A frequent issue faced by search engine advertisers is getting people to trust their adverts. If a company is not a recognised brand name, it can find it very difficult to convince people to use their services or buy from them.
Why? By nature, many people are loss averse and don’t like taking unnecessary risks. Online shopping requires a leap of faith for any customer, even more so if they didn’t know who you were 10 minutes ago.
How do you make more people jump?
The first option is to give your customers a push by making them an offer they cannot refuse. If you have any deals that truly are too good to miss, make sure you include them in your ad text. Greater payoff’s will always make a perceived gamble seem more appealing. Also, include any offers that will reduce the level of risk in a customers mind. For example, if your company offers free delivery or free returns that is one less risk a customer has to worry about.
Another good practice is to include any expertise you have in your ad text. If you have a team that all hold a relevant qualification or have been providing your service for a number of years, let your customers know. From their point of view if you have been in business for a long time, chances are it is because you have been doing a good job.
Simple yet effective, seller ratings (pictured above), are a great way of giving customers more confidence in your ad. Seller ratings offer customer reviews collected by Google Shopping, which gathers them from assorted internet sources.
The ratings will only appear if you have 3.5 stars or more from 30 unique reviews in the past year. The benefit being that your advert will never put off a customer through having a low star rating.
If you are not a big brand, extensions like star ratings can go a long way in improving your credibility and influencing the all-important first impression given by your advert.
Another option is review extensions (pictured right). Reviews are excellent especially if a seller has not met the criteria for a seller rating. Review extensions are relatively new having only been rolled out from beta testing in October.
The extension allows third party endorsements and accolades to be inserted into an ad. These reviews can be paraphrased or be an exact quote, but these must come from a reputable third party source and adhere to Adwords policies. All you need to do is plug in the review text, with the source and source URL and then send it off to Google to be approved.
The great thing about this extension is much like star ratings it lets customers know that other reputable sources would recommend you.
The confirmation that a company can back up its claims of quality or expertise will go a long way in increasing trust and ultimately conversions.
Reviews also have the power to set you apart from the competition. A well chosen review from a good source could make a massive difference in how people view your site.
Insights
