Every merchant is looking for ways to increase sales and traffic to their store, but few often consider the impact first impressions have on the short and long-term success of their business. A typical visitor to your website will judge and gauge your store’s appearance in a matter of seconds, regardless of the quality of your offered products or services.

Of course, while many factors affect whether or not an online store is successful, few things affect a customer’s decision to browse or exit a store more than a website’s apparent trustworthiness. Merchants can throw huge sales, post on social media sites, send out weekly newsletters, and host giveaways – but without establishing a sense of trustworthiness, these time-consuming and sometimes costly efforts may be futile.

Fortunately, instilling immediate trust in your store is rather easy to accomplish. Let’s take a look at 10 ways you can inspire trust at first glace.

New customers arriving at your store will take a quick overview of your store’s design. Whether that first visit occurs on a tablet, mobile device, or desktop, you want to ensure customers are treated to a pleasant and easy-to-navigate experience.

Really wow your visitors with a beautiful and professional design that speaks volumes about your business, brand and offered products. An ugly or out-dated design is a direct reflection of your business, and is inexcusable in today’s age with the plethora of free resources at your disposal.

Outdated information is a surefire way to immediately losing a customer’s trust – something you’ll find near impossible to regain. Check and double check that all of your store’s information is up-to-date, including contact information, shipping and return policies, advertised promotions, product descriptions, pricing, and other information that may be pertinent to your products and/or services.

Visitors are eager to know that you’re dedicated to your business and your customers. Show that you’re committed to improving your business, product, service, and building strong customer relationships with quality, fresh content that includes a date. Use a built-in blog, an embedded Twitter feed, or take advantage of the countless numerous apps at your disposal to show that your website is live and thriving.

Few things instill trust like statistics. If your company boasts a large number of customers served, then share that number with the world! Let people know just how many customers shop at your store, time and time again, and instill a sense of trust that can only be established after years of proven, quality service.

If you’ve ever been mentioned in a blog post, industry-related article, video or received press coverage of any kind from another media source, feel free to boast of your accomplishments. Customers love to purchase “hot” and “trending” items, and showing a ‘As Featured in” section may go a long way toward pushing customers to shop at your store.

Aside from recommendations from friends and family, customers trust product reviews more than any other source when deciding whether or not to purchase a particular product or shop at a specific store. Accumulate an honest collection of testimonials and proudly display them on your website. Highlighting positive testimonials lets customers know you’re a reputable store with a long history of successful transactions.

If you’re running a family owned and operated business that has served customers for 25 or 50+ years, prominently display this well-earned and rather rare achievement. Showcasing your business’s longevity and success is a great way to immediately ease a number of customer concerns, secure your store’s apparent trustworthiness, and highlight your business as an industry leader and/or pioneer.

If you’ve received any awards over the course of your business’s lifetime, such an INC. 500 award, Better Business Bureau (BBB) award, Stella Service Award, or any other award related to your particular industry, prominently display them on your website. Customers want a reason to shop at your store over your competitors, and awards are a great way for giving your store the edge it needs for winning a customer’s favor.

Customers are more concerned than ever that their personal information is at risk when shopping online. Put to bed any concerns or fears over the security of your website with prominently displayed security badges. Let customer’s know that you take their privacy and security seriously, and that if they shop at your store, their information won’t be compromised. Consider using seals from big brands such as Norton, GeoTrust, or RapidSSL.

Your website’s copy will be read by countless visitors, and nothing inspires doubt or negativity like poor spelling and grammar. Check and double check that any and all content on your website is spelled correctly. If grammar isn’t your strong suit, consider hiring the services of a copywriter or a freelance proofreader to ensure your website appears as professional as possible.