your online presence generates!

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Need some help with any of these steps? Contact Firecracker today
and let’s chat: https://www.firecrackerpr.com/about-us-contact-us/

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