Why Your E-Commerce Website Needs a Trust Seal

One of the first things any e-commerce website owner is going to learn is the arduous task of earning their customers’s trust. An e-commerce site’s trustworthiness is critical to CRM. How do you convince a buyer already skeptical of sharing their personal information on the web to do so with another website?

If you want to earn customer trust, you need a trust seal.

What’s a Trust Seal?

The only way to get customers and to build on those relationships is by giving them reason to share personal information, including sensitive information like addresses and account numbers. Unfortunately, everyone’s savvy about hackers and how even the biggest companies have been victimized. The potential risk can keep a consumer from making a transaction, especially at an online store they’re not familiar with.

On the other hand, consumers love shopping and exploring new opportunities on the Internet and are not likely to stop any time soon. What can make all the difference between checkout and abandoning a purchase is a reputable symbol of trust from a reputed entity that identifies an e-commerce site has put customer security and safety first.

Trust seals are a layer of security, referred to as a secure socket layer or SSL. This means a series of security measures have been put in place based on the latest secure payment processing, firewalls, encryption, and anti-malware solutions. Trust seals verifies customers can make safe transactions. That the site is safe for card and debit information, bank account numbers, and other sensitive information. There are two general SSL categories, indicating standard and extended SSL certificate validations. An EV SSL certification will require a more intensive effort in the review of domain information.

Why Your Site Needs a Trust Seal

Trust seals distinguish a site’s value of security, enhancing its overall safety facilities. While the truth is many consumers may not consciously look for trust seals, they subconsciously recognize them, especially if trust seals are prominently displayed on e-commerce web pages.

The market has demonstrated websites that have trust seals see more completed transactions. Smaller e-commerce websites – which may have a harder time getting sales – have seen a conversion rate of 20 percent or more when trust seals are clearly visible.

The Cost of a Trust Seal

Like anything you pay for, when it comes to a trust seal, you get what you pay for. If you put a low security system on your car or home, you minimize protection. The same can be said of trust seals as they come in a broad range of pricing. If you let the bottom line dictate the decision, the solution could have a negligible impact on sales. Putting a significant amount of money into a trust seal may seem illogical, especially if you believe your traffic doesn’t warrant a major investment. But trust seals are known to actually increase sales and will pay for themselves over time. A noted trust seal from a reliable and recognizable resource will fill consumers with trust.

When comparing prices, also take into account this is a long term investment for inspiring confidence in customers, the most important aspect of running an e-commerce website and seeing any growth or success.

Choosing a Trust Seal Solution

All solutions do not do the same thing. One resource may provide features best suited for your business, or you may prefer to go with a popular solution that will more likely catch a customer’s eye. Either way, a quality web design springfield mo company can help you make a decision.

Here are the eight most popular SSL certificate providers in the e-commerce market.

1. Comodo. Comodo is trusted by 99.9 percent of browsers, and comes with 256 bit encryption and 2048 signatures. It promises fast validation and issuance, and unlimited server licenses.
2. GeoTrust. The world’s second largest digital certificate provider, GeoTrust is securing online transactions in 150 countries. GeoTrust offers the capacity for up to 256 bit encryption and a range of True Site Seals based on identity verification.
3. Trustwave. Trustwave is a global provider of Internet security and compliance, including SSL certificates for up to five domains and any www equivalents. They offer free technical support, free lifetime reissuance, and web-based PCI.
4. Thawte. Thawte has expert support, easy online management, and a sturdy authentication process for securing sites and giving customers peace of mind. There’s a warranty ceiling up to $1.5 million and options for wildcard functionality and multi-domain capacity.
5. Digicert. Digicert is used by some of the most recognizable multinational companies in the world. Noted for incredibly reasonable prices and exceptional return on the investment, Digicert provides up to 2048 bit SSL certificates.
6. VeriSign. One of the more expensive options here, VeriSign is still one of the most trusted, providing e-commerce support to big brands all over the Internet. Services come with extremely customizable features, vulnerability assessment, and extended validation.
7. McAfee. Outside of the leader on our list, McAfee is probably the second most recognized name in digital security. The go-to security solution for both global and local enterprises, McAfee has a comparable and efficient SSL product.
8. Norton. Norton uses advanced and industry leading SSL encryption to protect customer and vendor data. Ensure your website’s potential with EV SSL or Wildcard SSL certification, enhancing security for all transactions and customers.

Trust seals have been recognized as huge factors in improving sales, revenue and profits. A trust seal is going to have a significant impact on e-commerce success. It can maximize your brand, giving your customers peace of mind to leave their personal information in your hands.

Take note that you can also increase trust by putting the company name, address, email, phone number, and social links on every page of the website, especially throughout the checkout process in the vicinity of the trust seal. This information lets customers know at any time they can contact you if they have questions. And for the record, this repeated information also enhances rankings in search engines.