So you’re working on a new website. That’s awesome! When you start the process, you likely list all the pages you’ll need. Let’s see: Home, About, Contact, Services/Products, Team, Testimonials. WAIT. Testimonials? Do you really need that? To be honest, most websites don’t need a dedicated page for those any longer. In fact, I’ve started discouraging clients from including a website testimonial page in their websites. Let’s examine why, along with what you should do instead.

The Website Testimonial

So what is a website testimonial? Who writes them? Here’s what marketer Neil Patel had to say about customer testimonials.

A customer testimonial is an unbiased, positive review of your product, service or business. The customer has bought from you in the past and sends you a glowing statement of adoration.

Neil Patel, Neil Patel Digital

Basically, you don’t write testimonials. Your satisfied customers have that job. YOUR job is to ask for them and then decide what to do with them. You can use automation to ask for them from past clients, or just reach out via email or social media. Either way, you need to know where you want to display them.

Why I Don’t Use Testimonial Pages

When was the last time you went to a website and actually clicked on their testimonial page to read what people had to say? I know that I rarely do. For the most part, people don’t read dedicated testimonial pages anymore. If you look at the analytics on most websites, testimonial pages often rank among the lowest page views.

Instead of using a dedicated page that few people will see anyway, you need to put testimonials where people have no choice but to see them.

Where to put that Amazing Website Testimonial

So let’s not put that awesome website testimonial on a page that nobody will see, where it will collect virtual internet dust (yes, that’s a thing… well…. it is now). Instead, I have started telling clients to “sprinkle” them around their sites in relevant places. Check out these alternatives:

Product or Service Pages

Your product or service pages highlight your… product or service. (Genius, right?) This is the place where you want to show why people, in short, should give you their money. Why not have a testimonial somewhere on the product page that shows why someone else already gave you their money? In fact, they were happy they did!

Landing Pages

Perhaps you have a landing page for a lead magnet or other offering. These offer great opportunities for showcasing testimonials. A person may be on the fence about giving you their email for more information. Seeing a relatable story of the positive results someone else had may be just what they need to help them decide.

Homepage

Since your homepage is most visitors’ introduction to your organization, it provides a great place to showcase a testimonial or two. More general statements work better here. Save the specific stuff for product or service pages. You should use more general testimonials on your About Us page, as well.

Calls to Action

A call to action asks the site visitor to DO something. Examples include Buy Now, Learn More, Sign Up Here, etc. Placing a testimonial next to a call to action helps a potential customer understand WHY he or she should do what the call to action says.

Social Media

While social media may not be your actual website, it still serves as part of your online presence. If you get an awesome testimonial, share it! You get bonus points if you put it on a pretty graphic… ok, the points don’t mean anything. But you get the idea. I mean, the points are worth…

Other Website Testimonial Locations

Be creative! Where are other places you could showcase customer reviews? Here are a few more ideas:

• Sidebar
• Popup Window (Before you go…)
• Blog Posts
• Site Footer
• Top Banner

Have you ever seen a strategically placed testimonial that helped influence your purchase decision? Where was it located? We’d love to hear about it. You can weigh in using the comments or join us over on our Facebook page. So be creative with that website testimonial placement, and keep swimming along!