Building trust is a tricky affair. It takes years to build it, and seconds to lose it.

In the eCommerce industry, where the average cart abandonment rate peg at 67.45%, trust is a matter of business survival.

In fact, it could be the only thing that could be making a brand look promising and reliable than anything else.

Trust in eCommerce is what makes people buy online and pay online. They believe that the system would work in their favor and take care of their priorities which includes convenience, reliability and security.

But, how do you instill trust in the minds of customers whom you do not meet face to face. Even brick-and-mortar stores struggle to win customer trust despite the use of loyalty programs.

It is here that trust symbols can lend a helping hand.

What are Trust symbols?

In the eCommerce parlance, trust symbols are visual cues, icons, logos or indicators that assure something. The usual representations include payment gateways accepted/used, original dealer certification, money back guarantee, free shipping, etc. But, above all, the most commonly recognized and sought after trust symbols are those of SSL certificates.

Be it a website that publishes text content or one that sells physical goods, you need trust symbols to increase your conversions. A trust symbol work in a way to convince customers that testimonials, star ratings or other social proof mechanisms would work. They are usually seen on the checkout page or in membership websites on the login page and account credentials page.

As the number of fraud instances keep increasing on a regular basis, there is a need for businesses to incorporate trust symbols into their website’s design fabric. You can save at least 17% of cart abandonments that occur because consumers think the website is lacking a trust seal.

Behind The Scenes: How Does A Trust Seal Work?

A trust seal or a badge is basically encryption at work. Encryption is made possible by a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or a Transport Layer Security (TLS). TLS is an upgraded version of SSL and works to create an encrypted connection between the client server and the user system. In other words, we can say that when you install an SSL certificate you also get a trust seal along with it.

That said, there are different types of SSL certificates:

  • Extended Validation Certificates
  • Organization Validated Certificates
  • Domain Validated Certificates
  • Wildcard SSL Certificate
  • Multi Domain SSL Certificate (MDC)
  • Unified Communications Certificate (UCC)

Each type of SSL certificate has its own level of encryption, number of domains that it can secure and so on. Also, not every SSL certificate provide a trust seal or badge.

Here is how a trust seal or badge would look like.

So, which SSL certificate does one buy to make their customers more trust aware?

Here are some hand-picked options that customers tend to be acquainted with:

Symantec

Symantec VeriSignSymantec, which also owns VeriSign is one of the Internet security heavyweight that Internet users are most known to. A study by Baymard Institute found that 35.6% of users recognize and trust Symantec as a trust seal more than any other brand.

Pricing: Symantec standard is available for a price of $241 and EV SSL certificates come for a price of $550

Comodo

Comodo SSLComodo is famous as anti-virus provider which ventured into the SSL space a while ago. Comodo offers a range of SSL certificates along with trust seals that your customers can vouch for as the mark of trust.

Pricing:

  • Standard SSL for Just $9 annually
  • EV SSL certificate for $70 annually

Thawte

ThawteThawte is yet another name in the SSL domain that customers and even all kinds of credit card users have come to recognize as a symbol of trust and security. Thawte offers its Trust Seal along with every SSL certificate purchased from the company.

Pricing:

  • Standard SSL for $65 annually
  • EV SSL certificate for $191 annually

GoDaddy

gODADDY SSL CertificatesGoDaddy is one of the most recognized web domain and hosting service provider. Since it takes care of most of the chores of domain registration and hosting, issuing a SSL certificate comes naturally to it. One added advantage is that it saves time for website owners since they don’t have to undergo the verification process from the beginning.

Pricing:

  • Standard SSL for $59.99 annually
  • EV SSL certificate for $99.99 per year

TRUSTe

TRUSTe sslTRUSTe is owned by TrustArc – a San Francisco based company that helps enterprises comply with government laws and practices. TRUSTe is their custom service offering that also includes a certification badge.

Pricing:

Custom quote on request

Bottom Line

Every website, specifically eCommerce websites and those that deal credit cards online need to have a trust seal or badge to show their customers that they are secure. Trust seals that come with encrypting a website helps achieve that.

They are not just seals of security, but also act as an indicator of trust and assurance for customers. They can see the seal being present in the website and recognize it as a hallmark for the website’s trustworthiness and security.

Furthermore, having trust seals on your websites can maximize their conversion rates. They might look like tiny images, but go a long way in making your customers feel secure. So don’t think twice to invest in a SSL certificate. They are sure to bring back to positive RoI.

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