One of the main responsibilities of an e-commerce store owner is to provide a safe shopping space for their customers.
Doing so is a lot more straightforward than it sounds, thanks to nifty little website security seals called trust badges.
You’ve probably seen thousands of them when shopping online or when engaging in virtual tasks for your Shopify business.
If you haven’t implemented any in your store yet, do it now.
But where do you start? And which ones are best for your shop?
Here’s everything Shopify sellers need to know about trust badges.
What Are Shopify Trust Badges?
Trust badges are visual seals that you add to your online store to inspire confidence in your shoppers.
When a potential customer sees a badge on your store’s landing page, it makes them feel safe to submit their personal information and do business with your company.
Aside from assuring potential customers that you provide a safe checkout experience, trust badges can also denote post-purchase services, such as warranties and guarantees.
How much do trust badges help, exactly?
An estimated 17% of shoppers are more likely to make a purchase when a trust badge is present at checkout. Badges significantly reduce instances of shopping cart abandonment.
TrustLock, one of the largest badge providers in e-commerce, says stores can expect to increase sales by 62% when using their SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) badges. This figure speaks to the power of this type of online security on average consumers.
Because customers are sharing credit card information and other personal data, a trust badge should be more than a visual cue — it should represent something you’ve done or will do for your customers.
SSL badges, for example, tell your customers that you’ve installed extra security features to protect their privacy, and a money-back guarantee badge tells them that you stand by your products so much that you’ll put your revenue on the line.
The Different Types of Trust Badges
You may be surprised at the number of trust badges available on Shopify. Not all of them will make the most sense for your store and customers, but you should find some of them relevant to you.
The following are the most popular and effective trust badges:
Safe Checkout Badges
These seals let your customers know you have security measures in place for a safe checkout experience. They may be placed on the product page and the cart page.
Privacy Badges
Privacy badges inform your shoppers that you have taken measures to protect their personal information.
Antivirus Badges
An SSL certificate authenticates a website while enabling an encrypted connection. Antivirus badges let consumers know that their computers are safe from viruses while they browse your site.
All Shopify stores are PCI compliant, which means that they come equipped with data encryption, security monitoring, and virus protection tools. A trust badge is simply a visual way to explain this to your customers.
Accepted Payment Badges
These badges display the logos of the payment methods your store accepts, such as credit cards, PayPal, Stripe, or Apple Pay.
Accepted payment badges are comforting to website visitors because they link your brand to a trusted third-party brand.
Money-Back Guarantee Badges
A 30-day money-back guarantee badge informs your shoppers that you offer refunds if they’re not satisfied with their purchase.
Store owners should be more proactive about creating better post-purchase experiences. This is exactly what adding this simple badge can do.
The Benefits of Using Trust Badges on Shopify
There are many benefits to using trust badges on your Shopify store.
Here are just a few of those benefits:
Increase Conversion Rates
Shoppers are more likely to abandon their cart if they do not see a trust badge. Why give your shoppers any reason to drop a potential sale?
While conversions may mean different things to different businesses, in the online retail space, it tends to mean sales. Less cart abandonment means higher conversion rates which means you increase sales.
Inspire Repeat Sales
If your shoppers feel safe shopping at your store, they are more likely to return and shop again. And repeat sales are the goal of every e-commerce store.
Encourages Referrals
Believe it or not, a trust seal can serve as its own promotional material.
When shoppers see them, they feel safe and confident shopping with your store.
And when this happens, they are more likely to recommend your shop to their friends and family.
Makes Your Shop Look Professional
Adding trust badges to your online shop can make it look more legitimate and trustworthy.
The Stanford Guidelines for Web Credibility states that one of the top ten things a website can do to gain consumer trust is to make their site look more professional.
Add trust badges and take your store’s credibility up a notch.
It’s Simple
Adding a trust seal to your store is very easy!
We’ll even go through the step-by-step process at the end so you can see for yourself (click here to jump ahead).
Overall, trust badges can have an undoubtedly positive impact on your website visitors. And as we’re seeing, a positive impact on your business, too.
Top 5 Trust Badge Apps for Shopify
There are a lot of different trust badge apps in the Shopify App Store. But, as with anything else, they are not all equal.
We’ve researched the best Shopify trust badge apps to help you find the right ones for your store.
1. Ultimate Trust Badges
Ultimate Trust Badges is used on thousands of e-commerce shops and has five-star ratings from hundreds of users.
This app offers more than one hundred free, customizable badges. You can choose the color, design, and message, and display them on any page of your website or section of your store.
UTB offers security and payment types seals that feature trusted third-party logos, such as MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and PayPal.
The app also boasts a simple two-minute setup and is completely free to use.
2. Trust Me – Free Trust Badges
The Trust Me – Free Trust Badges app is a top-rated program used by thousands of stores.
It offers a vast number of completely customizable badges, including secure checkout, payment type, SSL secure, money-back guarantees, and free shipping.
Along with these security badges, it also includes badges you may not have thought of before, such as 100% organic, cruelty-free, and baby-safe seals. These badges go beyond your customer’s security concerns and consider their social concerns. Add badges like these to your store if your business makes or sells socially and environmentally conscious products.
This app requires no coding skills, installs in mere minutes, and is completely free to use.
3. Free Trust Badge Master
Free Trust Badge Master offers more than 50 different seals and 150 payment badges.
This app also lets you design custom badges and place them on any store page you prefer.
It includes designs for SSL security, secure checkout, and money-back-guarantee badges. The app also has unique badge options, including 24/7 customer support, easy returns, Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and premium-quality product seals.
It has an easy setup process and is free for Shopify store owners to use.
4. TRUST
Like many of the others, TRUST lets you customize the look and placement of their trust seals. They offer several types of badges, including money-back guarantee, SSL secure, PCI-compliant, and customer support.
But, they go a step further by including a customer review widget in addition to their badges.
TRUST is an interesting option to use in conjunction with other traditional trust badges. The setup is simple and has a no-programming-required design.
There is a free starter plan after a free five-day trial period. It also has several premium packages that go as high as $79.98/month.
5. TrustedSite – Trust Badges
This app makes trust badges with the TrustedSite logo and easily integrates with McAfee Secure logos.
TrustedSite – Trust Badges provides secure login, secure checkout, secure form, and identity protection badges. Your shoppers will also be assured by its 90-day customer identity protection for up to $100,000.
This app has the advantage of brand recognition. Your customers will see the familiar TrustedSite logo on your site and feel even more confident about shopping with you.
And there is possibly no better third-party endorsement than the McAfee Secure logo it offers.
The first 500 visits to your site are free of charge, after which are several pricing tiers. The most expensive package is $125/month for their PRO 10,000 plan, which includes secure checkouts for up to 10,000 visitors per month.
Related: 7 Shopify Apps to Improve Your Business
How to Add a Trust Badge to Your Shopify Store
Adding badges to a Shopify site is incredibly easy. Here’s what to do:
- Click the Add app button on the app’s Shopify App Store page.
- Log in to your Shopify store website.
- Then, just follow the app’s setup instructions. For the most part, there is usually a one-click setup process.
- From there, you can access the app dashboard and select the badges you want to use.
- Alter the badges the way you like and place them on your store landing pages according to the app’s instructions. That’s it!
If you’re simply adding your store’s payment methods, you can do this without a trust badge app.
How? Follow these simple steps:
- Log in to your Shopify store website.
- Access your theme editor.
- Click sections, and then footer.
- You will see a Payment Methods box.
- Click Show payment icons and click the icons you want to display on your site.
Keep in mind that if you only accept a single payment method, that will be the only badge your shoppers see.
Where to Put Trust Badges on Your Site
As with every other design element of your Shopify online store, the placement of your trust badges is key.
Many trust badge apps allow you to place them where you like. But how do you choose the most strategic location?
The most recognizable places to use trust seals are your:
- Homepage
- Website footer
- Product page
- Cart page
When customers see a trust seal near the Add to Cart button, it can serve as the last push they need to make a purchase.
Since we’ve established that trust badges inspire confidence in your shoppers, placing a badge on as many pages as possible is ideal.
Avoid badges that are oversized and glaringly bright in design, though. You want your customers to see your seals, of course, but this can be a turn-off and make your site seem less safe.
Unless you’re a Shopify Plus merchant, you can only add badges as far as the cart button. When customers go to check out, they will only see Shopify’s SSL seal and not any of the other badges you’ve implemented.
Speaking of Shopify Plus, check out this article: Is Shopify Good for B2B?
Conclusion
Adding trust badges to your Shopify store is a smart move for any e-commerce business owner. They ensure your customers feel safe completing the checkout process, and therefore, increase sales.
What’s more, they can contribute to an overall positive shopping experience, meaning customers will want to return to your store and shop again. A positive shopping experience can also make your customers more likely to recommend your store to loved ones, a key way to attract new customers.
Adding trust badges to your Shopify store is also simple, and in many cases, it’s completely free.
Interested in building a Shopify store that customers trust and enjoy?
Contact us today and put our Shopify expertise to work for you.
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