At BlogPasCher, we have seen many websites of all calibers. Every website has its own issues, but all websites benefit from conversion rate optimization. It doesn't matter if your goal is more sales, more Facebook likes, or more newsletter subscribers. One thing that helps almost all websites is the proper use of testimonials. Many websites have testimonials, but the avoir simply is not enough.
Here, we'll walk you through how to get the most from your testimonials and the steps to take to find out how they work best for you. We'll start by explaining why testimonials work in the first place!
Note: In this article, we will be using the word testimonials for testimonials and (product) reviews. We chose to do this because the two are in fact the same thing, in our opinion. There is only one real difference: reviews can be negative.
Why testimonials work
It is said that testimonials work primarily on the basis of social evidence. Social proof is a psychological process that causes people to copy the behavior of others, in order to reflect correct behavior.
So much to see... 10 WordPress plugins to post testimonials on your Blog
A well-known person, or at least one that people can relate to, can use a product or service and be blown away. When others hear about it, they will interpret it as correct behavior and follow suit. This is the reason why the influence marketing is such an effective way to sell your product these days.
When a celebrity on Instagram uses a product and writes positively about it, people will buy it. Because if an admired celebrity endorses a product, it must mean it's a good product for you too! Social proof, whether from celebrities or close friends, contributes significantly to the effectiveness of testimonials.
However, social proof isn't the only reason testimonials work. Or at least it shouldn't be. While a lot of the testimonials that we come across in online stores are quite vague, even those throw a some light on how a product or service works.
After all, five stars is five stars, no ? This is exactly what testimonials should do too, as far as we're concerned: provide insight into some people's experiences so that others can form their own opinion. Not only should a testimony confirm the fact which your product is awesome, but it should also discuss:
- Why It's awesome,
- how to it works and
- why it worked for the person who wrote the testimonial .
And then you're still only halfway there. You should also have testimonials on:
- le purchasing process of your website,
- la Shipping et
- maybe even someone using your guarantee of reimbursement of 30 days .
Let your visitors know that every aspect of your online store has been used successfully by other people and that they are very happy with it!
Testimonials overlap with product reviews
We've come to a gray area here where the testimonies are starting to overlap. And in my opinion, that's exactly how it should be. As soon as they overlap, you will get the best of both worlds.
Also read How to respond to criticisms about your products / services
Not only does the social proof process start, but experience products - products which it is difficult to predict whether they will work - can also turn into research products - which it is easy to predict if they work.
In other words: the benefits of your products will become much clearer, making it easier for potential customers to purchase them.
When testimonials work
Testimonials are powerful in building trust, and not just for online stores. The recherches confirmed that positive reviews can dramatically increase sales. In fact, testimonials have turned out to be a more important clue in judging the reliability of an online store than the actual overall reputation of the latter.
This was the case a few years ago, and it has not changed. But obviously, you can't just display texts that glorify your products or services. Your testimonials should earn the trust they generate.
In the event of product reviews, even negative reviews can be helpful. But only if you can show visitors that you have responded adequately to the customer who gave the negative review. It's okay to receive negative review from time to time. How you react to these negative reviews is important, especially for future customers.
To discover also How to Display Rotating Testimonials on WordPress
This is also precisely why you should not remove negative reviews or submit fake ones. Your reviews must be genuine and reliable. And they won't look real until they are.
Narration
In the past couple of years storytelling has become all the rage and for good reason. Stories positively influence customer perception of a brand, as well as willingness to buy. Stories can affect behavior, as the story resonates with your visitor.
And this is exactly where it gets difficult. It's easy to say that “stories sell”. But how would you go about getting stories that captivate your audience? If you have any services or products that solve problems, it's easy to get started. Just ask a few of your customers to describe the issues they've encountered and how your services or products have helped them resolve those issues.
See also Why Authentic Reviews Are Important on WordPress
It's a whole different story (literally) if you're selling clothes, for example. You obviously can't make customers say, “I was naked my whole life until I found this garment!”. In those cases, you'll need to get creative and maybe ask customers to write about the - hopefully superior - quality of your products and how they last longer, for example.
And if you also carry a clothing brand that is sold in other online stores, let your customers explain why they use your particular store. Is it because your customer service is superior? The excellent user-friendliness of your website? The speed of delivery? Ask your customers to write about it.
Using photos with testimonials
Photos are almost considered a 'sure thing' in the circles of internet marketing. In fact, research from just a few years ago showed that the use of images increased the perceived reliability of a statement. Depending on the results, it doesn't matter whether the image is relevant or the information next to the image is accurate.
To make matters worse, some studies have shown that photographs increased the perceived reliability of underperforming suppliers only et were decreasing that of suppliers with a good reputation. In addition, there are differences in reactions to images between cultures , which means you may need to use different tactics for different continents if you are selling globally.
As you can see, the science isn't really definitive on the use of photos. And the downside to all of these studies is that they aren't specifically about testimonials. At BlogPasCher, we always recommend using photos with testimonials, as this seems to add credibility to those testimonials.
But the best way to do this would be to test if adding the photos leads to better results for your website.
Influential people
If you've ever read testimonials, you've probably read about the impact of "influencers". We have already mentioned the influence marketing . Let's talk about it a little more. There are people who are so well known in their field of work that their opinion really matters. Their opinion carries weight due to the effect of Halo. Wikipedia has this to say about the effect of Halo in marketing:
With testimonials from influential people, the product will be seen as better or more trustworthy. As you have read, it can even be transferred to your entire brand.
Obviously, there is a major criterion for this: the person should be seen as an influential person in the field in which you are offering products or services. If we are to receive a great testimonial from Miley Cyrus for our blog, it probably wouldn't have much weight with the people we would like to influence (agencies, website owners). Still, we're sure a lot of people would visit the website, but maybe not for the right reasons. You understand my drift.
Positioning of testimonials
Over the years, we have noticed that many of the websites that have testimonials do not place them prominently. The testimonials are excellent. But if they are only on the testimonials page and nowhere else, then there is little chance that many people will find them. So you have to put them on pages where people the will find. On your landing pages with nearby calls to action would probably be great places.
You and your testimonials
If you've read this article this far, you probably agree that it all makes perfect sense. So stop having testimonials and start à the utiliser effectively !
Discover also some premium WordPress plugins
You can use other WordPress plugins to give a modern appearance and to optimize the handling of your blog or website.
We offer you here some premium WordPress plugins that will help you do that.
1. Contact Form 7 Success Redirect
Contact Form 7 Success Redirect is an extension of the WordPress Plugin Contact Form 7 which allows to redirect a visitor or a user to a page after the submission of his contact.
It has been designed to make the form more user-friendly when the form submission process results in redirecting to the page chosen by the admin. It is extremely easy to configure. You can do this by selecting a page from the existing pages of your dashboard or by providing a Custom URL redirection.
So much to see... 8 WordPress plugins to improve the SEO of your blog
Each form will have its own configuration. Thus, each successful redirection can be defined in a unique way.
Download | Demo | Web hosting
2. Instagram Journal
Instagram Journal is one of the only WordPress plugins Instagram Feed Manager that takes full advantage of the Instagram API on WordPress. Simply display your photos, likes, photos from a friends account, photos from a particular hashtag, photos from a location and more.
Enrich your reading by consulting our article on How to easily create a Quiz in WordPress
In addition, this WordPress Plugin premium has a contest mode. Thanks to this mode, you will be able to host Instagram contests on your website in a very fast way. You can also moderate photos directly from your mobile device.
Download | Demo | Web hosting
3. WooCommerce Order Status & Actions Manager
This is a WordPress Plugin very important and versatile premium, dedicated to e-Commerce websites. With the latter, you will be able to choose from 1200 font icons to use to signal the status of the order or the pending action.
See also our article on 5 tools to create a color palette for WordPress blog
The plugin also automatically sends an email when the order status changes. It is 100% customizable and handles perfectly the different stages of payment.
Download | Demo | Web hosting
Recommended Resources
Find out about other recommended resources to help you build and manage your website.
- How to "steal" your blogging style to succeed on the internet
- 9 WordPress plugins to optimize the zoom on images
- How to find article ideas: 11 tips for finding inspiration
- 10 WordPress plugins to manage a multi-site network
Conclusion
Here ! That's it for this article. Now increase the confidence of your visitors through testimonials. So what do you do with your comments to boost the confidence of your visitors? Let us know in the comments.
However, you can also consult our resources, if you need more elements to carry out your projects of creation of Internet sites, by consulting our guide on WordPress blog creation.
Do not hesitate to share with your friends on your favorite social networks.
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