Julianna
You’ve optimized your site content, so it’s driving decent search traffic. Check. You’re managing to get visitors to your website. Kudos. And, they have every intention of filling out that form for your white paper or signing up for your newsletter until they see this …
Then, whooosh, they are gone!
Our November 2018 post summarized the risks of not securing all your webpages. One that deserves a blog post all its own is trust or, more importantly, what doesn’t happen when it’s missing.
Lack of Trust = Lack of Conversions
Many website and business owners mistakenly believe that SSL certificates are only necessary for ecommerce websites. Not so and here’s why.
With all the risks out there on the web, from fake news to phishing and spoofed websites, web users are more cautious than ever. According to a recent survey referenced on searchngineland.com, 50% of web users react negatively to not secure warnings. Brands have little margin for error when it comes to earning trust. Today businesses must work much harder than ever gain the trust of online visitors. And trust is the first, most critical step in getting visitors to engage and convert.
Every action you want visitors to take on your website, not just Buy Now, is a conversion. That includes filling out a form to download a piece of content, sign up for your newsletter or contact you for help. All these actions depend on first earning your visitors’ trust. If trust is the baseline for any subsequent action, greeting them with a “Not Secure” warning isn’t going to cut it. Protecting your website with an SSL certificate is one of the quickest, easiest and most direct ways to establish trust online.
The 5 Fundamentals of Gaining Trust Online
Earning trust isn’t a one and done exercise. It starts with a great first impression, but you have to keep earning it because it can be lost in an instant. Here are Forbes five principles of trust building and how you can accomplish them all by simply protecting your website with an SSL certificate:
You Are What You Do — New visitors don’t know you, so you have to immediately show, not tell them, you can be trusted the minute they land on your site. Encrypting their connection with an SSL certificate shows visitors you value their security.
Lead the Debate — You can’t be a leader in your industry or market by taking a back seat or, worse yet, not taking action. “Not Secure” warnings have been in effect since July 2018, so it’s time to adopt and adapt the principles of a more secure web.
Openness is an Opportunity — Truth is a fact. Trust is a feeling that’s based on truth. You’re missing a huge opportunity to show the truth about who you are and prove you’re legitimate when you don’t have an SSL certificate. Just imagine how many opportunities you may have lost by not putting visitors at ease.
Become a Trustworthy Source of Trustworthy Messages — Transparency is at the core of being perceived as trustworthy. An SSL certificate’s visual indicators give visitors instant confirmation that you’re the real deal. Of course, you’ll need to back that up with valuable, relevant content to keep them coming back.
Be a Good Citizen, it Pays—By showing visitors you care about their security from the second they land on your site, it enables them to feel assured that you’ll look out for them in other ways, too, making them more likely to become a customer, partner, follower, fan or whatever your goal is.
Start a New Trend
Trust is the most valuable currency online, regardless of what type of website you have. If you’re seeing less-than-stellar performance when it comes to form fills or new subscribers, an SSL certificate could be just the thing to get both trending in an upward direction. With more than 20 different SSL options starting as low as $20/year and one-on-one help with installation, there’s simply no reason to lose visitors or leads to “Not Secure” warnings.