When a company comes to me and says “our website does not convert” they often expect the answer to be a full redesign. New theme, new structure, new everything. In reality, many B2B and SME sites do not need a dramatic makeover. They need a handful of clear trust building tweaks that make it easier for a visitor to believe that the company is real, competent and safe to contact.

In this article I want to share the simple changes I keep making again and again on client sites. They are not exciting in a design award kind of way, but they work. Better contact blocks, clearer offers, stronger social proof and a bit of UX housekeeping are often enough to lift conversions without rebuilding from scratch.

Why trust is often the real problem, not traffic or design

Many businesses assume they have a traffic problem or a design problem. They want more visitors or a more modern look. When I dig into analytics and watch how people actually move through the site, the pattern is different. It is not that nobody visits, it is that visitors do not feel confident enough to take the next step.

Trust on a website is a combination of signals. Some are obvious, like logos and testimonials. Others are quieter, like how easy it is to find contact details, how you talk about pricing, how fast the site loads and what happens after a visitor submits a form. If any of those pieces feel wrong or incomplete, people hesitate.

The good news is that you can adjust many of these trust signals without changing your CMS, redesigning all templates or writing a hundred new pages. Most of them live in a few key blocks and patterns that you can improve in a week.

Simple frame: before you think about a full redesign, ask if visitors can clearly see who you are, what you do, who you have helped and how to contact you, all within a few seconds.

Step 1, quickly diagnose where trust is leaking

Before making changes, it helps to run a simple trust audit. I usually look at three areas:

  • Can I see a real person? Name, face and direct contact options.
  • Can I understand the main offer? Clear headline and short description.
  • Can I see proof? Logos, testimonials, numbers or examples.

You can do this yourself. Open your homepage and one main service page on a laptop and on a phone. Without scrolling, try to answer:

  • What problem do you solve?
  • Who is it for?
  • What is the next step?
  • Why should I trust you instead of another tab I have open?

If you cannot answer those questions in ten seconds, a first time visitor will not be able to either. That is where the tweaks below become useful.

Trust tweak 1, upgrade your contact blocks

One of the easiest and most powerful changes you can make is to improve your contact block. Many sites hide contact details behind a generic form on a lonely subpage. There is no name, no phone number and no context. For B2B in particular, that feels risky.

What a weak contact block looks like

  • Only a “Contact us” item in the menu.
  • A form with three fields and no information about who reads it.
  • No physical address or company details.
  • No alternative channels like phone, email or WhatsApp.

What a strong contact block looks like

  • A short intro line that sets expectations, for example response time and what happens next.
  • At least one real name and if possible a small portrait.
  • Multiple options, form plus email plus phone or messaging app.
  • Company details like legal name and registration country.

You do not have to turn your website into your private phone book, but you should make it clear that there are real people on the other side. A simple line like “I usually reply within one working day” plus a name does more for trust than an extra paragraph of marketing language.

Trust tweak 2, clarify the core offer and who it is for

Another common issue is vague, inflated copy on the homepage. Many sites talk about “solutions”, “innovation” and “driving value”, but do not say in simple words what they actually do. If a visitor cannot understand your main offer quickly, they will not trust that you can solve their specific problem.

Signs your offer is unclear

  • Your hero headline could belong to dozens of other companies.
  • You use abstract words more than concrete ones.
  • Your services list is long and feels like a random catalogue.
  • Different pages describe your focus differently.

How to clarify your offer without redesigning the page

  • Rewrite your main headline in plain language, even if the layout stays the same.
  • Add a single short sentence that explains who you help and how, for example “We help small manufacturers in Scandinavia launch in China”.
  • Group services into two or three simple buckets instead of eight separate bullet points.
  • Make sure your navigation labels match the language in your hero section.

These changes do not require a new theme or a new CMS. They only require a bit of writing. But they make it much easier for visitors to feel “this is for me” which is a key part of trust.

Trust tweak 3, strengthen social proof without clutter

Social proof is more than a random wall of logos. Used well, it shows that people like me have already trusted you and had a good outcome. Used badly, it looks like decoration that nobody believes.

Three useful layers of social proof

  • Logos: great for quick recognition, especially in the hero or above the fold on a service page.
  • Testimonials: short quotes attached to real names, roles and companies. These work well near calls to action.
  • Numbers and facts: simple metrics like “12 years in China sourcing”, “150+ shipments” or “40+ WordPress sites launched”.

How to improve social proof in a week

  • Move your strongest testimonials closer to your main forms and buttons.
  • Add a small line under logos explaining what you did, for example “long term sourcing partner since 2016”.
  • Replace generic phrases like “great service” with more specific outcomes, for example “cut lead times by two weeks”.
  • Make sure quotes are easy to read on mobile, not squeezed into a carousel that auto scrolls too fast.

One or two good, specific testimonials are more valuable than a whole page of vague praise. It is better to have three logos you can truly talk about than twenty that come from a template.

Trust tweak 4, fix the small UX details that quietly erode confidence

Visitors do not read your Lighthouse reports, but they feel the effects of slow pages, broken layouts and strange form behaviour. These details send a signal about how careful you are in general. A site that loads slowly or looks messy on mobile will make people doubt your attention to detail in other areas too.

High impact UX checks that do not require a redesign

  • Speed on mobile: test your key pages on a normal phone over 4G and see how they feel, not just how they score.
  • Form behaviour: check that forms show clear error messages and confirmation messages.
  • Navigation: test whether people can find your main services in two clicks or less.
  • Security cues: valid SSL, no browser warnings, no mixed content errors.

You can often fix these with small steps: compressing images, reducing heavy scripts, cleaning up a form plugin, adjusting the mobile menu. None of that requires changing your visual identity.

Trust tweak 5, talk about pricing in a way that feels honest

Many B2B sites hide pricing completely. They are afraid of scaring people away, so they say nothing. From a visitor’s perspective, silence around price feels just as scary, because it suggests that you might be very expensive or that there will be surprises later.

Ways to address price without publishing a full price list

  • Add a “from” price for typical projects or subscription levels.
  • Describe what usually affects the price, for example complexity, volume or support needs.
  • Share a simple example project with a ballpark budget range.
  • Explain what is included and what is not, so people feel that you are transparent.

Even a short paragraph about how you think about pricing can increase trust. It shows that you understand the question and that you have nothing to hide, even if final quotes are always customised.

Trust tweak 6, improve microcopy around forms and calls to action

The text around your buttons and forms has more influence than many people think. “Submit” is a neutral word, but it does not answer the visitor’s real question, which is “what happens if I click this?” and “what do you expect from me?”

Better microcopy patterns

  • Change “Submit” to something like “Request a call” or “Send message to PerOla”.
  • Add a short line under the form button, for example “I usually reply within one working day”.
  • If you only work with a certain type of client, say so gently, this can increase perceived fit and honesty.
  • On newsletter forms, explain what kind of content you send and how often.

These micro changes guide expectations and lower the perceived risk of reaching out. That alone can increase form completions, especially for busy B2B visitors who do not want to waste time.

Trust tweak 7, structure content for scanners, not only readers

Most visitors do not read every word of your site. They scan for headlines, subheadings, bullet lists and highlighted phrases. If your content only works when read from top to bottom like a book, you lose many potential leads.

Practical content improvements without adding new pages

  • Add subheadings to long blocks of text on service pages.
  • Turn key benefits into bullet lists instead of hiding them in long paragraphs.
  • Highlight one or two important sentences per section in bold.
  • Add a simple FAQ section that answers the questions you receive most often in sales calls.

You can keep your existing design and just adjust how text is structured. The goal is that a visitor who spends thirty seconds on the page should still leave with a clear picture of who you are and what you do.

B2B vs B2C, same trust principles with slightly different emphasis

The basic ingredients of trust are similar whether you sell to consumers or other businesses. People want clarity, proof and a low risk way to take the next step. The difference is where you put the emphasis.

  • For B2B: decision makers often care more about risk, stability and long term partnership. Case studies, references and clear process descriptions are powerful.
  • For B2C: emotions and ease of use play a bigger role. Reviews, star ratings and smooth checkout flows matter more.

In both cases, the tweaks in this article apply. You just choose different examples and different language, depending on who you are talking to.

A simple 7 day roadmap to implement these tweaks

If you want to put this into practice quickly, here is a simple one week plan that does not require a new theme or a new platform.

Day 1, run a trust audit

  • Review your homepage and one main service page on laptop and mobile.
  • Answer the four core questions about problem, audience, next step and why you.
  • Write down where trust feels weak or unclear.

Day 2, rewrite hero and offer copy

  • Update your main headline to say in plain language what you do.
  • Add a one line description of who you help and how.
  • Align your navigation labels with this language.

Day 3, upgrade contact blocks

  • Add a short intro, response time and at least one real name to your contact section.
  • Make sure alternative channels like phone or email are easy to find.
  • Check that your forms show clear success and error messages.

Day 4, improve social proof

  • Place one or two strong testimonials near your main call to action.
  • Add a short summary line under any logos you show.
  • Write down one or two simple numbers that show your experience and include them on the page.

Day 5, fix UX details

  • Test speed and layout on a normal phone and note any obvious slow spots or glitches.
  • Compress large images and remove any heavy scripts you do not need.
  • Check SSL and remove mixed content warnings if any appear.

Day 6, improve microcopy and structure

  • Rewrite button labels and add one line under forms to set expectations.
  • Add subheadings and bullet lists to your most important service page.
  • Create a short FAQ section with three to five common questions and answers.

Day 7, review and measure

  • Take fresh screenshots of your key pages and compare them to last week.
  • Write down what has changed and what you expect to happen.
  • Over the next month, watch form submissions, calls and email inquiries to see if there is a lift.
Good news: you can repeat this process once or twice per year without touching your base design. Trust tuning is maintenance, not a one time project.

FAQ, trust building without a full redesign

How do I know if we need tweaks or a full redesign?

If your site is technically broken, not mobile friendly at all or impossible to maintain, a redesign may be the better investment. If the site basically works, but visitors hesitate and do not contact you, trust tweaks are a good first step. I often recommend starting with tweaks, then using what you learn to guide a later redesign if needed.

Can small changes really move conversion numbers?

Yes. I have seen projects where nothing changed except the contact section, a few testimonials and clearer offers, and inbound leads still went up. You might not double conversions overnight, but even a small percentage lift matters if the visitors are already coming.

Do I need a designer or developer to make these changes?

For most sites you can make a large part of these improvements with your existing CMS and theme. Some things, like adjusting padding or fixing layout bugs, may need a developer, but the core work is often content and structure, not custom code.

How long should we wait before judging results?

Give it at least a few weeks, ideally a month or two, depending on your traffic volume. Look at both quantitative data, like form submissions, and qualitative signals, like the kind of messages you receive and whether people mention the site in calls.

Closing thoughts

It is tempting to think that a new website will fix everything. Sometimes it is true. Often it is not. For many SMEs and B2B companies, the fastest path to more leads is not a total rebuild, it is a clearer story, better proof and a more human contact experience on the site you already have.

If you want help reviewing your current site from a trust and conversion perspective, I am happy to take a look. A short, focused review can usually uncover a handful of changes that make your site feel more solid and more inviting to the people you actually want to work with.

Ask for a website trust review Email PerOla