Did you know that according to Big Commerce, 88% of consumers trust online testimonials and reviews as much as recommendations from friends or family?
Search engines want their customers to find the best results for their queries and the best possible businesses. This means testimonials and reviews play a role in which businesses come up for which search queries. Testimonial statistics show that using reviews and testimonials can improve search engine optimization (SEO) and win more search traffic.
- Websites using testimonials saw a 45% increase in traffic compared to sites that didn’t (Yotpo)
- Listing 10 or more reviews increased traffic 15 to 20% on Google Business listings (Big Commerce)
- Businesses with 5 stars earned 69% of total clicks amongst top Google listings (Bright Local)
- Reviews account for 9.8% of total search engine ranking factors (Search Engine Watch)
Most business owners agree that reviews and testimonials matter, but it can be tough to determine how many you need. How many testimonials or reviews do customers actually read? How many reviews do you need for a star-rating to be considered accurate?
- 73% of consumers read six or fewer reviews before making a decision (Vendasta)
- 12% of consumers read more than 10 reviews (Vendasta)
- 10 or more reviews can increase in search traffic (Big Commerce)
Important Things To Know About Getting Client Testimonials
- Be proactive. Don’t be afraid to ask clients for testimonials. If you don’t, you’ll only receive a fraction of the testimonials you could otherwise obtain.
- Make sure to get your testimonials in writing. Avoid any legal or privacy issues by making sure you get your client’s written permission to publicly display their testimonial on your website or other marketing material.
- Try to create some urgency. It’s human nature to procrastinate. Make sure to include a sentence like; “If you are able to do this in the next day or two, that would be fantastic!”.
- Help your clients avoid writer’s block by giving them a few examples. A simple link to your testimonials page will do.
- Offer something of value. It’s a nice gesture to offer an incentive for your client’s time and effort. A gift card to their favorite coffee shop or something they might need for their new home will go along way.
- When you can, use their first and last name. This will greatly increase the perceived authenticity of their testimonial. However, when privacy is a concern, just use their first name and the first letter of their last name.
- Use a headshot or photo of them in front of their new property. To boost the perceived authenticity of your client’s testimonial, include their headshot. You can easily snag a headshot from their website or one of their social media profiles.
Are you including testimonials on your website and in your social media? If not, we encourage you to start today!