Recently, Google’s been promoting “Trusted Store” badges. It’s another way Google’s showing its push for more quality search results and web-based businesses. But it’s also a fantastic way for online retail store owners to increase their credibility, get more sales and rank better.
So what is a trusted store?
A trusted store is one that’s been proven by Google to deliver. When people use an online retail store, they want to be sure they’re going to get what they’ve ordered. Now with trusted search, people can be sure they’ll get what they ordered.
How? Because Google will not accept a store into their program until it proved itself. In order to be eligible for trusted store status, an online retail store puts Google tracking code onto every page of their website.
Then, whenever an order is placed, Google keeps track. They keep track of the date the order was placed and compare it to when the order was shipped. This way, Google can know whether or not orders are being shipped on time.
After 28 days, if a store has consistently shipped orders on time, they can join the trusted store program.
This does two things:
1) It allows a store to use the “trusted store” badge. Customers know this means the store’s legitimate. These badges have been shown to increase conversions by up to 5%.
2) When a Google user sees a trusted store on the results, they’ll also see a statistic next to the store’s listing. So when someone sees a trusted store, they’ll also see “99% shipments on-time” or something similar.
Trusted search increases conversions on-site, but it also increases click-through in Google’s rankings.
Not bad!
What This Means for SEO
Too often, SEO’s are too concerned with numbers. Traffic numbers. They look at their websites and see total traffic. They want that number to go up. So all their SEO efforts are focused on getting that number as high as possible.
It makes sense, as the more traffic you get, the more money you can potentially make (in most cases). But by only focusing on traffic numbers, these SEO’s lose the big picture. Traffic isn’t the only thing that matters.
Conversion rates matter. After all, if you have awful conversion rates, your traffic-building efforts will be mostly in vain.
Good SEO’s must also be good marketers. By understanding the idea of credibility and increased conversion rates, SEO’s can make the most of their efforts. And with trusted stores, Google’s coming along to help out.
Clearly, Google’s still focused on what we’ve called the golden rule of SEO: quality comes first.
With trusted stores, Google wants to prove that every retail store on page #1 is legitimate. When you order from a store Google’s featuring, they want you to be sure you’re getting what you ordered.
For SEO’s and internet marketers who are up-to-date with what Google’s doing, this offers a MASSIVE advantage. This is especially true in the world of retail stores, where SEO is everything. If you have the “trusted store” badge and your competitors don’t, you’ll get the majority of the business.
If your search result says “100% orders delivered on time,” more people will click on your listing than your competitor’s. It’s that simple.
How to Become a Trusted Store
If you own an online retail store, you’re probably wondering how you can become a trusted store. It’s relatively simple: plug-in Google’s tracking code and deliver orders on time, every time.
Thankfully, Google’s put together a detailed guide on how you can install the tracking code. Check it out!
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