How To Build Your Website's Trust - Get In The Right Frame Of Mind
I decided to write this post after seeing the question pop up many times online - forums, blogs, Q & A sites etc. There was even a member right here on WA who asked the same question in Live Chat yesterday. The simple advice i gave is exactly what i'm going to mention in this post but in a little more detail.
Who am i?
How rude of me - let me introduce myself. My name is Tin Lay. Now before you start asking youself "what kind of name is that?", it's Burmese or Myanmar as the country is now changed it's name. I'm 35 years old and i started my career in this industry back in 2006. I've worked in several successful SEO, PPC and Web Design agencies and have been a major contribution in their growth. I've also been headhunted to work in-house as a webmaster, managing all aspects of their online activities, for a Manchester UK city centre based retail store. I've recently left this well paid job and their retention offer of becoming a shareholder to work full time for myself. So that's a basic introduction for me and let's get back to the subject at hand.
Now before we begin let's just first take a good look at the question we are trying to answer. Many people ask "how do i build my site's trust in Google?". Notice in my post's title that i've not included "Google"?
This is because, the purpose of your website should be focused on attracting other people (traffic); gaining trust from this traffic and converting this traffic into sales, sign ups, or whatever your goal maybe.
When people are starting out in this industry they focus too much on what Google 'thinks' instead of focusing on what your visitors will think. So from the word go, you need to get yourself in the right frame of mind and focus on what your audience wants and how you can give it to them in the form of your content. Kyle covers this in the early stages of the WA training course.
The simple advice i give to people asking this question is to think of your website as you. You are mywidgets.com, myguidetolooseweight.com or whatever your domain is. You want to gain trust from other people in your market and these are the people who will make you money online. So think of your real life relationships that you've had with people - how you met them, how you've become good friends with them etc. and then apply it to your digital self ie. your website.
Some simple steps you can take are -
- let them know who you are (just like how i introduced myself in this blog post)
- give them transparency - profile pic of yourself, facebook, Twitter lniks
- give them a means of contact - contact form, email address
- connect with them on a personal level through your content
- share something with them - freebies are great for gaining trust
There are lots more to add to this list and open up further reading opportunities for you guys.
I myself also hope that i've gained a little more trust from you since you started reading this post. The question now is - if i inserted some of my affiliate links here for further reading, training courses, etc would you click on them? See where i'm going with this?
Thanks for reading guy and like this post, comment with your thoughts and so on. You know what to do..
Kind Regards,
Tin
Recent Comments
4
Hi Tin, nice blog. As far as I am aware, promoting personal affiliate links and products is not allowed at WA, although as a premium member you can do it with PM's
Is awesome way of putting it. Guess most people ask such question google cos it kinda like "the key" to let people even see the site? If im not even on page xx, how would people found me? (guess i can use a bit of social media..but anything else?)
This is very valuable advice and gives a different take on my content and contant writing - thank you
The reason why people want to gain Google's trust is to gain access to the readers. If no one can find my website then it's for nothing that I tick all the boxes in your article. And that is what is frustrating.
Otherwise, great article.
Kind regards