$2000 for trust badges, is it worth it?

[BeytzNet]

Hi,

I just got off the phone with TrustE and McAfee.

They want approximately $1400 and $900.

Needless to say these are significant amounts. Is it a must for a small business selling luxury goods (transactions above $1000).

Thanks

[NBGnetworks]

I'll give you my non-SEO advice here as all the answers above are good from an SEO perspective.  I personally don't believe in them. From a security standpoint they don't actually prove anything.  I can show you 1,000's of insecure sites that carry big name trust badges.  Whenever I see a site prominently displaying a trust badge I always think they are trying to compensate for a lack of security with a giant sticker.

On companies you would generally trust like microsoft, vmware, google, amazon, etc there are no trust badges displayed.  I think a nice statement in your policies about security is a much better move.  People who are already security conscious can seek out the information while users who weren't worried about it in the first place won't be freaked out and security snobs like myself won't think you're trying hard

Ps. feel free to drop me a line if you need any security advice.

-Nick

[BeytzNet]

Thank you all.

@Gregory Baka - I kinda agree with you but also encountered the following:
http://www.link-assistant.com/blog/how-to-build-trust-for-an-ecommerce-site-in-both-search-engines-and-users/ 
Which does show a diffeence.

We are also not based in North America so we cannot apply BBB badges.

About increase or decrease in conversions I also encountered studies going both ways (though the increase seems more definite than the decrease). I assume that if it is shown delicately and not boldly (as the badges companies suggest) it does the trick (having those who look for it find it and not the other way around).

I Also just encountered a nice piece about improving shopping cart experience and they suggested on doing it as a part of the design - implicitly adding confidence that made sense:
http://uxdesign.smashingmagazine.com/2011/04/06/fundamental-guidelines-of-e-commerce-checkout-design/ (Point number 4)

Thanks everyone

[customerparadigm.com]

This has been a burning question, and there are plenty of studies that show increases and decreases in conversions with trust badges.

The reason to add badges:
*** Increase trust and confidence that the site is secure.**

The reason NOT to add badges:
*** People who weren't worried about security are now more freaked out by it when they see the "hacker safe" or other logos.**

From what I have read:

• Trust / security badges that a user has to click on can decrease shopping conversions.
• Joann.com saw a sales increase of 5% whenthey added a trust badge to their site: http://www.internetretailer.com/2007/09/27/sales-increase-5-5-after-joann-com-adopts-shopping-trust-mark
• Orientalfurniture.com increased conversions by 7.6% when they added a security seal to the site:
  http://www.internetretailer.com/2011/01/05/orientalfurniturecom-drives-conversion-76-security
• Another site saw a 1.6% decrease in conversions site wide when after they added a McAfee security badge persistently on the shopping cart
• Twitter user Eric J. Hansen (@ericjhansen) posted the results of a test:  
  Multivariate testing surprise: removing HackerSafe logo lifts “add to cart” by 3.5% (95% conf). Moral=don’t assume, test!

According to Shana Rusonis of the Otpimizely blog:
http://blog.optimizely.com/2013/12/08/ab-test-assumption-security-badges-increase-conversions/

Don't assume.  Test it out.

My $0.02: spend the $2,000 on marketing for the site, or increasing the page load time.  I think it's money that's better spent.

[webmethod]

I've read conflicting studies about use of Trust badges. Sometimes they're a good idea as it instills a feeling of trust in a nervous/cautious customer but other times it can have a negative effect by scaring off a user who hadn't considered security/privacy to be an issue until you mentioned it! It depends on the level of technical/online shopping experience your customers have.

As Gregory says - test it - get them to give you a month free trial and see if it impacts your conversion.

George

@methodicalweb

[GregB123]

I once read a small study about trust badges that said they were definitely important, but that people didn't really notice any difference between big-name (expensive) badges and obscure (cheap) badges. If I can find a link to the article I will post it.

If you don't have any badges at all, you should see if adding any badges increases your conversions. Your SSL Encryption badge is a good start. And see if your shopping cart provider has a badge available.

In the US having the Better Business Bureau (BBB) badge would also be a good way to start, and I think you still get a backlink when you sign up.