Independent Trust Seals Review & Product Comparisons

After months of investigation and vigorous review we were able to uncover the true facts regarding the leading trust seals being sold today. Below you will find informative, factual information and a side by side analysis report showing attributes and characteristics of the top-10 trust seal products listed in order of function and price.

What are trust seals?

Trust seals or trust marks, also known as verification seals are small graphic images that are placed on a website to help a visitor see at a glance that some part of the website has been verified by a third party. They're called trust seals, because they can instill trust or confidence in a visitor, especially if a visitor has never been to the website before.
Read more about trust seals

Do trust seals really help increase conversion?

Yes, since trust seals, generally address one or more of the top three concerns visitors have; is my privacy safe, is this website secure, and has this business been verified, when they visit a website. Studies show that when these concerns are addressed trust and buyer confidence increases and the website generates more sales. I would like to go into more detail about each of the concerns below:

• Privacy. Privacy seals help address the concern that many visitors have when visiting a website. Exactly what is this website going to to protect my privacy, if I give them my e-mail address will happen to it. Will they get it or sell it to a third party. Will I get a bunch of spam from this company or some other company. Exactly how long you going to keep information you gather about me. 30 days 60 days, I want to know. I want to be sure, this website is going to be careful with my information and is going to respect my privacy.
• Security. Security seals help address the concern visitors have about their credit card information or any other private information that they may provide. For example, does this website have an SSL certificate, does it actually work or hasn't expired, and is my credit card information really safe? Another security question, some visitors have is do they keep my credit card information on file, and can this website's server be hacked.
• Business verification. Business verification seals help address another concern visitors have and that is. Is this a real business, do they have a real address that a third party has actually verified, do they have a real phone number, a real e-mail address. If I have problems will somebody help me get hold of the company so I'm not alone in this.

As you can see, these are all common sense worries and concerns that we all have when we visit a website. Especially these days, when you hear the horror stories about people having their identity stolen. So it only makes sense that if the website owner addresses these concerns. Visitors will have a higher level of trust and their confidence will increase. So they will be more likely to purchase from a website that has respected trust seals.

companies that offer privacy seals?

Truste offers privacy policy seals for about $600 per year.
Trust Guard offers privacy policy seals for about $197 per year.

companies that offer security seals?

Hacker Safe by ScanAlert offers security seals for about $1800 per year (includes PCI scanning).
Hacker Guardian by Comodo offers security seals for about $2000 per year (includes PCI scanning).
Control Scan offers security seals for about $2000 per year (includes PCI scanning).
Trust Guard offers security seals for about $197 per year.

Note: most websites do not need PCI scanning, unless they store credit card information on their server or they process over 20,000 credit card transactions per year.

companies that offer business verification seals?

The Better Business Bureau offers business verification seals for about $460 a year.
Trust Guard offers business verification seals for about $197 a year.

companies that offer all three seals

There are a few companies that offer two seals however, at the time of this writing the only company that we could find that provides trust seals that address all three of the major concerns is:

Trust Guard offers a multi-sealed package for about $397 per year or $37 per month. A great deal.

What is PCI scanning and do I really need it?

What companies provide PCI scanning?

What are as SSL certificates and do I really need them?

Where do you Get an SSL Certificate? Almost every web hosting company offers SSL Certificates because they are the natural reseller of certificates from a certificate provider. There are some differences to be aware of. Shared certificates are very inexpensive or free, but they come with some pitfalls. Some web owners will have difficulty using Shared SSL Certificates if say their shopping cart software requires a dedicated SSL Certificate. This is due to the need for the cart to function with only your domain/host and not have to send the user to a duplicate of your site somewhere else. It is important to get a site seal to let everyone know that your site or page is secure. I have not seen a Shared SSL come with a Seal. Prices have come down considerably from years ago. Here is a list of some of the main certificate providers and their entry level pricing. Certificates are sold at a minimum of 1 year and can be purchased to cover up to 5 years. You might get a discount for multiple years

Verisign - SecureSite - $399.00 Thawte - SSL123 - $149.00 GeoTrust - QuickSSL - $199.00 Comodo - InstantSSL -$99.95

Where can I go for more information about trust seals?

Read more about trust seals

Beware of fake seals

The surge of cheap trust seals is one thing that you need to be aware of, it costs money to verify a website and to check out a business and contact it's owners. It costs money to review a privacy policy and it cost money to make sure a secure certificate is actually secure. If someone offers you trust seals for less than $100 a year it is probably will not be worth the cost.

You will also want to be careful about buying trust seals that have blinking lights or are animated in any way, because these often distract your visitor causing you to actually lose sales. Trust seals should be seen, but they should not distract your visitors.

We welcome your comments and suggestions. If you believe any of the information to be in error or if you have new information concerning these or other seals that you believe would be of interest to consumers please let us know. Contact us   All trust seals and trade marks are owned by the trademark holder and are not associated with TrustSealReview.com.