Trust is more important an idea than ever before, especially online. And high levels of cynicism and fear warrant taking as many measures to reassure your users as possible.

The people interested in the solution provided by your product need to feel that they can trust you.

They need to believe what you say on your website, to trust that your download doesn’t contain anything unpleasant, to trust your solution enough to part with their cash, and to trust that your payment process will be safe.

I recently came across an application that appeared to be exactly what I was looking for. It was a reasonably priced analytics tool, and a one-day discount through a third-party made it even more compelling. The website looked serious, the product details were impressive, and the video of the product in action was the icing on the cake.

So why didn’t I purchase it? Because I couldn’t find a single comment, review or testimonial anywhere on their website. Not one. Every bold claim was their own.

The company’s own comments and claims weren’t enough to convince me to part with my cash. Whereas one reasonable review would almost certainly have resulted in a sale.

There’s no such thing as too much reassurance.