Views On Testimonials

When, Where and How to use it.

My reply to a blog post about testimonials and their effects on conversion rate and online sales. This post is not complete in any way. More to come..

Thanks a lot for this eye opening article. Being in the business of CRO(Conversion Rate Optimization), I am very curious about testimonials and their impact on conversion rate.

I’d like to add my view on some of the things in your article.

“#1 Location of testimonial:”
Product page and sidebars are most popular places to display testimonials. Website visitors are used to seeing testimonials there. However, as an alternative, you can consider adding a ‘sticky testimonial tab’ to your website(as in www.wiwitness.com). Two main advantages of this approach compared to the traditional ‘in-lined’ testimonials are:
a. Real estate: Sticky testimonial tabs occupy very little real estate space on your web page because they stick to the edge of your page. You don’t have to worry about making space for testimonials by re-arranging other website components. This is very useful if you are adding testimonials to an existing web site. You can retain your old layout if you use ‘sticky testimonial tabs.
b. It’s always visible. Prospects can click on it anytime to see testimonials.

“Test #2: Long vs. short testimonials”
Ideally, the length of the testimonials should depend on the sophistication of the product or service being offered. But we can’t predict individual’s preference for reading testimonials. Some prospects may feel short testimonials are just “not enough” while it may work just fine for some others.

Similarly, while detail-seeking prospects find long testimonials interesting, others may not read it fully because it’s too long for them.

There’s another critical aspect to consider while deciding short v/s long testimonials. The look and feel of testimonial presentation. Especially, if you are handing testimonial display yourself, presenting a very long testimonial text in the limited real estate of your home page or product page can get really tricky.

Alternative:
Instead of going for a A/B test of short/long testimonials, consider shortening long testimonials with a “read more” link. Clicking on that link can expand the current view to reveal the whole testimonial or take the user to a new page. Optionally, you can track how many people clicked on the “read more” button. This is a good measure of how interesting is the first few lines of that particular testimonial.

As an example, take a look at the testimonials on www.c-program-example.com. Only the “short” versions of the testimonials are displayed by default. Only those interested in reading the “full” version will click on the “..more” link.

“#4 Geo target:”
I completely agree with this. I have felt it myself while looking for local services online. Do you have any suggestions for a tool to achieve this?

“#5 Images & 6# Source of testimonials”
Images and source of testimonials are the most important components. These will decide whether your prospects TRUST the testimonials.

Even the best placed testimonial with ideal length is useless if the prospect suspects it. Adding an image and a source goes a long way in increasing prospect’s trust. Don’t just add image and link without permission. For best results make your testimonials verifiable(http://blog.wiwitness.com/2013/07/verifiable-testimonial.html).

I will be happy to see more constructive discussion on effectiveness of testimonials.

I can be reached on twitter @snadahalli

Cheers,
Sandeepa Nadahalli