Give your website some love with new ways to use social proof.
5 Ways to Use Social Proof on Your Website
Social proof on your website can be a major advantage.
When someone visits your site, social proof can be the deciding factor between choosing your business over your competitor. It shows visitors that other people have had positive experiences with your business and would recommend it. Social proof has immense power, and that includes helping you build trust and confidence among consumers.
Let’s have a look at ways to use it on your website. But first, let’s define social proof.
What is Social Proof?
Social proof is evidence that your business or brand is trustworthy, demonstrated by feedback from customers and influencers, engagement from followers, and affiliation with credible and highly recognized third parties. When your business has positive social proof, potential customers feel good about associating with you and are more likely to follow along because they see others doing it.
So, how do you include social proof on your website? Here are a few ideas worth considering.
5 Clever Ideas to Display Social Proof
Brand or Client Logos
One powerful way to build confidence in website visitors is to include the logos of the brands or clients you’ve worked with previously – or still do. Especially when it comes to recognizable names visitors have likely heard of before.
Here’s an example of how moz.com does it, with logos for familiar brands like Zillow, trivago, and Alaska Airlines. Chances are, if people see these logos, they’ll feel more comfortable doing business with you because these clients have already done so.
Testimonials
Nothing says how awesome your brand is like a glowing sentiment from someone who isn’t you. In fact, testimonials from your clients or customers are a great way to not only instill trust in your website visitors, but also give them a glimpse of what it’s like to work with you.
PaulEkman.com uses testimonials to communicate client experiences and satisfaction:
Reviews and Ratings
The recommendations of other people are more trustworthy than what a brand says about itself. This is why reviews and ratings on your website are so valuable. In fact, 97 percent of consumers say reviews factor into their buying decisions – and 92 percent of them hesitate to make a decision when there are no customer reviews.
Reviews and ratings are often seen on product pages, like Crate&Barrel does on this website page:
Recommendations from Influencers
Another helpful idea for your website is to include recommendations from influencers. If you can get an influencer who is very relevant to your industry or market, then all the better. Consumers trust influencers more than brands, too, so the recommendation can go a long way for the good of your brand.
The PaulEkman.com reference from above is an example of an influencer recommendation, as well as a testimonial. Double bonus!
Social Shares and Read Counts
Do you think people are more likely to read one of your blog posts if they see many other people have read, shared, and commented on it? You bet! Including data for how many people have interacted with your piece in one way or another is a surefire way to boost readership.
Here’s how you’ll usually see it displayed on blogs from Search Engine Journal:
Start Making Your Website More Social
Now that you know how include social proof on your website pages, which one(s) will you try? Be sure to reach out to us if you need help implementing these or just to chat about what makes sense for your brand.
