Building B2B Trust on Your Website: 5 Strategies to Implement Now

In the B2B world, trust is everything. When the success of your business is dependent on the quality of another person’s product or service, it’s absolutely vital that you’re able to trust them.

Pretend you own a restaurant and need a new meat supplier. Assuming their price and the quality of their product is the same, would you choose the butcher with an excellent reputation in your industry or the one nobody else has heard of?

Trust matters, and whether you’re building a website or selling meat products, being able to trust the B2B companies you work with is often the factor that earns one company a business deal over another.

Today, many elements of trust that were once formed offline can be created with an effectively designed website. In this blog post, we’ll explain five ways that you can use your B2B website to build trust with your prospects, demonstrate that you’re a reliable company and ultimately win their business.

1. Use Customer Testimonials

Testimonials are incredibly effective tools for building trust. Businesses love to see that other businesses have had a positive experience working with you, especially if the testimonials you display on your website are from companies similar to theirs.

Use testimonials strategically to build trust with the type of customers you’re trying to attract. A multinational corporation, for example, won’t trust your business if its testimonials are all from local businesses or individuals.

Tailor your testimonials to match your target audience and you’ll have no trouble in winning over their trust. If your business targets a wide variety of prospects, use an equally wide range of testimonials to appeal to each section of your target market.

Xero uses a Twitter API to show what customers are saying about them.

2. Display Customer Logos

Do you have authoritative customers that everyone trusts? Shopping malls often useanchor tenants – big brands like Macy’s and Bloomingdales – to attract customers by capitalizing on their authority and reputation.

Likewise, your B2B company can use its anchor clients as a source of professional credibility. If a well-known brand trusts you enough for you to win their business, other businesses will instinctively trust you.

Convey this trust by displaying the logos of your top customers on your company website. Just like with testimonials, use your logos strategically to only appeal to your target audience; big brands, for example, will like seeing other brands’ logos.

Unbounce displays the biggest brands that have used their services smack on the homepage.

3. Show Awards and Press Coverage

Has your company ever received an award? If so, show it off. There’s no value in being modest, especially in business. Display awards, recommendations and any other industry recognition that you receive prominently on your website.

In addition to awards, press coverage can be a wonderful trust-builder. If you’ve been featured in a magazine, newspaper or prominent industry blog, show their logo on your homepage, ideally with a link to the article you were featured in.

Bad businesses rarely receive press coverage, and when they do it’s usually for the wrong reasons. Show that you’re an established brand that prospects can trust by showcasing your awards and press mentions on your website.

WalkMe, for example, displays all of the awards they’ve won on their About Us page.

4. Become a Source For Great Content

Trust doesn’t need to come from external sources like blogs and newspapers. If you frequently publish authoritative, engaging content on subjects your target audience is interested in, you’ll earn their trust over time.

From reporting the latest industry news to discussing trends and developments in your field, publishing good content attracts attention and creates familiarity. Other good content ideas include in-depth guides aimed at your target audience.

When you publish great content that your target audience can view for nothing, the perceived value of your product or service increases. Keep your blog up to date and you’ll earn people’s trust as a reliable source of industry news and information.

5. Show Customers You’re There For Them

Nothing says “we don’t care about you” like an automated email. On the other hand, there’s nothing that says “we do care about you” like a personalized email sent to a prospect or customer.

Even in B2B, your target audience is other people. One of the best ways to earn their trust is by showing them that you’re committed to helping them, instead of thinking of them as just another cog in the machine.

From a live chat box on your support page to personalized emails, paying attention to your audience and being personal is a great way to build trust. The more personal you can make your communications with prospects, the more they’ll trust you.

In conclusion…

Trust is something that’s different to everyone, and what might convince one person of your value could turn off someone else. It’s also something that’s earned, and you can’t expect the trust of valuable prospects to come easily.

However, by carefully designing your website to emphasize your brand’s strongest points and trustworthiness, you can build a powerful trust base that makes closing new deals and bringing in new customers far easier for your business.