How do you find a good doctor, babysitter, or Web designer? Most people start by asking friends and coworkers for suggestions. Word-of-mouth is more credible than other types of advertising because people listen to their friends and respect their opinions.
Word-of-mouth is harder on the Web, but not impossible. Well-written testimonials can help promote your online business too. Use them to add credibility and increase your link popularity score.
Credibility And Accessibility
Unlike small communities where everyone knows local merchants personally, the Web often seems both anonymous and unfriendly. Consumers get spooked by news stories about online fraud and are wary about purchasing online.
A few good testimonials written by happy customers make potential customers feel more comfortable with your online business.
It's important that you use testimonials from real people! Ideally, they should be willing to give personal responses if your potential customers contact them for a reference. In this age of email spiders, they may not want you to print their email address, but most are happy for you to include a link to their Web site
That way, your customers can go to their site and initiate contact there. That greatly adds to the testimonial's legitimacy and, by association, your site's legitimacy as well. It also helps the other site's link popularity score.
Asking For Testimonials
Often, satisfied customers will come to you with their stories and thanks. For instance, we were thrilled to hear from Phase Five Technologies a few months ago. Their testimonial about the efficacy of Search Engine Power Pack was so impressive that we used it as a case study on the benefits of Power Pack!
When a customer sends you a thank you note with a compelling story or great compliment, ask if you can use it on your site as a testimonial. Asking is important! Some customers may not be willing to "go public" especially if your product deals with a sensitive topic or medical condition. Make sure you have specific permission in writing before you place a testimonial on the site.
Solicit testimonials by adding a line to your confirmation emails and/or request them directly on the Web site. Your current customers will know you care about their experience and your potential customers will use these real-world experiences to compare you to the competition.
You benefit from testimonials and the customers who provide them may benefit as well! When your visitors follow the link inside the testimonial text, your happy customer will be even more pleased by the increased traffic and possible boost in his link popularity score.
Emphasize testimonials on your site using pull quotes or add a special "testimonial" page that you link to all your products pages.
Inbound Links and Testimonials
Now that you're ready to ask for and use testimonials, consider how your site could benefit if you write a couple yourself!
Surely you've had some good experiences with a particular product or service you've purchased online. But did you take the time to thank the merchant? Think about services you've been happy with - particularly if they're related to your business.
Contact them with your testimonial. They may ask if they can use it on the site. "Of course!" you say. "Just make sure you include a link to my Web site!" Sites that might not be interested in "trading links" are often happy to give you a link if it's accompanied by a compelling testimonial that touts their product.
Writing Testimonials
But make sure you get the maximum benefit when you provide testimonials. Don't just say: "I love the product and it helped my online business!" That's too generic. You'll get the most benefit from a testimonial if you include basic information about your business and throw in a few of your targeted keywords and keyword phrases.
For instance, a Web design firm that gets particularly good pricing and service from a Web hosting company could write a testimonial like this:
"We at SmallBizDesigns.com depend on AAA Hosting Company! Their dependable service lets us concentrate on creating database-driven, multimedia Web sites for our Web design clients. Their affordable Web hosting accounts help us provide low-cost Web design solutions for small businesses."
Notice that here, the writer lauds AAA's service and pricing, but also manages to sneak in a description of her own business as a provider of low-cost-, database-driven, multimedia Web sites for small businesses.
Although it may seem old-fashioned, good testimonials help your site succeed because they give potential customers a positive feeling. You may write reams of marketing copy about your business, but what others say about you is often more important |
