Welcome to another edition of the “5 Reasons” blog series. This will be a weekly blog series, with a fresh post every Monday. Last week’s topic was “Five Reasons to Create Content”.

This Week’s Topic = Five Reasons Your Website Isn’t Trustworthy

Trust between a company and its customers is vital. Fear is the number one emotion involved in all purchasing decisions. Customers ask themselves all sorts of questions before they commit to buy something from you.

Will I get what I’m paying for? Is it worth the money? Am I safe?

If your website fails to build trust, you could lose the sale. Here are five reasons your website isn’t doing the job.

1. You don’t have an SSL certificate. Without getting very technical, SSL is a security protocol that protects sensitive information when provided online. Having an SSL certificate on your site allows you to collect credit cards and other payment details without risk to your customers. It provides you with the “s” in “https” URLs that signal to the consumer their information is secure.
   
   
2. You are not accredited. There are a number of accrediting bodies that you can apply to, depending on your industry. But the most widely known is likely the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Accreditation and good standing with the BBB allows you to add their seal of approval to your site and makes customers feel safe.
   
   
3. You don’t have any reviews. Amazon disrupted the ecommerce industry by allowing positive and negative customer reviews on all product pages. Prospective customers can see what real people like them thought about their purchase. Today, if your company does not provide reviews, it tends to signal that you have something to hide.
   
   
4. It doesn’t match your marketing. If I land on your website expecting one thing, and I see another, I’m immediately going to question if I’m in the right place. That’s not a good trust builder. Make sure your name and branding matches on all promotional material, and carry that over to your website at all cost.
   
   
5. It is out of date. Check the copyright in the footer of your site. It better be current. But that’s not all, even an “old-looking” site, or one that does not function properly, can appear out of date and poorly managed. That is a big turnoff among people who use the web regularly for business and shopping.

As always, if you have your own tips, please include them in the comments below.