We will answer the following questions:

• What is customer anxiety / apprehension?
• Why is this a problem?
• How do I reduce anxiety to increase sales?
• Where should I place my security logos?
• What security logos should I use?

What is customer anxiety / apprehension?

Identity theft. Credit card information stolen. Spam e-mail, telemarketers. These are just a few thoughts of terror than run through visitors minds as they shop on the web. With more identify protection companies such as LifeLock and Identity Guard on the rise, consumers are bombarded with commercial messages highlighting the fear and horror stories of digital shopping.

Anxiety is all mental – meaning in the customers mind. Because of this it is very subjective – what may be scary to one visitor may be completely overlooked by another. And of course you are not scared of your own site because you know who runs it! This “inside the glass” view can lead to the false assumption that your customers feel safe on your site because you do. Do not fall into this mindset.

When it comes to e-commerce stores anxiety is most present in the cart and checkout pages, as well as any newsletter sign-up or registration pages.

Why is this a problem?

Lost sales. It is that simple. In a recent PayPal survey 21% of respondents abandoned their cart due to credit card security concerns. And that was just the cart page – no data was collected on checkout or registration pages.

How do I reduce anxiety to increase sales?

There are many ways you can reduce your visitor anxiety and start increasing sales. Here are some actions you can take right now to reduce apprehension on your site.

1. Clean professional looking site
2. Large phone number prominently displayed
3. About Us page with photos of staff
4. Contact Us page with physical address listed (or place address in footer)
5. Use of third-party credibility indicators such as Trust Guard, Verisign, BBB
6. Making sure your HTTPS pages work and the lock icon displays in the browser
7. Reducing the number of information requested from your visitors (ie – not requiring a phone number if possible)
8. Clear and prominent privacy policy
9. Clear and prominent return policy

Where should I place my security logos?

Because anxiety is greater on the cart and checkout pages as mentioned earlier they are two of the first places you should place your security logos.
On your cart page place it somewhere near the ‘Proceed to Checkout’ button. For your checkout page you will want your security seal near the credit card information field as this is when a customer is at their highest level of anxiety.
You can also try placing your seal(s) throughout the rest of your site – on your product & category pages, even up top near your logo if you really want to make a bold statement. Registration and e-mail capture pages are good locations for them as well.

What security logos should I use?

There are many security logo companies out there (Verisign, McAfee, Trust-Guard to name a few). I have yet to come across a “killer security seal” when testing however there are some common guidelines I have noticed:

1. GeoTrust / Commodo and Authorize.net seals are not enough to act as anxiety reducers

2. Neither are credit card or PayPal logos

3. While there is no “best seal” there are what I call ‘helpers’ and ‘downers’. Helpers are the security seal companies that help reduce anxiety whereas ‘downers’ are ones that either have minimal effect or a negative impact.

Helpers: BBB, McAfee, Truste, Trust Guard, Verisign
Downers: Anything else

To keep it simple: there are seals that help and seals that don’t. Seals that help have not shown any wide variance between themselves to declare one an overall “winner”.

In shopping for a seal, of the above ‘Helpers’ I would recommend TrustGuard. First, they have the best guarantee – increase your conversion rate or double your money back. As a certified landing page expert I can tell you strong guarantees are crucial.

Second – and most popular with many of my clients, is their flat-rate pricing. No pay per page impression nonsense or by orders like the other companies.

Finally, their seals have a neat javascript element that when a user’s mouse scrolls over them your company’s name, address, e-mail and phone number appear which helps generate instant credibility.

Reduce Anxiety – Increase Profits

Well now that you know how scary your website is are you going to make it a “safer place” and increase your sales?

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What exactly is a value proposition?
A value proposition is a company statement or theme that answers the following: Why should I buy from you instead of a competitor (or find an alternative solution)?

This is a question that all of your visitors ask themselves, half of the time subconsciously, and must be addressed for business success.

A value proposition is not an opportunity for a vague “We offer the lowest prices and have the best customer service” pitch (who doesn’t?). It should instead focus on distinct benefits that speak directly to your target audience (in their terminology) and differentiates you from competitors as clearly the optimum choice to meet their needs.

Claims should be substantiated and/or quantified.

Example:

No – Xyz is a painting supply company offering the lowest prices

Yes – Xyz was rated #1 by Painters Choice Magazine for best pricing and overall value.

How do I create or refine my value proposition?
To create your value proposition you need to answer: Who is my target customer/market and why should they buy from me instead of a competitor? Try to think like your customer and what their needs / worries might be. Make sure you are honest and do not try to be all things to all people.

Focus on your customer. Remember, the more quantitative and exclusive your value proposition is, the stronger affect it will have on your bottom line. Use reviews, testimonials and success stories to support your value proposition.

For more help, download the Squeeze Juice Value Proposition Template at the end of this article.

Help! We have a couple value propositions and we can’t decide which one to use! / Ok, I’ve created my value proposition, now what?

Time to test! Take your value proposition(s) on over to your Google AdWords account and set-up an Ad Group with relevant keywords and use each value proposition as a specific ad. Example:

Value Proposition – “Xyz offers a 5,000 color “no-drip” paint selection for canvas artists and was rated #1 by Painters Choice Magazine for besting pricing.”

Alternative Value Proposition – “Xyz offers a 5,000 color “no-drip” paint selection for canvas artists and was rated #1 by Painters Choice Magazine for overall value.”

To test these we might try the following ads (make sure the under campaign settings the option ‘Rotate: Show ads more evenly’ is selected!)

5000 No-Drip Paint Colors
Choose From Over 5000 Colors
#1 Best Pricing by Painters Choice
www.XyzPainting.com

5000 No-Drip Paint Colors
Choose From Over 5000 Colors
Painters Choice – #1 Overall Value
www.XyzPainting.com

You can test as many variations as you’d like – just keep in mind the more testing the longer you’ll have to wait for your results! The ad that receives the highest click-through-rating / conversion rate is your winner and gives you a solid place to start.

To further assist you I have created a Value Proposition Template Worksheet that you can use to help you uncover your value proposition.

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