Nothing can make….or break…your company faster than people talking. The fact is, people listen to what others say, for better or worse, so it’s more important than ever to make those good words count.
We all know how fast bad news can travel. If someone is unhappy with your product or services, you can bet others will hear about it. People tend to listen a bit less when the news isn’t as juicy, so if you have the opportunity to let others know some of the positive things your clients are saying about, take full advantage of that and put those testimonials to work for you and get them up on your website!
Why should I put testimonials on my website?
The biggest reason of course, is that it helps to give your potential clients confidence that you are worth doing business with. Feeling comfortable with you, your product and your professionalism is a big part of why people will, or will not, do business with you. Hearing from other happy customers about how future clients that you are there for them, to help with their problems, quickly and reliably.
Additionally, if done correctly and not just mixed in with the rest of the text on the page, they add another interesting graphical element, similar to photos, so your readers aren’t faced with monotonous text that really does nothing to draw them in and keep them on your page.
How do I get testimonials from my clients?
There are a couple of different ways to acquire testimonials from your clients. The most obvious way is just to ask! While some of us feel uncomfortable asking people to endorse us, it is a widely accepted practice in the business world. If a client pays you a compliment directly, ask them if they wouldn’t mind writing a short testimonial for that you can display on your website. You can offer them a link back to their website in exchange, which is some great free advertising for them as well!
Another way is to offer a feedback form on your website. You can ask direct questions, and then assimilate the answers into a short testimonial.
How should I put testimonials on my page?
Some people prefer one page for testimonials on their site, while others prefer to have them sprinkled sporadically throughout their pages. I prefer the latter, as I feel it provides way more interest to the website. Not everyone will visit a page just for testimonials, but if you have one or two on every page, people are more apt to read them, which is the whole idea.
Make them interesting. Use color, graphic elements such as a callout box or speech bubble, use a background color, put large quotation mark graphics in the background, separate them from the other text on your page with a border or horizontal line….you get the idea. Make them standout and say “read me”!
Use a photo of the client who is offering the testimonial. This provides much more credibility to the testimonial. Putting a face to the words makes the reader feel that the testimonial is sincere, truthful and real.
