Typos and pop-ups are features that erode trust in webstores says Reboot SEO study

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Feb 5, 2020

A new report has found that nearly 50% of consumers trust a website if it has an active social media account, particularly on Instagram.

Being active on social media, having recognised trust seals, and displaying affiliations with trusted websites are, for UK consumers, some of the most trustworthy features on a website, according to Reboot SEO Agency. 

A survey of 1,322 people found that 45% of consumers would not use a website that isn’t active on social media, and 58% would reduce their interaction if the website didn’t have an SSL certificate.

Having familiar payment methods (such as PayPal, Mastercard, Visa, and American Express) is also a crucial way for websites to gain consumer trust, as a significant 92% of users said that they would not trust or engage with a retailer that uses unfamiliar payment methods.

Other reasons to distrust a website are no address and phone number provided, lack of a professional design layout and the use of stock images, the report said.

Meanwhile, 65% of users said pop up adverts make them question the authenticity of a website, and would reduce their level of interaction. This is because 82% of participants were concerned about malware and security.

Additionally, 79% of shoppers said that they would not use, or trust, a website with grammatical or spelling errors.

The results also show that consumers place a high value on reviews, with 65% saying they would not purchase from a website if there were no reviews. Further, 93% of visitors are likely to exit the website due to this.

Interestingly, not many shoppers would be discouraged by the lack of an ‘About Us’ page and 75% would continue to browse on a website that is not mobile friendly.