5 Minute Read
82% of consumers read reviews before deciding to buy.
Not only that, but the average consumer spends 13 minutes reading reviews before making any decisions, according to BrightLocal. In the digital age where videos over 2 minutes are considered “long”, this is a lot of time.
Consumers these days are far more likely to Google your business before they even think to step into your brick and mortar or make an online purchase. What are they looking for exactly?
They’re looking for trust. They want to get to know you through the content on your website, the posts you share on social media, and what others are saying about you or your company. They want to know that spending their money on you is worth it.
Are you convincing them?
Better yet, do you have other customers that have bought your products or services that can do the convincing? Let your happy customers do the talking for you! Not only does this take some of the stress off your back, but potential customers are more likely to believe someone else– someone just like them who decided to buy and declared it was worth it.
One of the best ways to show off how others have benefited from using your business is by adding a testimonial page to your website. Testimonials are a powerful tool for establishing trust and encouraging potential buyers to take action.
Additionally, having a testimonial page creates another indexed page on your website, containing more content, covering features, listing pain points, and highlighting keywords that your marketing team is trying to rank for in search.
With our review building service, Webster Digital Marketing makes it easy for businesses like yours to get good reviews. But once you have all those positive remarks, what do you do with them?
Utilize your reviews for effective, affordable marketing materials. A great review is essentially like free publicity! You can reap the rewards by utilizing it as a testimonial.
Types of Testimonials
Testimonials go beyond a simple quote that proclaims your greatness. They should resonate with your audience and inspire the people reading it. The best testimonials will tell a story. An example would look like this: Customer had a problem, found your company, you fixed the problem, and things have been great ever since! Perhaps they even sprinkle in some kind words like great customer service, fast response time, or much more affordable than the other guy!
People who tell good stories about your company should be utilized in different ways. Here are a few ways businesses choose to display their testimonials:
1. Quote
Quote testimonials can be placed directly in the page text or put into an image to be shown on the page. Sometimes, quotes can be accompanied by an image of the person being quoted to make it feel even more genuine. There are multiple ways you can format how your reviews will look on your website. For example, one of our clients chose to highlight a key portion of each review, while still including the entire post:
Quotes are easy to use because you likely already have some reviews on Google or Yelp, so you can copy, paste, and quote in a flash. Using the voice of your customers can build strong credibility with potential leads, bringing you the potential for more sales.
Don’t have any reviews that you can copy and paste? Try our review building service, which gives you honest, unpaid reviews from your customers in a flash!
2. Video
Video is one of the best ways for potential customers to consume content. So, it’s no surprise that video testimonials are also incredibly popular. Getting a client or customer to say a few nice words in front of a camera could make the difference between someone using your product or not. It also gives them more of a chance to tell their story, which we mentioned above is incredibly beneficial.
Creating video testimonials could be something you do professionally, in a studio or an office with high-quality gear. Or, it can be low-scale, like asking a customer to record themselves talking and sending it to you for minor edits. One of our clients chose to have their video testimonials right on the homepage, and they even added quotes for those uninterested in watching. A win-win!
They chose to invest in more professional looking video testimonials, but you can easily pick which bests suit you, your budget, and your company.
3. Social Media
Simply having a social media account that people want to engage with can lead to great testimonials. When people really like your product or service, they will go out of their way to make it known!
When you do see customers promoting you on social media, make sure to engage with them. Like their post, leave a comment, and even share it if it’s a compelling piece of content.
Don’t have any social media profiles or don’t have the time to run them? Ask us about our social media marketing service, we can get you headed in the right direction!
4. Live Review Feed
One of the easiest ways to display your reviews is by embedding a small piece of code onto a testimonial page to create a feed. This feed is connected to all your platforms, so no matter where people leave a review, (Google, Yelp, Facebook, BBB, Houzz, and more!) it automatically shows up on the testimonial section of your website.
Automatically posted reviews! What’s better than that? Here is a sample of what it looks like:
As part of Webster Digital Marketing’s review building service, we can generate this piece of code, create a testimonial page on your website, and place it there for easy, constantly updated, and fresh looking testimonials. We even use it ourselves!
Use Testimonials to Your Advantage
Interested in using testimonials to your advantage? You should be! When trying to select which reviews could make great testimonials, look for ones that paint a picture with their words, highlight specific uses for your product or service, and ones that align with different features you offer!
Need help getting authentic reviews and sharing them on your website and social media? Contact Webster Digital Marketing today. We can help you acquire authentic customer reviews and grow your business online!
