There are certain elements that people look for—consciously or subconsciously—that help them determine if a site is legit. They’re looking for hints of credibility. Since you want people to know you are for real and completely legit (especially if you’re asking them to hand over their hard-earned cash for your product or service,) make sure your site doesn’t overlook these things… and if you’re not sure, you should probably go check right now.
Or… maybe just read this first.
Display Testimonials Front and Center
This may be obvious, but if you sell a product, a course, an eBook, anything, include testimonials from satisfied customers and display them prominently. This provides social proof to potential customers and will help them make the decision to buy. After all, if there are people who have already read the eBook, completed the course, or used the product, a potential buyer will know 1.) it’s real, and 2.) it has the potential to change his life, help him be more productive, improve his situation, or whatever intended problem your product solves.
User Opinions
Assuming the site is designed and built for it, let people speak their minds about your product from the start, and future customers will appreciate the varying options. User opinions are valuable in that they give people an honest idea of your product, plus or minus a few extreme reviews (and hopefully your level-headed customers are smart enough to rule those out, or take them with a grain of salt.) If your product is true to its claims, you shouldn’t have to worry about naysayers. This is about helping the customer make the right decision that will benefit them most.
Stop BSing, start bullet pointing
Give potential buyers a concise explanation of what your product is about. Most likely they have an idea, otherwise they wouldn’t have navigated to your sales page. So make it easy: instead of filling the page with useless buzzwords and industry jargon, tell me in plain English how this is going to benefit me. How will you help me solve my problem?
What features do you consider most important and helpful about your product?
Highlight these features by listing them on the page. Use bullet points. Bold the type, make it larger than the body copy. These are the best things about your product! Coincidentally, these are also the things that will help your customer the most, and thus influence the decision to buy. Make it obvious to your customer.
Who is your target customer? Who isn’t?
Say so on your sales page, and you help people make a decision whether or not to keep reading. Don’t try to force sales through trickery; that’ll only come back to bite you in the ass later (through high return rates, unsatisfied customers, poor feedback, etc.) Remember, one of the main objectives of your site is to help customers make the best decisions. Tell them who should buy your product (those looking for a solution to problem X, those who are willing to work hard to get X) and who shouldn’t buy your product (people who already know everything there is to know about X, people who are looking for a quick and easy solution to X and aren’t willing to grind hard.)
Include badges and seals in your design
If you accept payment through multiple outlets (PayPal, Google Checkout, etc.), are merchant-verified, are a secure website, are accredited by the Better Business Bureau, or whatever, make sure you display that in the footer of your sales page or near the buy button. I’m not saying do all of this even if you AREN’T verified, certified, secure, or accepting payments through these outlets… but if you take the time to set up your business properly (and you are… right?), it’s good to let potential customers know.
Show them how to reach you
Most people are afraid to part with their money online. They have visions of businesses shutting down as soon as the money is received, never to be heard from again. Quell those fears before they become an issue by giving potential customers several ways to get in touch with you.
This could mean a direct number, links to a contact form, a live chat link, even directions to get to your store (assuming you have one.) This is important because you want to give your customers the impression you are completely within reach. Oh, and, keep it real. Don’t just give them the impression, ACTUALLY be within reach. They’ll appreciate a warm, knowledgeable body at the other end of the line.
Remember
That should give you enough work for at least the next week or two. :) Do your best to incorporate some, if not all, of these elements in your site so you not only appear more legit, but can help assist your future customers to make the best possible decisions.
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Inspiration / screenshots taken from @chrisguillebeau’s unconventionalguides.com, Amazon.com, bhphotovideo.com
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Good tips! It drives me nuts when a site I want to order something from doesn’t have a phone number to reach them. It definitely makes it sketchy.
I agree! If a company doesn’t have an easy way to get a hold of them, I really hesitate in handing over my money. I usually send a couple emails to see how receptive they are :) Thanks for reading!
yea I like your tips brother. First time I’ve ever been here and I already like your content, which is not usual.
I’ll be use to apply some of these to my other sites.
Hey thanks for reading, Wilson! I’m glad you found some of what you read helpful. Feel free to reach out if you need anything.