How to and How Not to Feature Customer Testimonials on Your Website?
Customer testimonials are a big deciding factor when it comes to potential customers making a purchasing decision on your business website.
They act as a form of social proof that helps customers relate to the experiences of other customers using your product/service
In fact, businesses with a lot of testimonials easily win sales over a business that doesn't have any social proof on their website
In this article, we will explore all the questions, you have about featuring testimonials on your website. And more importantly what you should vs what you shouldn't do
Do testimonials on my website increase sales?
Customer testimonials have been proven to have a positive impact on sales.
In fact, according to research, 92% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase decision.
Testimonials help address common concerns & questions from the experiences of other customers themselves. This can increase the confidence of potential customers in the product or service being offered.
How many customer testimonials should you add to your website?
The number of customer testimonials that should be included on a website can vary depending on the nature of the business and the industry.
However, research suggests that the optimal number of customer testimonials on the landing page is between 10 to 30.
But you can have more than 10 testimonials using Famewall and paginate those results so that only the top 10 are shown at any point in time & customers can click on "Load more" to see more testimonials
This practice provides enough social proof to establish trust with potential customers without overwhelming them with too much information.
And here are other factors you need to consider when having those testimonials
- The relevance of the testimonials to the products or services offered
- The diversity of the testimonials (e.g., from different demographics, industries, etc.)
- The freshness of the testimonials (recent testimonials are more relevant than old ones)
How long should testimonials be on a website? What is the ideal testimonial length?
Ideally, testimonials should be concise and to the point, while still providing enough information to be useful.
Generally, testimonials that are between 50 to 100 words in length are the most effective. This length provides enough detail to be informative while still being easy to read and digest.
In fact, the ideal testimonial length is between 50 to 100 words if your product/service is low-ticket while it's better to have 150-300 words if you have a high-ticket product/service
It is also important to note that the layout of the testimonials on the website is taken into account for their effectiveness. Testimonials that are broken up into shorter paragraphs or displayed in a bullet-point format can be easier for readers to scan and absorb.
Even better is when you highlight the most important text in testimonials so that customers can quickly skim through your testimonials
Here's how you can highlight testimonials and change colors to suit your branding using Famewall
Do testimonials help SEO?
Customer testimonials have a great impact on search engine optimization (SEO) by providing fresh, relevant content that can improve a website's search engine rankings.
In addition, testimonials can increase the amount of user-generated content on a website, which can also improve SEO. User-generated content signals to search engines that a website is engaging and informative, which can lead to higher search engine rankings.
Testimonials can also create different types of backlinks, such as when customers or other websites link to your testimonial page.
This type of backlink is valuable for SEO because it indicates that your website is trusted by others, reinforcing your authority and improving visibility in search engine results.
Apart from this since, website visitors spend more time reading testimonials, the bounce rate on your website is significantly reduced and customers are easily convinced to spend more time on your website to visit other links which might land in a sale.
Is it okay to edit testimonials?
Avoid editing testimonials to the extent that the entire messaging is changed as the authenticity of the testimonial would be in question & people might lose trust.
However, it is generally acceptable to make minor edits to correct spelling or grammatical errors, or to shorten the testimonial for clarity.
When editing customer testimonials, it is important to maintain the original intent and tone of the testimonial.
Can I create fake testimonials?
It may be really tempting to create fake customer testimonials in order to boost the perceived value of a product or service but doing so can have serious ethical implications.
Not only is it dishonest, but it can also damage the credibility of your business and customers will always prefer to stay away from your brand.
Additionally, there are potential legal consequences for using fake testimonials in domains such as selling digital products operating in the domain of medicine, fitness therapies, etc., as it can be considered false advertising.
It is always best to use genuine, authentic customer testimonials and if you don't have them yet, you can still wait and start collecting them using a custom testimonial collection form on Famewall.
Even if they are not as glowing as fake ones might be, they're testimonials from real people, and that always has value.
Authenticity is important in building trust with potential customers and maintaining a positive reputation for the business.
Do testimonials need a picture?
Pictures of testimonial authors are highly recommended as they can enhance the visual appeal of customer testimonials but they are not necessary.
The most important aspect of a testimonial is the content, which should provide valuable information and insight into the customer's experience.
However, pictures can be beneficial in adding a personal touch to the testimonial, which can help website visitors have an emotional connection with your brand when they relate to other customers' faces.
How to add testimonials to website?
The easiest way to add testimonials to your website is using Famewall where you can choose from a variety of available testimonial widgets and then add them to your website without writing any code
In fact, more testimonials can be added to your website in a single click when you click "Approve" on Famewall and you can style the testimonials to suit your brand
Here's a detailed guide showing you how you can collect testimonials for your website and a brief guide how you can add testimonials to website in minutes
Conclusion
In conclusion, customer testimonials are a crucial element of website success. They provide social proof, build trust with potential customers, and can increase sales.
Keep in mind to place the testimonials on your website, make them concise, and highlight the most important points in your testimonials
When using customer testimonials, it is important to prioritize authenticity and ethical practices, including avoiding the use of fake testimonials and being transparent about any edits made to them.
While pictures are a great addition to customer testimonials, the content truly matters in building credibility and trust with website visitors.
Start using Famewall to collect testimonials from your customers and also aggregate them from 15+ social platforms. Then add them as social proof to your website in just a few clicks
The best part is that Famewall has followed all the best practices to make the best out of your testimonials. You can just copy & paste 2 lines of code to make them go live on your website :)