Testimonials: is your website missing this key page?

Every time I'm asked as a freelance copywriter to write a new website or revamp an existing one, one of my first recommendations is to have a good testimonials page. Around half of all websites, particularly those of small or medium sized businesses, simply don't have any testimonials at all.
Testimonials can make all the difference when persuading someone to buy your product or service. Positive, relevant comment, preferably with a certain amount of detail, from named people, is what to concentrate on.


Tips for using testimonials

• Try and get as many testimonials as you can. Having just one or two testimonials is potentially worse than having none - it looks like barely anyone will endorse your product or service.
• Don't, however, feel you have to use all the testimonials you receive. A glut of badly worded, imprecise testimonials is of little help.
• Never, ever make up testimonials. Apart from being illegal, it could come back to haunt you if your service or product is not as good as is apparently being advertised.
• Editing is permissible, as long as the basic sense is maintained, so feel free to tidy up spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
• You can also cut down the text - in fact with long testimonials, it's generally advisable. Where you have removed phrases or sentences, it's generally best to add an ellipsis (...) between the different sections.
• If you have a lot of testimonials, consider grouping them into different categories.
• If the testimonials refer to a specific product or service that has its own page on your site, it's worth having them on that page too.
• If at all possible use the person's full name, and location, or job title and company, if relevant. Initials only are not as good, and no attribution at all just looks suspicious.
• You can even use thumbnail pictures of the person concerned, or get video or audio testimonials.
• Specific praise and benefits are much better than vague positivity - try and ask for results and individual benefits when you solicit testimonials.
• Try and match actual customers to potential ones. For instance, if you're looking for blue chip businesses, try and get testimonials from big companies rather than small ones.
• If you sell to a wide variety of people, or provide a wide range of products or services, look to get a varied selection of testimonials.
• If relevant, (for instance if the testimonial relates to search engine optimization or website copywriting) add a direct link to the website concerned.
• Keep your testimonials up to date - if your quotes are obviously several years old, it begs the question what has happened to your offerings in the meantime.


Case histories

If the service is quite complicated, with a variety of features and benefits, then it's well worth having a case history or two, as a kind of an extended testimonial. The classic structure is to have problem / solution / results sections, but don't be tempted to put in all the detail, just the key points, emphasizing the benefits rather than the features. If you can round it off with a quote from the happy customer, so much the better.
Case histories should have their own page. In fact each case history should have its own page if it's of significant length. You can use testimonials as an appetizer for your case histories, adding a direct link to the relevant page.