Testimonials on website

[QuickHomeBuyers]

Is it just me who thinks that adding testimonials to a website is waste of space because most people know that testimonials are added by the website owners and they would only add what suits them. Also most of them are fake and in some case you can see the same photo on another website with a different testimonial.

So the bottom line is, you as a potential customer, client, of any business, read their testimonials

a. To understand how good they are at lying and making stories up.
b. To see if they add more sense to the business.
c. To see if they have said anything which doesn't add up.

If you do add the wink wink nudge nudge testimonials, how far would you go to make them appear genuine? What details would you include.

I need to think about testimonials.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

As of April 2011 it is a criminal offece to place a false testimonial on your website, businesses have been prosecuted for it.

 

[maxh]

Is it just me who thinks that adding testimonials to a website is waste of space because most people know that testimonials are added by the website owners and they would only add what suits them. Also most of them are fake and in some case you can see the same photo on another website with a different testimonial.

So the bottom line is, you as a potential customer, client, of any business, read their testimonials

a. To understand how good they are at lying and making stories up.
b. To see if they add more sense to the business.
c. To see if they have said anything which doesn't add up.

If you do add the wink wink nudge nudge testimonials, how far would you go to make them appear genuine? What details would you include.

I need to think about testimonials.

If you doubt their power you can split test one of your sales pages.

 

[tinapierce]

Well some people do put fake testimonials to their website to sell their products and services.

Some don't put the bad testimonials or comments to their website for the reason that if that is your website and some of your clients have had bad experiences with your products or services would you put include that to your website? Of course not. Cause if you do then people will not buy your products.

 

[Silky]

Anything at all would be better on your website rather than just a one page that goes nowhere Batra....

Testimonials are powerful and if you've got happy customers, shout about it. The testimonial pages on our site give customers background info and a taste of the kind of people who go on our holidays. We have no need to make any up, we're struggling to put them all on as it stands.

As said by maxh, try it and see.

Silky

 

[Andy Alderson]

Well some people do put fake testimonials to their website to sell their products and services.

Some don't put the bad testimonials or comments to their website for the reason that if that is your website and some of your clients have had bad experiences with your products or services would you put include that to your website? Of course not. Cause if you do then people will not buy your products.

The trick is to offer all customers the opportunity to review your service, then publish ALL good or bad, the key is to always respond to the bad. If you deal well with a bad review it can actuall help win business. Most people will accept things going wrong IF you work to put it right.
vanarama.co.uk/about-us/customer-testimonials

 

[123Simples]

Is it just me who thinks that adding testimonials to a website is waste of space because most people know that testimonials are added by the website owners and they would only add what suits them. Also most of them are fake and in some case you can see the same photo on another website with a different testimonial.

I personally don't do that myself as it would be a pointless exercise - besides which I want people to be truthful and I want my customers to know they can trust me.
As a matter of course we keep testimonials sent to us on email file just in case anyone ever suggests otherwise, but I do agree that some individuals may make up some garbage just to look good.

 

[tinapierce]

I agree with you Andy. You can also post the bad testimonials they say about your product and after resolving the issue you can also add the good things that they say about your products and services.

123Simples, totally agree with you. You should not create your own fake testimonials cause there's no point of doing that. It's one's choice to put the bad testimonials to their website as well

 

[QuickHomeBuyers]

So what do you suggest I do for a new website which goes live in next week? Empty testimonial section doesn't look good.

 

[britishw]

The trick is to offer all customers the opportunity to review your service, then publish ALL good or bad, the key is to always respond to the bad. If you deal well with a bad review it can actuall help win business. Most people will accept things going wrong IF you work to put it right.
vanarama.co.uk/about-us/customer-testimonials

Agree,
Although I would have them on a third party website rather than my own. I particularly agree with your point about how a business responds to reviews. You only have to look at hoteliers on trip advisor to see this in action.

I take more notice of reviews on websites if they're accompanied by a company logo, name and position - which I maybe inclined to check via linkedin.

 

[QuickHomeBuyers]

You can get real video testimonials for £5 or £3.60 these days, it is getting silly.

 

[directmarketingadvice]

Also most of them are fake

And how did you conduct that survey?

Please don't just make up something and pass it off as fact. There's a danger people might take you seriously, follow your advice and damage their business.

As Maxh pointed out, anyone who doubts testimonials can split-test having them v not having them and find out the truth.

Steve

 

[BrianMartin&Co]

I have an testimonial on my website but the fact is, I too believe they're pointless as it's of my own opinion that when I see a testimonial, I usually believe their fictitious.

However - I still place a testimonial on my website in the hope that my brand is trusted enough to the user that we don't write pretend testimonials. If you use a site such as FreeIndex, you could have your customers and clients use FreeIndex to review your website. Search engineer Freeindex to rank for your brand name and when clients and customers search for your brand name freeindex will be there with real reviews.

 

[crphillips]

All of our testimonials are 100% genuine. You can speak to the person who lthetis so long as they are ok with it. I have never had a negative testimonial sent in either.

Our customers comment on our great testimonials all the time and say that the overall look of the website, the photo gallery and the testimonials is what brought them to us.

Just to give you an idea I had a customer a couple of months ago who was getting quotes in. We were £1000 more expensive on a £5000 job which is quite a large percentage dearer. They chose us! They were delighted and left a testimonial!

You can tell the fake from the real ones.

 

[Funny Business Cartoons]

What is he point of having fake Testimonials on your website? Is that a lack of integrity or just plain low self esteem?

 

[BrianMartin&Co]

What is he point of having fake Testimonials on your website? Is that a lack of integrity or just plain low self esteem?



Or perhaps to show integrity for ones service?

Depending on your industry perhaps rather then using testimonials, demonstrate results?

 

[Funny Business Cartoons]

What is he point of having fake Testimonials on your website? Is that a lack of integrity or just plain low self esteem?

Or perhaps to show integrity for ones service?

Depending on your industry perhaps rather then using testimonials, demonstrate results?

A good reputation will ultimately give you more chance to demonstrate your skills in no matter what Industry. That's the way of the World. If a Provider had a proven track record in whatever Field, would you choose them over someone who has no experience? I would. It doesn't matter if they are not all glittering reviews but then any Employer worth their salt should realise that.

On the Freelance Sites you get reviewed after every Project is completed and it works both ways because you review the Employer as well. That you carry around like luggage for the rest of your career and you can't delete it.

 

[Rookery]

I have testimonials on my website. I also have the hand-written originals to show to my potential customers to prove that they are genuine, unlike the bas**rd who copied them from my website to put on his.

 

[maxine]

I'm in favour of testimonials and I don't think people think they are fake if there is a name.

I've had quite a few occasions where my customers who gave the testimonial have contacted me to say they have been contacted to verify them or new prospects make reference to having checked them out when they call me. It's all in all great talking points

And freeindex works well too as others have said

 

[wardey]

I dont use testimonial on my website because i am dubious about them on other sites myself.

The alternative I have gone for is joining freeindex, where there is a facility for your customers to post a review of you services. There is a measure of credibility because they are verified via e-mail. Freeindex provides the means to then post star ratings they have received about you on your websiteas well as being displayed on theirs.

 

[Rob2012]

I personally don't do that myself as it would be a pointless exercise - besides which I want people to be truthful and I want my customers to know they can trust me.
As a matter of course we keep testimonials sent to us on email file just in case anyone ever suggests otherwise, but I do agree that some individuals may make up some garbage just to look good.

Great website, does the van price include insurance cover and everything else I need?

 

[Andy Alderson]

So what do you suggest I do for a new website which goes live in next week? Empty testimonial section doesn't look good.

Is this for a new business or a new website for a current business?

If it's for a new business then put the page up with a "be the first to review our service and perhaps a "low cost high value prize" for all that submit within a certain period.
You can employ the same tactic if it is a new website for a current business, obviously it's easier as presumably you'll have a database.
We did this and emailed 1500 customers- review our service and win an ipod nano - I think it cost us £100 or so but got over 50 reviews which gave us instant credability, as it wasn't just half a dozen hand picked ones.

Keep it simple though and ask 5 or 6 questions max, then add at the end

In your own words -why did you deal with us in the first place and why would you deal with us again
This bit is key as you get the response in the cutomers own language and when there's a quantity of them you can tell they aren't fake. Especially when you publish the ones that didn't go quite so well. obviosly always with a response.

 

[Andy Alderson]

Is this for a new business or a new website for a current business?

If it's for a new business then put the page up with a "be the first to review our service and perhaps a "low cost high value prize" for all that submit within a certain period.
You can employ the same tactic if it is a new website for a current business, obviously it's easier as presumably you'll have a database.
We did this and emailed 1500 customers- review our service and win an ipod nano - I think it cost us £100 or so but got over 50 reviews which gave us instant credability, as it wasn't just half a dozen hand picked ones.

Keep it simple though and ask 5 or 6 questions max, then add at the end

In your own words -why did you deal with us in the first place and why would you deal with us again
This bit is key as you get the response in the cutomers own language and when there's a quantity of them you can tell they aren't fake. Especially when you publish the ones that didn't go quite so well. obviosly always with a response.

God my grammars c**P in the mornings!

 

[123Simples]

So what do you suggest I do for a new website which goes live in next week? Empty testimonial section doesn't look good.

You don't need to have an empty testimonial section at all - there are a few ways around it. You could simply redirect the testimonial page to a contact page requesting testimonials, good or bad from clients, offering some incentive perhaps if you need testimonials in quickly.

Or on the testimonials page have a link to the above page requesting clients to leave feedback

Or just leave off a testimonial page if you have not got any.
It would be better than making up fake testimonials in my opinion, but it depends on how you see it yourself.

 

[Idontbuy]

You could put testimonials we hope to get until you receive good ones. Like

In the mean time here are a few testimonials that we are still waiting for...........
Amazing Programming
I am left speechless by their ingenuity.

Bill Gates - 1st March 2011

Well.....
I don't believe it!

Richard Wilson - 1st March 2011

We have fantastic feedback on Amazon i would love to direct people to Amazon but they would probably buy from Amazon which would cost us the extra Amazon commission
Sample from Amazon

"Bought as a present. Recipient couldn't wait to get started. The lidded trays extremely useful. One family member described it as the "Armani" of puzzle carriers."

Fantastic product -the tray makes puzzles easier to do, easier to transport and easier to store. How did I manage without one? Very very quick delivery.

Lovely Guy!

 

[iArtist]

It's actually not that hard to demonstrate testimonials are genuine (depending on the work you do, ie include pictures etc.) and as Welsh Guy said, it's a criminal offence to make-up or give someone a fake testimonial. Why you think 'everyone' fakes it is beyond me. Have some faith

It's also not unusual to have same pic and diff testimonials as long as they're both from same person there's nowt untoward. It just means the poor client has been asked a couple of times for testimonials on different sites. I for example have asked my clients for reviews on Linkedin and more recently asked as couple of them to also leave a review on freeindex. Only they can do this as the sites don't allow users to add their own reviews. Thus the clients have kindly obliged but their wording for each review on each site is slightly different. This is because their review is genuine and not copied. The sentiments are also the same. This is a drag for clients but it means the reviews can be traced back to their accounts...thus more likely to be genuine etc.

It would be very dodgy though if same pic and different client!

You should definately have reviews. I wouldn't buy from someone without them.

 

[tinapierce]

So what do you suggest I do for a new website which goes live in next week? Empty testimonial section doesn't look good.

Empty testimonials doesn't look good but Fake testimonials doesn't look good either plus you and your business will go down along with the fake testimonials if many will find out that these are all fake. You understand what I mean? You can ask some of your satisfied clients if they can write a few testimonials for you, but if you don't clients yet, then for the mean time don't publish the testimonial page on your website.

Its better to have an empty and unpublished testimonial rather than putting something that isn't true.

 

[mickeym]

I will normally go out of my way to ask our customers for testimonials. I have a page on our website with about a hundred of them, all of them are genuine and our customers have been happy to give them to us.

It really is annoying that because so many half assed, rouge traders seem to enjoy making them up that quite a few people on this topic (and also in the real world) take a very skeptical view of them. It is understandable though.

 

[MH1]

On a website I used to have personally I found testimonials very powerful.

Before I had them listed I was always asked the cost of my service, once I had around twenty or so the main question was if I was available. In effect the testimonials took the cost out of the decision making process to a large degree, the new clients had already decided they wished to use myself due to the testimonials.

I simply asked clients for testimonials, I just had two rules. The comments had to be genuine, I did not ask questions or ever say what I wanted the testimonial to say, and no discount or gift would be exchanged for the testimonial either, just a simple thank you. The only commitment I gave my clients was although the testimonial would be put up, I might shorten the length, but no wording would be changed.

I think you can tell genuine ones from made up ones, the lazy people tend to use similar grammar and repeat the same theme, hence the reason for no guidance or spelling corrections etc.

I cannot think of one good reason not to use them myself.