10 Things Your Website Must Have to Support Your Brand

When a new prospect is checking out your products and/or services, they’re going to take a look at your website. And there are some key elements of your site that will tell them everything they need to know about your brand.  Just like a physical storefront or office building, your website is the first impression you provide to someone new to your business. It needs to instill trustworthiness, authority, and expertise in your niche. Trust isn’t simply a nice-to-have element of your brand: it is foundational towards  building loyal customer relationships and, ultimately, your brand’s success. 

So, how can you ensure your website fosters trust? Here are 10 critical elements your website should have to tell the world you’re serious about building your brand and your business. We’ve even added tips so that you can be certain on how to use Kadence’s features to support brand building on your website.

Professional Design

First impressions matter. A clean, modern, and professional design instantly conveys a sense of credibility. Outdated, cluttered, or hard-to-navigate websites can cause users to question a brand’s legitimacy. If you don’t have the budget for a professional design, Kadence Starter Templates give you a quick jumpstart towards building a professionally designed website with a clean look and feel. You can also use new elements of the Kadence Design Library to create simple and effective content areas that showcase your brand. 

Clear and Concise Copy

Clarity and precision in your website copy demonstrate respect for the user’s time and intelligence. Avoid jargon and keep your language simple and straightforward. Explain clearly how your product or service solves problems that your prospective customers have. Be explicit about who you are, what you do, and how you can help your visitor. Clearly answer any possible objections or fears that a prospective customer might have about your product or service, including any questions about trusting your company. 

Be clear about what you do for your prospective customers, and how they can get value from doing business with you. If a business does not have a clear value proposition, it may be difficult to understand what sets it apart from competitors.

Transparent Contact Information

A physical address, phone number, and email address can significantly enhance trust. Providing several contact options suggests you’re open, available, and ready to respond to queries or concerns. If your business is a physical location, use the Kadence Google Map Block to make it easy to show exactly where your business is located. Websites without clear contact information can be perceived as suspicious to new visitors, while clear location and contact information establish trustworthiness when communicating with a prospective customer who has never worked with your company before. 

Use a domain-branded email address. While your gmail or yahoo email account might be convenient, use a branded email address such as yourname [at] yourdomain.com. This shows prospective customers that you’re serious about your brand and your business.

Security Measures

Data breaches are a significant concern for online users. Show your commitment to security by implementing HTTPS protocols, displaying security badges, and providing a clear privacy policy. It’s also helpful to explain how security is important to your customers, and offer a clear way for security researchers to contact you if they find an issue with your website or any other systems. 

Using a product like iThemes Security Pro offers you the ability to offer passkeys as a login authentication method, showing your users that you are aware of new security technologies and implement them as they become available. This gives site visitors another reason to trust your business. 

Ensuring that your site stays protected from malicious attacks is important. Nothing destroys trust more than seeing malware warnings when visiting your site. Prioritize security by applying updates as needed and monitoring your site’s security. 

Social Proof

Testimonials, reviews, and case studies showcase your track record and increase trust. Ensure these are authentic and updated regularly. Also, consider linking testimonials to third-party review sites for added credibility. Adding connections to your actively maintained social media accounts will also improve your brand’s reputation. Use the social media icon features in Kadence Theme, and even add those social icons to your header or footer. If you have an unusual social network, you can even add custom social network icons. 

Kadence offers a number of blocks to help you build social proof. The Testimonial Block helps you create eye-catching testimonials, and the integration of social links and icons in Kadence makes showcasing your social proof easier than ever. As well, the new design library has a number of “logo farm” patterns that you can use to show how your brand is recognized by other reputable brands.

If a business has no social media presence or has very few followers, it could be a red flag. If you’re just getting started, asking friends and family to lend you a hand with a follow or a like can help. As well, as you grow and new prospects begin interacting with you on social media or commenting on blog posts or videos, thank them for taking the time to engage. On many social networks, taking the time to engage with your audience can show that you’re serious about your content and signal for better performance in social media algorithms.

If your business is reviewed on review sites, answer those reviews and thank happy customers for taking the time to share their experience. If you get a bad review, try to do right by the reviewer if possible.

If not possible, be thankful for the feedback but turn your attention towards other customers. Your business might not be for everyone. During the recent Kadence Amplify event, Adrian Tobey from Groundhogg.io had some great advice for turning bad reviews into good ones.

High-Quality Content

With the advent of generative AI content, ensuring you stand out from the pack of generic content is important. While we think AI is a great tool and you should use it, make sure you also add content that more deeply showcases your expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness. These are things that new site visitors are looking for, and it’s what Google is telling us will rank our content higher in the search engine result pages. 

If you do use AI for content, add your own experiences, your own thoughts, and your expertise to make the content stand out. In my opinion, blogging is one of the best ways to create quality content that provides your site visitors a view into your business, your products, and your services. When written in your own voice, it becomes content that stands out. (Note: this blog post was started by AI, but I added my own thoughts and things that AI never could to ensure it is specific to Kadence!) 

An About Us Page

An ‘About Us’ page provides an opportunity to showcase your brand’s story, mission, values, and team. Showing the human side of your brand can help visitors feel more connected and trusting. If well written, it highlights who you are, what you stand for, and gives your new site visitor a succinct overview of who is running the business, your values and what you’re offering to customers. 

People who are returning customers are likely never going to visit the about us page, but when you’re trying to build a bridge with new customers, an about page is an important element of trust establishment. 

Clear Pricing & Shipping 

Make it absolutely clear what your site visitor is getting when they click “buy now” on your site. Use pricing tables for price differentiation between multiple offers, and make sure shoppers know how getting your product and service is going to work. If you want to reduce abandoned checkouts and solidify customer relationships, then make sure your offer is clear. 

If you ship a physical product and have additional shipping costs passed on to your customer, make sure that you explain those costs up front. If your product is a subscription with renewal, explain how that renewal will work for the customer. 

Kadence Shop Kit is an amazing tool that can help you ensure that your WooCommerce implementation is customized to the experience that meets your customers where they are. Try spinning up a sample site with Kadence Shop Kit to see if it is right for you.

Clear Call to Actions (CTAs)

Make it easy for visitors to take the next step, whether it’s making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or contacting you. Clear, compelling CTAs guide users through your website and towards a decision. If a business does not clearly state its pricing or fees, it could be a sign that it is not trustworthy.

Every page is an opportunity to deepen relationships with prospective customers and turn them into fans of your brand. At the end of every blog post, product page, or help documentation entry, think about what is the next step in your customer’s journey. Is it buying a new product? Is it leaving a review? Is it getting in touch, or maybe signing up for a newsletter? Make the call to action clear and easy. (You’ll find our call to action at the end of this blog post.)

Consistent Branding

Consistency in your visual elements, tone of voice, and messaging across all pages ensures your brand is recognizable and reliable. Consistency can reinforce trust, while inconsistency can confuse and deter visitors. Are they still on the same brand’s website? Did they get redirected? Did the business change somehow?

The Kadence color palette makes setting brand colors for consistency easier than ever, and the consistent header and footer builder make setting up a cohesive layout for your site simple.

All brand building is trust building

In conclusion, trust is a fundamental building block of customer loyalty and brand reputation. When people trust your brand, they tell their friends. They become return customers. Trust building is a core activity of any marketing campaign.

By investing time and resources in these ten elements, you can create a website that not only attracts visitors but also turns them into trusted customers and advocates for your brand.