by Sheri Fink

Created on: March 01, 2007   Last Updated: April 13, 2007

Building trust on your website is more essential today than ever before. Consumers have an unprecedented selection of options when shopping online. Credibility is an important factor in their decision of whether or not to purchase from your website. There are several things you can do to enhance the trust factor on your website, resulting in confident purchasing by consumers and increased customers for your business.

How many consumers are reaching your website only to leave and never return? If consumers don't feel confident that your website is trustworthy, they will shop elsewhere. According to a Forrester Consulting Group study of online transactions, a staggering 63% of consumers still won't buy online. Even seasoned online consumers are growing ever more wary. Only 46% of these buyers perceived credit cards as secure in 2004, and that figure fell to 37% in 2005. In addition, new online shoppers remain the most cautious.

Here are several ways to boost the credibility of your website in the eyes of consumers:

1. Get your website certified. Several organizations offer security certification of your site and security logos for display on your website, including ScanSafe's HackerSafe, TrustE, VeriSign, Better Business Bureau, etc. These certifications and accompanying logos have been shown to increase conversions. Consumers are familiar with some of these certifications and feel confident purchasing from sites that display them. It could make the difference in getting the sale and acquiring a new customer.

Research your options and determine which ones might be the best fit for your business. Test the different security certification logos and combinations of them (ie: HackerSafe with VeriSign) with a focus group (not live on the Internet your website must be certified in order to display the logos). Also, test placement of the logos on your webpages. You'll definitely want to place one in the shopping cart checkout process near the payment information fields. Other placement factors to consider include which pages to display it on, where to put the logo(s) on those pages, how large the logo(s) should be, etc.

2. Offer alternative payment methods. Consumers desire both security and convenience at the time of payment. Allow customers to use their preferred payment method. There are many options available today, including Bill Me Later, PayPal, e-checks, etc. Many of these prevent the consumer from having to enter credit or debit card information at your site, eliminating

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