What Search Engines Are Looking For, Part 3 - Trust
Posted on 24th March 2021
Does Google Trust Your Website?
If you’ve ever wondered just how to figure out Google's ranking formula, you are not the only one. When it comes to how Google functions, it plays its cards very close to its chest! Occasionally though they do throw us a bone, and recently this came in the form of the “core update” that was released in early December 2020. This update detailed the three key factors that Google considers when ranking websites and these were referred to as E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).
“Earn trust, earn trust, earn trust. Then you can worry about the rest.” - Seth Godin ThisIsSethsBlog
If you intend to build a reliable website, it's the little things that count to establish trust and credibility with your site visitors. Everyone, from your existing buyers, potential customers, all the way through to Google, likes a reliable website. In this blog post, we'll lay out 12 different aspects that go into improving your site's integrity with site visitors, in addition to pointers for just how you can apply a few of these top tips.
1. See to it that your site's layout looks wonderful
If someone tells you that you can’t judge a book by its cover, you can guarantee they are not in web design! A good-looking website shows visitors you have made an effort to showcase your products or services and that indicates that you do not cut corners in other areas either.
2. Prevent spam, from both you and advertisers
All of us recognise that spam such as aggressive ads and also full web page pop-ups impedes interaction on any website, and when it comes down to your own site, it is good to know you have full control over how much of it you enable. To keep your site's reputation, don't present spammy ads, and also keep your very own opt-in offers as unobtrusive as possible. Most visitors are comfortable with reasonable use of pop-ups and also ad-space on a website. However easy tweaks like not showing pop-ups to returning visitors can maintain visitors on your website.
3. Add an “About Us” page to place a face on your website.
Showing your visitors that there's a genuine person (or people) behind your website is a very simple, but effective, means of conveying that it is a reliable website. Your site's “About Us” page is the first place readers inspect for more information about you as it swiftly allows them to get a handle on who you are, what your aims are and that you are authentic. Where you can, it is a great idea to include videos and headshots of you and your team.
4. Clearly present your contact information
Showing your name, address, and contact telephone number on your internet site is an easy step to enhancing your site’s trust value. Generally, visitors look for “get in touch” information in the footer or as a menu item. Besides adding to your trustworthiness, having easily accessible “get in touch” details on your website can enhance local search engine optimisation.
5. Add a blog and keep it up to date
A blog page helps you share common interests and beneficial articles with your audience and can help to build an enduring relationship with your visitors. However, you need to update and add to your blog routinely and regularly, or else potential customers may question if you are still trading.
6. Present client testimonials and customer reviews
Any comments from third parties that support your product or services are worth their weight in gold and are very valuable in the efforts to build a credible and trustworthy website. Also, whenever feasible, ensure that the testimonials and reviews contain the actual names of the reviewer (with their permission obviously), as it boosts their reliability.
7. Make use of logos or symbols to show you take safety seriously
8. Display follower numbers from social networks
If you have actually obtained a considerable following via your social media platforms you should shout about it. You can also add web links to your social profiles and encourage visitors to click these links to follow you if they don’t already but ensure the platform they connect to opens in a new window, as you do not want to redirect a valuable visitor away from your website.
9. Have an easily accessible privacy plan in place
If you gather any kind of data from your visitors (which almost every site does), you must develop a privacy plan so that site visitors know specifically how their data is being used. Not only is this a lawful demand (e.g. with GDPR), it functions as a confidence-building step.
10. Check your web content
To construct a trustworthy website, you can't have glaring errors lying around within your content. It can seem like a very small thing, but punctuation and grammar have a big effect on your website's integrity.
11. Use an SSL certificate to prove that your website is safe and secure
SSL certification helps you utilise HTTPS as well as obtain the green padlock for your website in people's browsers. Not only does this make your site much more protected, it also assists in the production of a credible website. For instance, GlobalSign found that 29% of site visitors particularly seek out the green lock in their browser. When site visitors see the protection badge on your website and the lock symbol on your website address bar, they understand that submitting their personal details is risk-free.
12. Always use a customized domain name - not a subdomain
Lastly, stay clear of using “free” subdomains, like "yoursite.wordpress.com". Essentially, what this tells users is that you do not care enough about your website to buy a custom-made domain name that sets you back very little financially.
Final thoughts
If you want to construct a trustworthy website, including all these elements is a great way to boost your integrity with your visitors. It might take some effort upfront, but a number of these suggestions are one-off modifications, and as soon as you have made them you'll be able to profit from the trustworthiness for the remainder of your website's life!
it’seeze Web Design Horsham offer affordable web design services that are ideal for local businesses, and we provide ongoing website support for all our clients too. If you're looking for a reliable Sussex web design company, we'd love to hear from you.
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