We’re living through what many are calling a “trust recession.”
People have been burned by fake reviews, misleading promises, and businesses that didn’t deliver what they advertised. They’re more skeptical than ever about who and what to believe online.
So when someone lands on your website, about to invest their time, money, maybe their reputation in working with you, what makes them trust you?
What builds trust immediately
You understand their world
Not your world, their world. The language they use, the problems they’re facing, the outcomes they want. One of my clients had a homepage listing every type of therapy in clinical jargon. But her potential clients didn’t want a textbook. They needed to know “Can you help my family heal?” When we rebuilt to lead with client outcomes, she said: “I’m proud of the site now — I wasn’t before.”
Social proof that sounds like them
Not just testimonials, but stories that sound like their situation. “Great to work with!” does almost nothing. “I went from dreading my website to being proud to share it” is something that lands. When someone reads a review and thinks “that sounds exactly like my problem,” trust starts building.
A photo that feels real
It doesn’t need to be perfect, it needs to feel authentic. Stock photos of random smiling people kill trust. An actual photo of you, even imperfectly lit? That builds trust. People want to know there’s a real human behind the website.
What kills trust instantly
Too much information
When visitors feel overwhelmed trying to figure out what you do, they don’t feel trust. They feel confused. And confused visitors leave.
Broken anything
Broken links, error pages, forms that don’t submit. One client’s previous site had 95% of visitors landing on broken error pages. You can’t build trust when people can’t even access your content.
Hard to contact you
If finding your contact information requires clicking through multiple pages, that feels like you’re hiding. Easy to contact = trustworthy. Hard to contact = suspicious.
Your trust test for today
Look at your website on your phone and ask:
- Can I easily find the contact information?
- Are all the links working?
- Do the photos make me feel confident about this business?
If any answer is no, you’ve found your first fix.
Go deeper
To see what a site that doesn’t work for everyone could be costing you, try the Website Calculator.
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If any of this landed, the next step is a quick call to talk through your own site.
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