The Importance of Trust Seals for Small Business Websites

If you want to increase trust and conversions on your website, you need trust seals (or trust badges). But where do you put them? What should they say? And how many should you use? Read this blog post for answers.
importance of trust seals small business website
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You’ve spent months, maybe even years, perfecting your website. It looks great, functions well, and you’re finally ready to start bringing in some business. But wait—there’s one more thing you need to do before you can begin reaping the rewards of your hard work: add trust seals.

What are trust badges, you ask? Trust seals (or trust badges) are online badges certifying that your website and business are safe and trustworthy. They help build customer confidence by letting visitors know that their personal and financial information is secure with you and that your business is legitimate.

These simple things are vital for small businesses, who may have a more challenging time building trust with potential customers than larger, more established companies. Adding trust seals should be one of your top priorities if you’re running a small business website.

Here’s a crash course on trust seals and why you should start using them on your small business website today:

What Are Trust Badges?

trust seal logos
trust seal logos

Trust badges (seals) are visual elements that certify that a website is safe and trustworthy. They typically feature the company’s logo providing the seal and a short message attesting to the website’s legitimacy.

Trust seals let visitors know that their personal and financial information is safe with you and that your business is legitimate.

These seals are provided by various companies, including website security providers, payment processors, and customer review platforms.

Many of these companies offer free trust seals to website owners who meet specific criteria, such as having an SSL certificate or being PCI compliant.

Why Are Trust Seals Important?

Trust seals are essential because they help build customer confidence in your website and business. In today’s digital world, it’s more important than ever to ensure that your website is secure and trustworthy—and these badges are one of the best ways to do that.

A study by Actual Insights found that trust seals make a brand look more trustworthy to 75% of people. Additionally, 61% of respondents recalled a time when they didn’t finalize a purchase because the website lacked trust logos.

In other words, they help online store visitors make their purchasing decisions.

For small businesses, trust seals are critical. Small companies may have more difficulty building trust with potential customers than larger, more established ones. Adding trust seals can help level the playing field and boost your small business website.

How to Use Trust Seals on Your Website

Now that you know what they are and why they’re essential, it’s time to start using these icons on your own website. Here are a few tips on how to incorporate them into your website design:

  • Place in prominent locations on your website, such as the header, footer, or checkout page.
  • Use high-quality images to help them stand out and look more professional.
  • Make sure they are up to date. Nothing hurts credibility more than outdated logos or messages.
  • Use trust seals from credible companies your target audience will recognize and trust.
  • Only use the ones that you or your team members have earned.

Adding trust seals to your small business website is a simple, effective way to build customer confidence and improve your chances of conversion. This practice lets visitors know that you’re a legitimate business they can trust with their personal and financial information. Now is the time to start if you’re not using trust seals on your website yet.

Why Do I Need a Trust Seal?

You need a trust seal on your small business website to build customer confidence and improve conversion rates.

Customer Confidence

Let’s start with customer confidence. Nowadays, people are cautious about who they give their personal information to online. 

If your website doesn’t look trustworthy, they’re not going to hand over their credit card number—plain and simple. A trust badge helps visitors feel confident that their information is safe with you, which can lead to more sales and conversions.

Remember, your online reputation is important. Customers who don’t trust your brand or website will not do business with you. In addition to using trust seals, there are other things you can do to build customer confidence, such as displaying customer testimonials and contact information prominently on your website.

Conversion Rates

In addition to building customer confidence, trust badges can also help improve your conversion rates.

Google’s John Mueller has said that they may or may not directly affect your E-A-T, so they won’t likely affect your search engine rankings directly. However, they will help you increase your conversion rates.

And that’s why you have a website in the first place, right? To sell your products or services.

Think about it this way: if your website looks credible and trustworthy, people will likely stay on it and convert. On the other hand, if your site looks sketchy, they will hit the back button faster than you can say “trust badge.”

So, while these seals may not directly impact your search rankings, they’re still important because they can help increase your conversion rates.

Types of Trust Seals

Now that you know why trust seals are essential let’s look at some available types.

1. Security

The first type is a security trust seal. These seals show that your website is secure and visitors’ personal information is safe.

For example:

SSL Certificates: SSL certificates encrypt information sent between your website and visitors’ browsers. This helps prevent hackers from stealing sensitive information like credit card numbers.

You can tell if a website has an SSL certificate by looking for the green lock icon in the address bar.

2. Privacy

The second type is a privacy trust seal. These seals show that your website respects visitors’ privacy and that their personal information will be kept confidential.

For example:

Privacy Policies: A privacy policy is a legal document that outlines how you collect, use, and protect your visitors’ personal information. If you have a privacy policy on your website, you can display a trust seal to let visitors know that their information is safe with you.

3. Business

The third type of trust seal is a business trust seal. These seals show that your business is legitimate and that you’re a trusted source for the products or services you offer.

For example:

BBB Accreditation: The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is a nonprofit organization that helps consumers find trustworthy businesses. If your business is accredited by the BBB, you can display its trust seal on your website.

Awards: If your business has won any awards, you can display the relevant trust seals on your website. This helps build credibility and show visitors that you’re a reputable source.

Associations: If your business belongs to any professional associations, you can display their trust seals on your website. This helps show visitors that you’re a credible and trustworthy source.

4. Money-Back Guarantee Trust Seals

The fourth type of trust seal is a money-back guarantee trust seal. These seals show that you offer a money-back guarantee on your products or services. This helps increase customer confidence and can lead to more sales.

For example:

Money-Back Guarantee: A money-back guarantee is a promise to refund a customer’s purchase if they’re not satisfied. If you offer a money-back guarantee, you can display a trust seal to let visitors know they can get their money back if they’re unhappy with your product or service.

5. Satisfaction Guarantee Trust Seals

The fifth type of trust seal is a satisfaction guarantee trust seal. These seals show that you offer a satisfaction guarantee on your products or services. This helps increase customer confidence and can lead to more sales.

For example:

Satisfaction Guarantee: A satisfaction guarantee promises to refund or replace a customer’s purchase if they’re not satisfied. If you offer a satisfaction guarantee, you can display a trust seal to let visitors know that they can get their money back or a replacement if they’re unhappy with your product or service.

Now that you know the different types of trust seals, it’s time to choose the right one for your website.

When choosing a trust seal, there are three things you should keep in mind:

  1. The type of website you have
  2. The products or services you offer
  3. Your target audience

These three things will dictate which trust seal is suitable for your website.

For example, if you have an eCommerce website, you’ll want to choose a trust seal that’s relevant to the products or services you sell. A money-back guarantee trust seal would be a good choice for an eCommerce website since it offers customers assurance that they can get their money back if they’re unsatisfied with their purchase.

Now even though we loathe Shopify, they agree with the importance of trust badges. They even have a list of apps that their users can use to create trust badges. Since, opinions aside, they are an eCommerce powerhouse, it’s worth taking note of their approval.

If you have a business website, you’ll want to choose a trust seal that’s relevant to your business. A business trust seal would be a good choice for a business website since it shows visitors that your business is legitimate and trustworthy.

Once you’ve selected the proper trust seal for your website, you’re ready to start using it.

There are two ways you can use trust seals on your website:

  1. Include the trust seal in your website’s design
  2. Add the trust seal to your website’s code

If you want to include the trust seal in your website’s design, you’ll need to add the trust seal image to your website’s design files. Then, you’ll need to add the code for the trust seal to your website’s code.

If you want to add the trust seal to your website’s code, you’ll need to find the code for the trust seal and add it to your website’s code.

Whichever way you add the trust seal to your website, make sure you add it to all your website pages. Also, make sure that it doesn’t interfere with your customer experience.  This will help increase customer confidence and can lead to more sales.

Which Trust Badges Should I Use?

The most important thing to remember when choosing trust seals for your website is to ensure they’re relevant and credible. That means selecting seals that are appropriate for your industry and that come from reputable organizations.

For example, consider seals from the Better Business Bureau or the National Health Information Center if you’re in the healthcare industry. If you’re in the e-commerce space, on the other hand, seals from companies like VeriSign or McAfee would be more appropriate.

The bottom line is that you should take some time to research which trust seals will work best for your business and your industry. Once you’ve chosen the right ones, make sure to prominently display them on your website so visitors will know they can trust you.

If you’re looking to add trust seals to your small business website, here are some of the best options to choose from:

  • Better Business Bureau (BBB)
  • VeriSign
  • McAfee
  • TRUSTe
  • Symantec
  • GeoTrust
  • Thawte
  • Comodo

Each of these trust seals comes from a reputable and well-established organization, so you can be confident that they’ll help build customer confidence in your business.

What about rating trust seals?

Rating trust seals are different from other types of trust seals in that they show your rating from the company in question. For example, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) offers a seal that shows your business’s BBB rating.

If you’re unfamiliar with the BBB, it’s a well-known organization that rates businesses on a scale of A+ to F based on customer complaints, transparency, and other factors. A high BBB rating is an excellent way to show potential customers that your business is reputable and trustworthy.

Similarly, Trustpilot offers a seal that shows your TrustScore based on customer reviews. If you have a high TrustScore, it’s a good indication that your customers are happy with your products or services.

Additionally, create trust seals like “5-star rating on Google My Business” and “As seen on NBC,” which show that you are credible, have been featured by a reputable source, or that customers have given you positive reviews.

After all, you’ve earned that five-star rating, so why not show it off to potential customers?  We suggest adding trust badges showing your stats on all applicable review sites and social media properties.

The Bottom Line

Adding trust seals to your small business website is a great way to build customer confidence and improve your conversion rates. But it’s essential to choose the correct seals for your business and ensure they’re prominently displayed on your website. By taking these steps, you can be sure that you’re effectively using trust seals to build your business and boost your bottom line.

Do you have a trust seal on your small business website? If not, which one do you plan on adding? Let us know in the comments below!

Of course, if you need help, we can help. We’re experts in all things web development and web design, including adding trust seals to websites. So don’t hesitate to contact us today!

Clint Sanchez

Clint Sanchez

Clint Sanchez excels as the Chief of Information and Technology at the Baton Rouge Fire Department and as a digital marketer at BlakSheep Creative. With over two decades in public service, he expertly manages technological infrastructures while also applying his creative skills in web, graphic design, and video at BlakSheep. His dual role demonstrates a unique blend of technical acumen and creative innovation.
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