For small business owners, testimonials (or ‘social proof’ as it’s come to be known more recently) are some of the best marketing assets in your arsenal. When used correctly throughout your site, good reviews can have a huge positive impact on your sales & enquiries. So why then are so few small biz owners using enough of them?

Before we jump into the reasons you absolutely should be incorporating testimonials into your website, let’s bust some important myths about reviews.

Myth #1: No reviews is better than 1 or 2

A lot of business owners seem to be hanging on for the day when they have an Amazon-like well of testimonials before they take action & get them published to their site. But the truth is, having no reviews can be more harmful than having bad reviews! Consumers are wary of unknown brands, and having zero reviews on your website makes you feel way less trustworthy. No one’s going to spend money with someone they don’t trust to deliver - this is why word of mouth referrals are such a successful means of winning new business.

Myth #2: Gathering reviews is awkward & difficult

Repeat after me: asking your customers for feedback is not ‘grabby’ or ‘annoying’! It’s an important part of the marketing puzzle so that you can see what’s working and fix the things that aren’t. Put together an email template or a feedback form or get yourself set up with a third-party app like Trustpilot and start sending it out to everyone you work with. The more you automate the process of collecting feedback, the easier it will become an before you know it you’ll be drowning in 5 star reviews!

Myth #3: People will just think they’re ‘made up’

Do people in the online space make up fake reviews? Absolutely. Should this deter you from collecting your own authentic & honest testimonials? Absolutely not! According to this blog post, 84% of people surveyed said they trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. Don’t let a few bad apples put you off this fantastic customer growth opportunity!

Ok, now that we’ve busted the myths, let’s look at the 5 reasons you should absolutely 100% be using testimonials on your Squarespace website.

Reason #1: Reviews build trust & integrity with your audience and prove to them that you’re not a ‘scammer’

Remember what we said earlier about bad apples in the business world? Unfortunately they’re everywhere & often do a very good job at looking legitimate. Impartial reviews from qualifiable customers prove to your potential customers that you’re the real deal and not out to scam them. Add extra qualifiable proof to your reviews by adding a link to the reviewers website or by using a 3rd party review software like Trustpilot or Google Reviews. This demonstrates that the reviews are legitimate and not just being made up by the business owner.

Reason #2: Testimonials help your user evaluate whether you or your product would be a good fit for them

Customer experiences are always going to be so different to yours as the creator. They will have unique problems that you won’t have considered in your copy and images. Browsing reviews can be a great way for your customer to get an idea of exactly how you or your product works and make a decision on whether it’s right for them. Allowing your customers a chance to hear from others in the same boat as them who were helped by your products an services, what better recommendation could there be?

Reason #3: Reviews give extra context and depth to your website copy & imagery

As much as you can try and cover every single detail of your product or service in your website descriptions and photos, there are always going to be unique needs that your customer has. Reviews can highlight certain benefits of your solutions that you may not have even thought of when writing the descriptions, and these niche benefits will win people over who are on the fence! As we’ve talked about already, it’s important to remember that unfortunately people do lie. Allowing a space for your customer’s honest thoughts to be displayed prove that your descriptions are not just false promises, but genuinely will meet your customers needs.

Reason #4: Testimonials can help to build emotional and personal connections with your customers

Human beings are social creatures who like to move and act in groups. The fact is, we tend to like the people that other people also like - especially on a surface level. Giving your potential customers an insight into other people who like you and like your work means that they can feel safer liking you, too - and we all know that we buy from people we like (which is why I refuse to shop at Amazon!). Replying publicly to testimonials can be a great way of showing off your character and proving to potential newbies that you really do care about customer experience. Even bad reviews can play their part in this, as by replying publicly and working to resolve issues from negative feedback you are proving your integrity and and trustworthiness.

Reason #5: Let’s face it, good reviews are a massive marketing pay-off with minimal work required

When you make a habit of collecting reviews and testimonials, you’re essentially outsourcing a huge chunk of your marketing workload to your customers. And they’ll do it, happily, for free! Seeing as customers are likely to spend 31% more on products/services from businesses that have excellent reviews, it seems like a total no-brainer to collect as many as you can and share them far and wide. Let someone else do the heavy lifting for you, and increase trust, loyalty and brand awareness in the process.

Key takeaways?

• Reviews are essential to solid customer experience, even bad ones

• You can automate the review collection process with emails or third party apps

• Not displaying reviews on your website could be losing you up to 25% of your customers

  
  

If you know you need to start making testimonials work for your small business but just don’t feel you have the time to set them up on your site; check out our Squarespace template range.

Every one of our templates has been designed specifically for small business owners and make use of review functionality on most pages. That’s how important they are!

We hope you found this blog useful and are now 100% convinced about the value of incorporating reviews onto your website!

For more web design know-how, check out some of our other posts. You can also download exclusive free resources here or shop our template range.

Contact us for information on our bespoke web design services!

Stay creative, babe!

Naomi | Lucky Night Studio