How to Build Trust Sections on Your Website
- Marketing Guideline
- Nov 21
- 7 min read
Updated: Dec 2
Essential strategies to turn hesitant visitors into confident customers
Building trust is one of the most important aspects of creating a high-converting website. For small businesses, personal brands, and new ecommerce sites, trust can make or break your ability to turn potential customers into paying customers and content consumers.
Your website doesn’t need to be flashy, but it does need to inspire confidence. When someone is newly introduced to your product or service, you have seconds to establish credibility. In today’s fast-paced digital world, attention spans are short, and first impressions matter.
The right trust-building elements can help you keep your target audience on your site longer and make them feel confident taking action. In this guideline, we’ll walk through the essential components every website needs to build trust, increase conversion rates, and grow a loyal customer base.
Why Trust Matters on a Website
Most of your website visitors are arriving for the first time. They’ve never heard of your brand, and they’re not yet convinced that what you’re offering is legitimate, valuable, or safe.
That’s where trust comes in.
A strong trust strategy can:
Increase conversion rates
Improve your overall user experience
Support your digital marketing strategy by improving brand credibility
Help your business stand out in a crowded marketplace
When someone feels they can trust you, they’re far more likely to complete the desired action, whether that’s buying a product, joining your email list, or contacting your sales team.
Display Trust Badges Where They Matter Most
What are trust badges?
Trust badges are logos or icons that signal to users that your website is secure, verified, or reputable. These could include:
Secure checkout or SSL icons
Verified payment providers (e.g. Visa, PayPal, Apple Pay)
Money-back guarantee or free shipping icons
Partner or certification logos
Where to place them:
Near your checkout page or shopping cart
In your website footer
Beside your call-to-action buttons (e.g. “Buy Now,” “Sign Up”)
Pro Tip: Make sure your trust badges are real and relevant. Adding random or generic icons won’t build trust—in fact, it can do the opposite.
Design Tip: Trust badges and icons should feel like a natural part of your website, and not a last-minute add-on. One common mistake is slapping oversized, blurry, or off-brand graphics onto a page that clash with the overall look. Yes, you want these elements to stand out, but not in a way that feels jarring or unprofessional. Make sure the size, placement, resolution, color, and style of every badge or icon aligns with your brand design. When done right, they’ll build credibility without distracting from your content.
Use Testimonials and Customer Reviews
Social proof is one of the most effective sales tools. People trust other people. Reviews and testimonials help convince potential buyers through mini relatable stories that others have had a good experience with your product or service.
Where to place them:
On your home page (under the hero section or further down on the page)
On product or service pages
In a dedicated testimonials or reviews section
Best practices:
Use names, photos, or titles if you have permission, as this boosts authenticity.
Include a variety of reviews to answer different objections or concerns.
Update your testimonials regularly with new feedback.
Pro Tip: Think about how you can naturally weave testimonials into your page for even greater impact. One of my favorite uses, swap out generic benefit copy in callouts and replace it with a powerful customer quote. Choose testimonials that speak directly to a specific product feature or value—let your current customers do the talking and build the connection for your future ones.
Align with Recognized Brands for Instant Credibility
Brand Alignment = Trust by Association
Your potential customers might not recognize your brand yet, but they likely trust others. If you’ve been featured in the press, received awards, or sell your products on reputable marketplaces (like Amazon, Etsy, or Instacart), leverage those affiliations.
How to showcase brand alignment:
Create a logo bar using recognizable brand logos
Link logos to press articles or product pages for proof
Showcase callouts highlighting a notable press write up or award, and include a link to this outside source
Keep the layout clean and professional with logos sized consistently
Best Placement: I highly recommend placing your logo bar right below your hero section on your home page (and other pages such as About, Products, etc). If you do not have high-impact brand logos then consider having this placed on the home page a bit further down or right below the footer of all of your pages.
Avoid this mistake: Some sites will just put up logos with a line of “As seen on” and not have any links. That can damage trust. Though it might be tempting we do not need to deceive customers, you need to earn their business.
Set it up: Contact credible review sites and other outlets and ask them to review or write about your products or services. Choose brands that are well known and align with your product category. Start small by pitching yourself to blogs, reviewers, or small media outlets. Once you have gained a number of smaller outlets, then it’s time to reach out to larger ones.
Pay-to-play Opportunities
Some outlets offer pay-to-play opportunities, where you can pay a fee to have them write an article or review about your product or business. This can be a strategic option, but it should be approached with care. If you decide to go this route, make sure the publication is well-known, aligns with your brand values, and will genuinely add credibility in the eyes of your target audience. Not all coverage is worth paying for. Invest only when it strengthens your brand and builds real trust.
Use High-Quality Images and Videos
First impressions count. Low-res or poorly lit photos make your website look unprofessional. Quality visuals, on the other hand, help customers feel that your brand is trustworthy and established.
This is a common mistake that a lot of small businesses and brands make. I see it all the time where eCommerce businesses will have blurry or low-quality product images. Videos that are old or are not well lit. Plus content pages that will have images that are all over the place, a mix of low quality and no brand cohesion.
I get it, images are hard to source many times. Plus as a small business or personal brand owner you are wearing so many hats, that this seems like an area to breeze through. Unfortunately, imagery is something you need to spend time on, as it will make or break your website and conversion rate.
Imagery tips:
Use professional looking photos (especially for ecommerce)
Include lifestyle images that add a personal element
Ensure your photos are well lit and have good composition
Feature behind-the-scenes or founder images to humanize your brand
Videos should look professional and on brand
All imagery should have a consistent look that matches your brand’s style
Great visuals don’t just build trust, they increase time on site and help with SEO.
DIY or Professional Taken Images and Video
You can go either way here. It depends on your comfort level, experience, time and budget. If you are able to create high-quality visuals then that is awesome. It is definitely something you can learn, and there are endless Youtube videos, web pages, social media channels and tutorials that can teach you how to do this.
If this is not your wheelhouse then there are a ton of sources to purchase photos or create ones using Ai tools. If you are an eCommerce company and have a small budget to spend, then professional product photos are the way to go.
Designer Tip: Make sure your images and videos align with your brand’s visual identity and overall aesthetic. Take the time to craft a consistent look and feel that resonates with your target audience and reflects the style they connect with. High-quality, cohesive visuals can instantly elevate trust and make your brand more memorable.
Write Clear, Credible Website Copy
Your words matter. Confusing, overly salesy, or generic copy can make visitors feel skeptical.
Trustworthy website copy is:
Honest and straightforward
Free of typos or grammatical errors
Written in a voice that fits your brand
Specific about product benefits and company values
Quick tips:
Use formatting (headers, bullets) to keep things easy to scan
Don’t overpromise, be realistic and authentic
Address common objections with transparency
It should feel like a human is speaking to your website visitors
Use Your About Page to Build Credibility
Your About page isn’t just a formality, it’s one of the most visited pages on small business websites. Use this space to build a personal connection.
What to include:
Your brand story or mission
Photos of your team or founder
Customer-centric values
Any relevant experience or qualifications
A CTA to explore your product, service or content
When done well, your About page can be a powerful trust-builder. It’s your opportunity to connect with your customers on a personal level by showing the values, mission, and story behind your brand. A strong About page builds alignment and authenticity—turning cold traffic into warm leads and eventually into loyal, repeat customers.
Link to Active Social Media Accounts
Social media is another powerful trust signal often referred to in this manner as social proof. Linking to your platforms (especially if they’re updated regularly) shows that your business is real, engaged, and transparent.
Ways to include it:
Add social icons to your footer or navigation
Embed a social media feed on your homepage
Display recent posts or tagged photos
This also gives your visitors another way to follow or contact you, supporting your lead generation goals.
Place Trust Elements Where Visitors Will See Them
Placement matters. Don’t bury your trust-building content at the bottom of your site.
Best places to include trust signals:
Home page (right below the Hero section or further down the page - brand alignment logos with links and testimonials)
On product pages, below product details (badges, reviews, guarantees)
Checkout pages (payment icons, security assurances)
Footer (social links, quick contact information)
Pop-ups or banners (for reviews or email opt-ins)
Trust elements should add credibility and help move users closer to a conversion, not just fill space. Think about where these elements will have the most impact. Use them to keep potential customers engaged, ease hesitation, or tip the scale towards taking action.
Start here: Review your current website (or your outline, if you're still building) and make a note of every page or section where adding a trust element—like a testimonial, badge, or logo—could build confidence and support your customer’s decision-making process.
Final Thoughts: Trust Drives Conversions
If your website isn’t building trust, you’re likely losing potential customers. Use this article as a blueprint to improve your trust signals across your site, especially on high-traffic pages.
When in doubt, ask: “Does this make my brand feel more credible and trustworthy?”
If it doesn’t, it’s time to improve it.
Next Up
Now that you have what it takes to build trust on your website, let's dive into another area to strengthen your connection with your online audience. Take a look at these guidelines:
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