Benefits of Using Customer Testimonials on Your Website

Written by Adi Young @ Eight Zero

Whatever you are selling on your website, be it tangible products, services or information, customer testimonials will support your sales pitch and ultimately help the customer make up their mind to buy. By placing authentic and credible reviews on your website by real customers, you will appear an honest and trustworthy business or individual. People want to hear from other people like them, they no longer believe everything they are told by vendors. The internet has established the routine of potential customers researching not only a product, but also the company and reputation, before they buy.

Here are 3 main reasons to use customer testimonials on your website;

1- Gain Credibility and Trust
As a company or individual, you should always gather and present authentic honest testimonials. These statements by real customers are what will contribute to the trust and credibility of your website and product, therefore under no circumstance should they be fake or made-up. The more you can show the visitor that your testimonials are authentic, the more trust they will give you. If your customer is established in their industry, give their name and company and even a link to their website under their quote. If your customer is just a normal person with no familiarity to others, then adding their first name, location, and maybe a photo will suffice. The most important thing is they appear as real as they are. Third party review websites such as Trust Pilot can be added or linked to your website too to show real verified customer reviews and star ratings.

2- Establish a Reputable Image
Again, this is to do with creating trust for the visitors to your website who are interested in what you are selling. How you display your testimonials is important. As said above, they must appear as real and believable as possible, otherwise you can do more damage than good by creating doubt and suspicion. Try to get at least one testimonial from someone well known and established, be it an institution or well-known company, or an individual. Show their credentials and this will impact upon you as a company. Don't be afraid of showing these testimonials off all over your website and other marketing material - potential customers really want to see them. Show different ones on each page of your website, give them presence and make them attractive, these are people vouching for you and what you do after all.

Always target your testimonials to your market audience 

3- Capture Your Target Audience
When gathering and displaying customer testimonials on your website, it is important that you consider your target audience. Who and what will your target market be impressed and influenced by? This is as powerful a factor as what is written itself. Having someone vouch for you who is influential to your potential customers should have pride of place, and similarly someone likely to turn your potential customer off should not. People want to hear what people like them have to say, so keep this in mind when displaying quotes and names on your website.

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