Want a More Trustworthy Website? Add Your Photo

If you’re a business owner trying to establish a trusted website that maximizes sales, sometimes a picture says a thousand words.

And we’re not just talking about having compelling images of products or services you offer — we’re talking about pictures of you.

Survey: Real Photo of You Inspires More Trust

A recent BrightLocal survey revealed that consumers trust a website more when it features a genuine image of the business owner. To measure how much the consumer panel taking the survey trusted different types of web pages, three different samples of pages were shown to survey takers — a website with a real business owner photo, a website with a generic product or office photo, and a website with no photo at all, a recent BrightLocal blog explained.

Unsurprisingly, the business website sample that featured a photo of the business owner was seen as significantly more trustworthy than sites using a generic image and twice as trustworthy as a website that featured no image.

Why Does a Photo Inspire So Much Trust?

In an age of spammy websites, consumers take comfort knowing a real human being is associated with the business and gain a sense of security that the owner is willing to be the face of that business online. A photo is also an indicator that you take pride in all aspects of your business, demonstrating that you take full ownership of your website as well as your physical storefront or office.

For businesses that deal with customers face to face, such as plumbers, real estate agents and consultants, having a photo of the business owner was of greater importance than for non-client-facing or non-customer-facing work, the BrightLocal blog explained.

The Takeaway for Trustworthy Websites

Business owners who want to inspire trust through their websites should consider the merits of using an actual photo of themselves and perhaps even their staff instead of providing bare content or even glossy stock photo images. If a potential customer is deciding between using your services or those of a competitor, the trust generated from a real photo of you and your team could be the tipping point that encourages them to go with you.

About Bigfin.com

Bigfin.com LLC is an industry leader in search engine optimization, web design and social media. Looking for online marketing or web development services? Contact us online or by phone at 425-822-8200.

(Photo by imagerymajestic via FreeDigitalPhotos.net)