User reviews and testimonials have been a great way to give feedback to others. Business use testimonials to show people the quality of their products. Imagine having to purchase a product and NOT knowing anything about the seller? Testimonials left by other buyers are a great way to learn important information about the seller like:
- Quality of service
- Effective customer service
- Delivery time
- If they are legit or a fraud company
However, testimonials or reviews can be used by bloggers as well to build credibility. When you provide solid, in-depth information which helps people, the word spreads and this can increase traffic and user engagement to your blog. Many bloggers DO NOT ask their audience for reviews and this can stagnant your growth enormously. In Part 9 of this series, we’ll be looking at the power of reviews and testimonials to increase user engagement. We’ll learn we they are important and how you can use them in your business effectively.
Let’s get started and your comments will be appreciated.
Why Use Them?
Using testimonials is a great way to build credibility and trust with your customers. If you’re a blogger than they are an excellent way to build trust with your online audience. However, the good news is on almost every platform you’re using to blog you have a built in system for reviews. For example, I consider comment boxes on the bottom of posts to be the best way to gain testimonials. People will leave questions, compliments or even question what you have written. All of this built up plays into your favour because if you have taken the time to write content then MOST likely your content will be shared and praised on other networks. If you are an online store, then you can take advantage of testimonial websites which have been created for the sole purpose of guiding people to legitimate stores. In the end, this increases your engagement by doing the following:
- Adding credibility to your blog or store
- Increasing the amount of people who share your content
- Increasing ROI
- Increasing traffic
Effective Methods
If you are ready to utilize this method than there are a few ways you can implement it into your blog.
Before using any of these methods, you need to make sure you have setup the appropriate accounts where possible. For example, setup accounts on review websites or a landing page for your website. Then proceed to the following:
Email Your List –
One of the best and most effective ways to gather reviews quickly is to shoot a follow-up to your list. However, make sure you have a page ready where people can submit testimonials. If the people on your list are loyal readers, then you won’t have any problem asking them to leave a review. Craft the perfect message and schedule it to be sent out at a specific time. Make sure you add a link to your landing page.
Ask Someone –
Many times if you have networked with people in the industry you can get help from an authority blogger. If they know you are a credible blogger and have helped them over the years, they’ll be more than happy to endorse your blog and products. This is an awesome way to increase engagement and traffic quickly because not only will you get traffic from the endorser but even from their social profiles.
Comment Boxes –
This doesn’t require any work as many blogging platforms are configured with a comment box. However, I always like to encourage people to leave comments or feedback by simply asking for them above or below my content. If you have regular visitors, then they already know the quality of your work. However, those unique visitors will read the comments and see what others are writing.
Review Websites –
Perfect for online stores and these websites have specifically been designed to help people find a credible store. I used to have an online store several years ago and signed up for dedicated reviews websites. To encourage people to leave reviews, I would add a link directly to the site or a banner asking them for a review. Some are so popular that people already use them and will be more than happy to leave a review WITHOUT you even asking them.