Have you ever bought something online? Before making your purchase, you probably checked for product reviews from other buyers, right?
Consumers have similar buying habits. Whether they’re deciding to try that new restaurant in town or choosing a movie to watch, they will always look around to check what other people have to say. The power that word-of-mouth holds is incredible, and that’s exactly why it’s important to have a testimonial page on a small business website.
This behavior is typical to every consumer — and for good reason. Customers don’t want to waste money on something that doesn’t live up to their expectations. In fact, according to Findstack, nine out of ten customers read reviews before buying a product, and 94% of consumers have avoided a company due to a bad review.
These stats reveal one important fact: customer testimonials can impact your website’s conversion rates. Whatever industry you are in, a positive online presence can always give you an advantage. So, you might want to work on this as soon as possible for better sales and engagement.
10 Reasons Why a Testimonial Page on a Small business Website Is a Must-Have
Are you on the fence about adding customer testimonials to your website? Understanding the reasons why you need them might help you decide. So, let’s dig deep into the benefits that testimonials can have for your small business.
- It makes you credible and trustworthy.
- It’s proactive word-of-mouth marketing.
- It strikes a deeper connection with your target audience.
- It improves brand reputation.
- It’s free promotion for your brand.
- It boosts your SEO.
- It improves your conversion rates.
- It can help humanize your brand.
- It speeds up the purchasing process.
- It helps overcome skepticism.
It makes you credible and trustworthy.
As per BigCommerce, “72% of consumers say positive reviews and testimonials make them trust a business more.” That says quite a lot about the importance of testimonials on a website. Reputation is everything for a business. To be credible and trusted by customers, having a good online presence is key. They are solid proof of your positive digital footprint and that your brand or business is legitimate and not some sort of scam. Once consumers recognize how satisfied your previous and existing clients are with you, it will be easier for them to trust your brand’s quality and service.
It’s proactive word-of-mouth marketing.
Your previous or existing customers act as your brand advocates through testimonials. Positive word-of-mouth from them can help you win more potential customers. Moreover, when publishing testimonials from your customers, their friends, colleagues, or family are most likely to read them as well. Hence, it’s not only a helpful tool in winning customers but it’s also great in finding you more leads. Substantially, it does more than just guarantee your credibility. It helps your business grow by attracting new customers, increasing conversion rates, and increasing brand authority.
It strikes a deeper connection with your target audience.
Evoking an emotional attachment to your brand helps in driving long-term association and engagement with customers. The best way to strike an emotional chord with your web visitors? By using testimonials in marketing. Testimonials are written in everyday language and express the customer’s personal experience with your brand. It deviates from the usual carefully written corporate language that most businesses use on their website. Most consumers respond to brands that offer natural and honest communication. Thus, using testimonials can make the reader actually see the authenticity and transparency of your business.
It improves brand reputation.
Positive customer reviews make a great starting point for building your brand’s reputation. These digital word-of-mouth endorsements boost your potential customers’ confidence in your brand. As word spreads of your quality products or services, making a good name for yourself in the market is not an impossible feat after all. Remember, happy customers are likely to share their thoughts about your brand in as many places as possible, which is great for increasing your multi-channel footprint. Moreover, having a highly positive digital footprint is important for businesses, especially for start-ups. In a tight competition, a single bad rep can break a business. So, make sure to keep this in mind in your future business ventures.
It’s free promotion for your brand.
It takes a lot of marketing efforts to create promotional ads that actually generate sales and revenue. And even more hard work to consistently maintain the engagement that comes with it. With testimonials, they are somewhat a natural way of advertising your brand to the market. In other words, it’s a free promotional ad. So, why not leverage it for yourself? Real experiences from others are valued more by consumers than the usual promotional spiel of a brand. This is because transparency is regarded highly by customers. And transparency is exactly what a testimonial page can offer and more.
It boosts your SEO.
Google values website content that is authentic and trustworthy. That is why the use of testimonials is beneficial for your SEO. Moreover, testimonials provide value through three interlinked categories:
- User Experience – Client testimonials are digital proof of your product or service quality.
- Domain Authority – Reviews from third-party websites can boost your domain authority.
- Search Engine Results – Customer ratings from third-party review websites improve your online visibility.
It improves your conversion rates.
BrightLocal’s 2022 survey stated that 98% of people read online reviews for local businesses and 89% say that they are likely to use a business that responds to all reviews, positive and negative. This tells us that the buying decisions of your consumers are influenced by what other people think about your brand. Thus, the use of a testimonial page for small business can directly impact your growth and conversion rates. If you want a better Return on Investment, it might be a good time for your brand to take advantage of testimonials and see for yourself how they can help you grow as a business.
It can help humanize your brand.
We all love a good story. And this is why testimonials on a small business website prove effective. We are innately curious and our empathy towards others is almost always a natural reaction. Testimonials offer an angle that allows your potential clients to connect with, relate to, or understand your brand better. Rather than emptying your pockets over marketing campaigns to reveal the human side of your brand, it’s far easier to make use of testimonials, which deliver the same outcome that you want to achieve. Humanizing your brand helps you connect with your customers and understand their needs as well.
It speeds up the purchasing process.
Having readily available positive reviews on your website can help web visitors find everything they need to know about your products or services. Most of the time, proof of authenticity or transparency is enough to convince customers to engage with your brand. Thus, testimonials speed up the decision-making process. In addition, having customer testimonials provides you with an established and wide portfolio of satisfied clients. This, in turn, will show potential customers how your business can help meet unique client needs, as well as the diversity and versatility of your brand, which further convinces them to make that purchase.
It helps overcome skepticism.
Reading a positive review from a customer improves confidence that the product about to be purchased or service about to be availed is indeed the right choice. Good testimonials on your site can help convince the most reluctant clients and overcome the skepticism they have over your products or services. Testimonials can work wonders and can help showcase the benefits that your brand can offer to new customers. Knowing that other customers are satisfied with your brand makes it easier for potential clients to trust you as well.
How Do I Ask My Clients for Testimonials?
The more detail that your testimonial includes, the more compelling it will be to your potential customers. Therefore, it is beneficial to offer your existing and former customers some guidance that will enable them to write high-quality reviews. Here are the things that you should do when asking for customer reviews:
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Ask for a testimonial after a purchase or service is completed.
Make it a point to include this stage on your website and ask the customer for a review by sending an email. Or, consider expressing your gratitude for their patronage and sending them a link to a form on your website where they may respond to a few questions and add their own feedback.
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Add questions that will help guide them as they answer the form.
To help them write an effective testimonial, direct your clients toward what you want them to convey by asking questions that concentrate on particular aspects of your service or product. You can provide them with a form that has the precise fields you want customers to fill out. When possible, provide clients with testimonial examples. These can greatly help and provide them with guidance when writing their own.
Some examples of guiding questions you can add include:
- What was it like before you had our product or service?
- What problem(s) were you trying to solve with our product or service?
- What made our product or service stand out from other options?
- What sold you on buying this product or service?
- What made you happiest about working with our company?
- What have you been able to achieve since using our product or service?
- What has exceeded your expectations since working with us?
- What’s the main reason you recommend our product or service?
- What about our business surprised you the most?
- What would you tell someone who’s considering our business?
- How has your business been impacted since starting to use our product or service?
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Ask permission when using photos.
Last but not the least, before using your customer’s photos on your testimonial page, make sure to ask permission from them first. Otherwise, you might get in serious trouble in the worst-case scenario.
Before posting that review on your testimonials, be sure to keep the following essential elements in mind:
- Indicate the client’s problem.
- Highlight how your service or product was able to solve the problem.
- Showcase how versatile and unique your solution is.
- Show how your client’s experience improved.
With these, potential customers can visualize how exactly your brand can help them get the solution they need, as well as why your brand is better than other competitors.
Don’t Make These Mistakes on Your Testimonials Page
The goal of a testimonial page is to show new customers that you are trustworthy and a legitimate brand. However, some businesses often forget this goal and make common mistakes on their testimonials page. To help you avoid these mistakes and make your client testimonials stand out, here are some things you should watch out for.
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Displaying similar testimonials.
While most customers usually have similar experiences with a brand, using similar reviews may result in your testimonial page sounding and looking the same.
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Scripting your customers.
We know this can be tempting. However, this takes away the customer’s credibility and the transparency of your business. Being authentic with your reviews is always better.
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Not including visuals.
Reviews with photographs are viewed with much more credibility than those without. Including a client’s photo increases and establishes the credibility of your testimonials.
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Making testimonials too long.
Not all customers have the time to read more than a paragraph-long review. They may give the page a quick scan but it’s unlikely they’ll read every single word in there. So, as much as possible, keep it not too long but not too short as well.
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Not segmenting.
If your business offers multiple products or services, make sure to segment them based on the different types of clients you serve.
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They don’t describe your products or services.
Reviews that only say “Great work. Thanks!” are not exactly helpful to new clients. Although it is a positive review, it does not tell anything about your product or service.
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There are not enough reviews.
Having only a few testimonials will have your customers thinking they all came from your own friends. A good general rule of thumb is to aim for at least 30 reviews.
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There are no recent reviews.
If the reviews are too old, consumers are most likely going to find them irrelevant. Aim to get an average of 1 review every 3 to 7 days to get fresh reviews for your testimonials.
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Spamming customers to get a review.
After sending an email request, wait until they give you a response. Bothering them too much will just trigger them to give negative reviews instead.
Final Thoughts
By reaching this far, you now know and understand how testimonials help your business increase conversion rates, improve brand reputation, and achieve success in the consumer market. A testimonial page on a small business website, in particular, can help them gain an advantage in the cutthroat competition. It is a vital tool that is key to building consumer trust, brand credibility, and social proof in your customer base. Using testimonials the right way can create wonders for your business and you can certainly hope to see an upturn in your sales and conversions in no time.
Most customers, even you, are probably skeptical about trusting a newfound brand. That is why it is important that your website has something that can show positivity about your business. Dedicating a web page for testimonials can go a long way for your overall brand reputation and engagement. More than providing new customers with a good first impression, a testimonial page can turn potential clients into loyal customers.
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Create a Quality Testimonial Page with Proweaver
In the age of skeptical consumers, a quality testimonial page can do the trick. If you want to create a successful testimonial page for your website, our team is always ready to help. Dial +1-877-216-0852 and we will reach out to you as soon as possible for more details about how we can help.