Put specific, current proof of insurance, workers' compensation coverage, licences and trade certificates beside the quote button and on each service page, where customers decide, not in one line on the About page.

Proof on a page nobody reads

Most trades businesses hold real credentials: liability insurance, workers' compensation coverage, business licences, trade certificates, association memberships.

Most of their websites mention them once, in a line on the About page or a row of small logos in the footer.

Customers decide somewhere else: on the service page, reading about the job they need, and at the quote button. None of the proof is there.

And licensed and insured, the phrase that usually stands in for all of it, is what every competitor says too.

What customers are checking

The second comes up most with homeowners, who have often been told to ask about it without knowing what a good answer sounds like. A plain sentence saying the coverage is in good standing settles it.

Where people actually decide

A customer reads the service page for the work they need, looks at the price or the estimate, and reaches the quote button. That short stretch is where doubts about letting a stranger into their home come up.

The About page is read by fewer people, usually after the decision, if at all.

The proof belongs where the doubt arises: beside the quote button, on each service page and in the quote itself.

Specific beats general

Fully licensed and insured cannot be checked, so it reassures nobody who is actually worried.

Specific statements can be checked, which is why they are believed: the amount of liability coverage, workers' compensation coverage in good standing with a letter available, business licences in the cities you serve, the trade certificates your installers hold.

Every statement has to be true and current. A claim about insurance or a membership that is no longer accurate is a misleading representation, not a marketing slip.

Next to the quote button

One line under the button does most of the work: insured, with workers' compensation coverage in good standing, and certificates sent with every quote.

On a phone, keep that line visible near the button rather than folded away in a section the visitor has to open.

Avoid a wall of logos. One or two that customers recognise, each with a few words on what it means, do more than eight that nobody can identify.

A worked example

A glass and mirror shop with a storefront and three installers cuts mirrors, fits frameless shower doors, replaces broken window glass and installs storefront glass for small businesses.

Its website said licensed and insured once, on the About page, with association logos in the footer.

Property managers asked for insurance certificates before every first booking. Homeowners asked on the phone whether the installers were covered if one slipped in the bathroom. Commercial customers rarely used the quote form without calling first.

The proof each of them needed existed. It was simply not on the pages where they were deciding.

Now each quote button carries one line about insurance and coverage. The shower door and commercial pages each have a short block with the liability amount, the coverage standing, the installers' certificates and the cities licensed.

Certificates go out attached to every quote email, and the commercial page says how quickly a certificate naming a building can be issued.

Numbers customers can check

Where a licence or certificate carries a number that can be looked up, show it and say where to check. Few customers will, but being invited to check is reassuring in itself.

Name the insurer as well as the amount of coverage. A company a customer recognises, or could call, turns a claim into something they can verify.

Do not post full insurance certificates as images, though. They carry policy details that belong in a quote sent to a real customer, not on a public page.

The quote is a deciding moment too

The website is not the last place a customer decides. Quotes are compared later, often on a kitchen table or in an inbox beside two others.

Put the same specific lines in the footer of every quote and every quote email: coverage, standing, certificates, licences.

The customer comparing three prices should not have to go back to three websites to compare the proof behind them.

Commercial customers need paperwork

Property managers, strata councils, general contractors and businesses often require a certificate of insurance before work starts, sometimes naming them on the policy, along with proof of workers' compensation coverage.

Saying on the commercial page that you can supply both within a day removes a step. Each step removed is a phone call nobody has to make before booking.

It also tells a property manager comparing three quotes that you have done this before.

Keep it current

Credentials expire. Insurance renews every year, memberships lapse, and certificates carry dates that a careful customer will read.

An expired certificate on a website is worse than none, because it suggests the coverage lapsed too. Remove a logo the day a membership ends.

Put each renewal date in a calendar, and update the website, the quote template and the email footer the same week.

The counter-case

Not every job turns on credentials. A customer collecting a cut mirror at the counter cares about the price and the wait, not the installers' coverage.

Repeat customers who already know you need the proof less, and a page crowded with badges can look anxious rather than reassuring.

Where a stranger is about to work in someone's home or building, though, the proof belongs beside the button.

Before the next quote

  1. List every credential you actually hold.
  2. Note each expiry date in a calendar.
  3. Write one specific line for the quote button.
  4. Add the details to each service page.
  5. Attach certificates to every quote email.
  6. Remove logos you no longer qualify for.
  7. Say how fast commercial paperwork arrives.

Step three is where the change happens. The rest supports it, but a single specific line beside the button is what a deciding customer actually reads.

Published prices do the same work at the same moment, as covered in upfront prices for small jobs.

Frequently asked questions

Where should licences and insurance appear?

Beside the quote button, on each service page and in every quote email, where customers are deciding. The About page is read by fewer people and usually too late.

Is licensed and insured enough?

Rarely. Every competitor says it and nobody can check it. Name the liability coverage, the workers' compensation standing, the trade certificates and the cities you hold licences in.

What do homeowners worry about most?

Damage to their home and an installer being hurt on their property. Clear lines about liability insurance and workers' compensation coverage answer both before they have to ask.

What do commercial customers need?

Usually a certificate of insurance, sometimes naming them on the policy, and proof of workers' compensation coverage before work starts. Saying how quickly you supply them removes a step.

Should I show association logos?

Only for memberships you currently hold, one or two at most, each with a few words on what it means. Remove a logo as soon as the membership lapses.

How do I keep the details current?

Put every renewal date in a calendar and update the website, the quote template and the email footer the same week each credential renews.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Credentials buried on your About page?

Send us your service pages. We will suggest where your licences and insurance should sit and how to word them.

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