Computer and Web Articles

Looking for a way to pack a punch with your website … without spending a bundle?

Adding genuine testimonials to your business website is a proven method of boosting your company’s credibility—but proceed cautiously, as you can actually increase negative perceptions of your company through testimonials if you fail to consider the following points:

• Inclusion of nothing more than your testimonial-givers’ initials can make your testimonials seem fake. No names? No location? No business affiliation? Who ARE these people – and are they real?
• If you’ve decided to include photos of your testimonial-givers, make sure they’re not all TOO professional-looking (i.e., professional/business/expensive portraits or glamour shots). These types of photos can come off as looking like stock photography — which again make your testimonials appear fake and deceptive.
• Remember: people don’t read text on the web, they skim it. If you post full-page “thank you” essays from your customers, the vast majority of your site readers are going to skip them completely.
• Fake comments from fake customers usually sound … fake. We actually created a website for a company that eventually made up their own testimonials and put them on their homepage, much to our horror. Honestly, does “‘It is easy to navigate your website and your low fees are great.’ – New Customer” … sound genuine to you? What are your perceptions of a company that would put this “testimonial smack dab on their homepage?