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One of, if not the biggest issues for website visitors today is security. We all wonder how secure is the data we give the website we’re visiting – especially if it involves making a purchase or even a donation.

Personally, I look for two things:
1. The little lock in the bottom right-hand corner
2. The url being secure (https vs http).

However, I’m a webbie and the average internet user likely doesn’t do that. So what do they look for? A logo. Remember that saying a picture is worth a 1,000 words? Well it looks like it’s worth a lot more than that on a website.

A Marketing Sherpa case study presented on May 6, 2006, reported a security-logo test performed by Petco, a national pet supply retailer. The test involved varying the placements of the VeriSign (Hacker Safe) logo across its website to gauge differences in conversion rate gains.

The test outcomes produced the following results:

1. The logo in the lower left corner of the navigation bar resulted in an 8.15 percent increase in conversions.

2. The logo below the footer on the lower right increased conversions only 1.76 percent.

3. The logo on the upper left between the search box and the navigation bar increased conversions 8.83 percent.

The size or spend of the average order didn’t change, but by keeping the logo in the upper left-hand side, the number of total orders was nearly 9% higher, thus increasing revenue for what essentially is man-power time and already considered paid for as part of someone’s salary (because they pay for Hacker Safe services already).

There’s even a quote on the Hacker Safe website from the American Red Cross citing their online donations went up by 14%.

I’ve even seen some studies (which I can’t find) that showed an increase when a logo is placed, but the pages are not actually secure (obviously wasn’t me on that website). I definitely don’t recommend placing a logo and not making the pages secure because that just opens up a whole can of legal and privacy issues.

What made me write this post is the fact that this study is almost out-dated (approaching two years old) and yet as I think back to the numerous sites I’ve visited recently – both non-profit and traditional B2C, I really don’t remember seeing a logo and in fact have had to check the old-fashioned way of looking for locks and secure protocols.

With these kind of conversion numbers I am really surprised marketers are not taking notice and following these steps to increase trust.

Companies want to build trust with their customers and prospects, and consumers are telling us what they want to see, yet we’re still not listening. I gave an example of how I interact with sites and what I look for, but take that marketing hat off for a second and think about what you look for. Have a conversation with your friends and colleagues and ask them what they look for. Chances are you’ll all have similar answers. Time to go check your website to see if you do those things.

Remember – marketing and common sense really do go hand in hand sometimes. If you act like a consumer, chances are you’ll be able to make some general usability improvements to your website that will improve your overall conversions just by taking off that marketing hat every now and then.

Photo Credit – www.scanalert.com