The trust text is the line that sits beside your avatar stack and star rating — “Trusted by 2,347 marketers” or “Join 500+ happy customers.” It is the verbal component of the trust widget, and getting the wording right can make a measurable difference to how visitors perceive your credibility.
This guide covers the trust text settings in Easy Social Proof, writing formulas that convert, and common mistakes to avoid.
Where to Find Trust Text Settings
Open any page with an Easy Social Proof block in the block editor. Click on the trust widget block, then look in the sidebar settings panel under the Content section.
You will see:
Count Source — a dropdown that determines where the number in your trust text comes from. “Manual Text” lets you type whatever you want. Other options (if available) can pull real counts from WooCommerce orders or SubPress subscriptions automatically.
Display Text — the text field where you write your trust line. This is where you craft the message visitors see.
Show Stars — a toggle to display or hide the star rating alongside your trust text.
Star Rating — a decimal slider (e.g. 4.8) that sets the displayed rating. This is not limited to whole numbers, so you can show your actual average.
Star Colour — a hex colour picker for the star icons.
Writing Effective Trust Text
The trust text formula that works for most sites follows a simple pattern: action word + number + audience descriptor.
The Formula
“Trusted by 2,347 marketers”
- Action: Trusted by
- Number: 2,347
- Audience: marketers
“Join 500+ happy customers”
- Action: Join
- Number: 500+
- Audience: happy customers
“Used by teams at 50+ companies”
- Action: Used by
- Number: 50+
- Audience: teams at companies
Choosing Your Action Word
The action word sets the tone:
“Trusted by” — the strongest and most common. It directly states that people trust you, which is the core message of the entire widget.
“Join” — implies community and creates a sense of belonging. Works well for memberships, newsletters, and SaaS products where being part of a group is the appeal.
“Used by” — professional and factual. Good for B2B products where “trusted” might feel too informal and “join” does not fit.
“Loved by” — warm and emotional. Works for consumer products and brands that lean into personality. Less effective for professional or enterprise audiences.
“Chosen by” — implies a deliberate decision. Works when your audience weighs options carefully, like choosing between software tools.
Choosing Your Number
The number should be real. This is the single most important rule of trust text. If 347 people use your product, write “Trusted by 347 site owners.” Do not round up to 500.
Specific numbers are more credible than round numbers. “2,347 marketers” looks like a real count. “2,000 marketers” looks like a guess. Research from Cornell University found that precise numbers are perceived as more believable because they imply careful measurement.
Using the “+” suffix. “500+” is honest shorthand for “at least 500.” It works well when your number changes frequently and you do not want to update it daily. Just make sure you have actually passed the stated threshold.
Counting what matters. Decide what you are counting: customers, users, downloads, subscribers, companies, or projects. Choose the metric that produces your largest honest number. “Used on 12,000 websites” is stronger than “Trusted by 89 customers” even if both are true, because the first number better represents your actual reach.
Choosing Your Audience Descriptor
The audience descriptor should make visitors think “that includes people like me.”
Generic: customers, users, people — works for broad audiences but creates no identification.
Specific: marketers, developers, store owners, freelancers, agencies, teams — creates identification. A marketer reading “Trusted by 2,347 marketers” feels a stronger connection than reading “Trusted by 2,347 users.”
Industry-specific: “Trusted by 500+ WooCommerce stores” or “Used by teams at top SaaS companies” — the most targeted and effective, if your audience is narrow enough.
Combining Trust Text With the Star Rating
When Show Stars is enabled, the visual star rating appears alongside your trust text. Together, they answer two questions:
The text answers: “How many people use this?” The stars answer: “How much do they like it?”
What Rating to Display
Display your actual average rating. The decimal slider makes this easy — if your real average is 4.7, show 4.7.
Why not 5.0? Research from Northwestern University’s Spiegel Research Centre found that conversion rates actually peak at ratings between 4.2 and 4.5. Perfect 5.0 scores trigger scepticism because visitors know that real products always have some less-than-perfect reviews.
If you do not have formal customer ratings, consider what an honest rating would be based on feedback, reviews, and support interactions. A 4.6 or 4.7 from genuine assessment is more effective than an inflated 5.0.
Star Colour
Yellow or gold stars are the industry standard and instantly recognised. Changing star colour to match your brand can work if the colour still reads as “rating stars” — dark orange, amber, and warm tones work. Cool blues and greens are less intuitive as rating indicators.
Trust Text for Different Business Types
SaaS Products
“Trusted by 2,347 teams” or “Join 500+ companies using [Product Name]”
Count teams or companies rather than individual users if your numbers are smaller at the team level. “Trusted by 50 teams” is less impressive, so lead with users: “Used by 2,000+ professionals.”
WooCommerce Stores
“Trusted by 1,200+ happy customers” or “Join 8,500 shoppers”
Count completed orders or unique customers. If using automatic count sources from WooCommerce, the number updates as new orders come in.
Freelancers and Consultants
“Trusted by 150+ clients” or “Chosen by businesses across 12 industries”
Smaller numbers work when paired with specificity. “Trusted by 150+ clients” is fine. “Trusted by 150+ small business owners” is better because it identifies the audience.
Course Creators and Coaches
“Join 3,000+ students” or “Trusted by learners in 40+ countries”
For educational products, student count and geographic reach are compelling metrics. Country count signals credibility even if the number of students is modest.
Newsletters and Content Sites
“Join 5,000+ subscribers” or “Read by 5,000+ marketers every week”
Adding the frequency (“every week”) signals engagement, not just signups. It implies that people actively read your content, not that they signed up and forgot.
Common Trust Text Mistakes
Vague claims without numbers. “Trusted by many happy customers” says nothing. A specific number, even a small one, is always more credible than no number at all.
Obviously inflated numbers. If you launched last month and claim 10,000 users, visitors will question everything else on the page. Start with your real number and update it as you grow.
Counting the wrong thing. “10,000 downloads” sounds impressive until visitors realise downloads do not mean active users. Choose the metric that most closely represents genuine engagement.
Forgetting to update. If you write “Trusted by 500+ customers” in January and still show the same number in December despite significant growth, the stale number undermines the trust you are trying to build. Either use automatic count sources or schedule regular manual updates.
Overly long text. The trust widget is a compact element. “Trusted by over two thousand three hundred and forty-seven marketing professionals worldwide” does not fit the format. Keep it under eight words.
For more on trust text formulas and the psychology behind them, read How to Write Trust Text That Converts.
For an overview of all Easy Social Proof features, read Easy Social Proof Pro: Everything in the Upgrade.
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