Easy Ways To Increase Trust in Your Content

Sites and businesses that publish content that is not factual are often doing a disservice to those that work hard to earn the trust of their customers. Fortunately, it’s also easier to set yourself apart from untrustworthy sites as long as you stick to a few rules. As the battle seems to be flowing upstream and it’s more difficult than ever to gain the trust of the average Internet user, we have a few simple guidelines that can help you build and keep the trust of your readers.

Be Prepared to Back It Up

It’s easy to throw statistics, numbers or generalizations in your content, but if a reader decides to fact check your statements and doesn’t come up with the numbers to support you, you lose their trust immediately and it’s almost impossible to gain it back. If you plan to use a statistic or fact, always cite the original source that the material came from. Verify your numbers and facts and link them back to the original source, which may be further back than where you originally came across the information.

Use examples to back up your claims. While there are times your opinion will get you far, your readers want you to prove your point with examples and facts. Examples help to clarify and simplify what you are talking about, give concrete facts and also help them remember the information you shared further down the road, when it is particularly helpful.

Make It Helpful

One of the most basic concepts that many website content writing services overlook is that your content needs to be helpful, useful and interesting. Your business goals should always come second to your audience when it comes to creating content. Marketing through content is not the same as advertising.

To build trust, your content must be relevant to what your company is promoting. Blogs and articles that do not meet the needs of your customer base will frustrate customers and encourage them to look elsewhere for valuable information.

Write Professionally

It’s always good to make a piece interesting with personal anecdotes or funny examples, but your writing should always be professional. Many companies turn to online content writing services to get the message across in a way that is engaging but still professional. This builds trust and credibility in your content AND your brand. Any content with grammar or spelling errors is typically disregarded quickly by readers.

Whether you are writing your own content or hiring it out, the answer to this problem is simple: proofread as often as possible. Have someone other than you proofread your content before you publish it. You can never have too many eyes go over your work before it goes into print or online.  It’s fairly simple to change an online mistake, but by the time you get there you’ve already lost the trust of those who saw it.

Tell Both Sides of the Story

An extreme perspective really only works for an opinion piece, and if you want readers to trust your content, you have to present both sides of the argument to them. This also shows your expertise in the area and allows the readers a deeper understanding of the concept.

If you believe there is one right or wrong way to do something, explain why your views are more effective than the other side. Don’t simply ignore alternative options. This shows that you are aware of what is going on in your industry whether you agree with the experts or not. Don’t pretend like things that don’t agree with you don’t exist. Rather, address them up front and explain why your ideas or concepts are better.

Sharing content from third party sites can also help to build credibility. Studies show that a large group of people trust white papers or professional research over customer case studies or independent product reviews.

Make Your Website Attractive, User-Friendly and Functional

Your content and your brand loses credibility when your website isn’t functional. Viewers want to feel as if they are actually interacting even if they are simply clicking a button. If your website has little information or isn’t interactive in any way, viewers may go elsewhere for their information. Studies show that most people rate the design of the site as one of the most important factors in determining credibility. This highlights the fact that your site’s design may actually influence how much readers trust you more than your content. A user-friendly, functional, attractive site makes your brand and product seem more trustworthy, ensuring that readers are also invested in your content.

Use Email Marketing

Part of your content marketing SEO strategy should be email marketing, and if you aren’t using it yet, you should be. Studies show that readers are more likely to trust content that comes through email almost more than any other source. Unfortunately, email marketing is only used by 50 percent of small businesses, meaning many are missing out on a crucial element of gaining the public’s trust. It turns out that email is one of the most trusted mediums when it comes to delivering content, but far too many businesses are missing out on the benefits of using it.

Graph from www.waspbarcode.com/

How Do You Build Trust In Your Content?

Creating good content that is helpful to your readers doesn’t have to be complicated. Viewers are constantly looking for a site they can trust to give them useful information they can rely on, and you may just be their next stop. Make sure your content is ready to withstand their tests.