Trust signals are any page element that helps visitors believe you can deliver on your promise. They close what we call the "trust gap" — the distance between understanding your offer and believing it's real, safe, and worthwhile.
Trust & Social Proof is weighted at 15% in our scoring. Pages scoring below 4 on this dimension rarely score above 55 overall. You can have the best headline and fastest page on the internet — without trust signals, most visitors won't convert.
Trust signals by type
Named testimonials with results are the single most effective trust signal. "We increased demo requests by 34% in two weeks — Sarah Chen, VP Marketing at Acme Corp" is powerful. "Great product!" from "J.S." is worthless.
Customer logos work best when your audience recognizes the brands. A B2B SaaS showing Stripe, Notion, and Figma logos signals "companies like yours use this." Numbers work when they're specific and honest: "2,847 teams" feels real; "thousands of happy customers" feels hollow.
The right trust signals are industry-specific. Healthcare pages need HIPAA badges. Ecommerce needs payment security icons. Local services need Google review counts. Using the wrong type can actually hurt credibility.