Credibility is the online world’s most potent currency. Only this is the currency you use to sell, not to buy. Your 20-point bullet list of features and benefits? Your unique selling proposition? They’re all meaningless if your landing page visitors don’t believe you. The critical differentiator that gets people to give you their money in today’s digital marketplace is how credible you are.
Weave these credibility-builders throughout your landing page copy and design to increase your conversion rate.
Social Proof
Nothing supports your own claims on your landing page like having those with no financial interest in your business saying the same thing. According to a 2013 BrightLocal.com survey, 73% of respondents said a positive online review increases their trust in a business. The two most effective forms of social proof you can include directly on your landing page are testimonials and influencer validation.
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Testimonials: Actual success stories from actual users of your product or service! What could be better? Nothing. Really – nothing is better. As long as they’re done right. The best practices you want to follow for using testimonials are
- Make it unassailable that the testimonial is from a real person. We’ve all seen testimonials from “M.Y., local shop owner in upstate New York,” and we’re all too savvy now to buy the testimonial OR the product this M.Y. loves so much. Your testimonials should include a full name, perhaps their business title and/or location if that’s relevant, and ideally a photo – a happy, smiley photo.
- Keep each testimonial short, targeted, and specific. Use separate testimonials to support your various feature/benefit claims. Five testimonials that each rave about a different feature or benefit have greater impact than one long testimonial that makes all the same points. Taking this approach also lets you strategically drop each testimonial near the part of the landing page copy most relevant to it.
- Use a consistent design element to make each testimonial stand out. Your design options are endless, a different colored background, alternative font and/or typeface, a speaker bubble or callout brackets. Whatever design element you use, it should contrast nicely with the rest of your landing page design so the testimonials stand out, and use this design element for every testimonial on the page and ONLY for testimonials.
Influencer validation: Influencer validation is social proof that’s enhanced by the credibility of the person or entity providing the validation. This could be a testimonial from a recognizable name. In which case, follow the testimonial rules above plus make it really, really big and place it towards the top of your landing page! Co-branding with a trusted company is another way to bask in someone else’s well-earned credibility.
However, influencer validation also includes displaying the logos of media that have covered your product or service, badges showing any industry honors and awards it may have won, and logos of relevant, trusted industry organizations to which your business belongs.
Exhibiting these logos and badges benefits your landing page in both form and function. In addition to showing influencer validation, they’re appealing visual aids that break up the landing page copy.
The personal is credible
A truism of good copy is that it speaks directly to the reader. Your landing page visitor should feel understood when they read your copy. When he or she feels like you genuinely understand their pain or challenges, then it’s more likely he or she will believe that you offer a credible solution.
How do you personalize your landing page? So glad you asked. The general answer is “be specific.” Here’s how:
- Create a different landing page for each buying audience you’ve identified, and for each feeder source into your landing page. If you’re writing to everyone, no one gets the specific message that resonates most strongly with them.
- Include quantifiable facts. First, cite verifiable facts from outside sources when quantifying the pain point you’re addressing. Second, use success statistics from your internal research to quantify your product/service’s value. Statistics augment an individual testimonial as well. So if one of your customers shares that your organic seeds sprouted 5x faster than another brand she bought – use that!
Make everything easy
If you’ve read any of my other blog posts here, you know one of my main themes is: Don’t make your reader work that hard!
Make it easy for your landing page visitor to trust you, contact you, buy from you, and yes – even return their purchase to you.
- Include security seals, like VeriSign or PayPal Verified, to give the buyer comfort that it’s safe and secure to buy on your page.
- Provide complete contact information that’s easy to find, including a phone number, email address, and your social media badges. Build their trust that they can reach you if they need to.
- In the same vein, keep both your buying and return process simple. At the buying stage, don’t ask for more information than you need. Explain your simple return process in your landing page copy.
- Use a simple privacy statement that’s prominently placed. Let people know you respect their privacy.
Stay Honest
I trust that I needn’t belabor this point. None of the rest of this matters if you’re not being honest.
Credibility is More Valuable Than Bitcoin
Think of your digital credibility as a type of cryptocurrency, but without the volatility. Because once your credibility goes down, you’re unlikely to regain it. However, you can use these tools to build up your credibility reserves and boost your conversion rates.
Elisa Silverman is a B2B content writer with a background in law and technology, who’s spent a career helping diverse groups of people communicate well with each other.