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testimonials

Displaying Only the Best Reviews on Your Website? You May Want to Rethink That…

April 25, 2022 by Debbie Campbell Leave a Comment

If you’re like many (most?) small business owners, it’s a point of pride to show those 5-star Google reviews on your website. There are a number of WordPress plugins that will enable you to do this easily. But whether or not this is a good idea requires some thought…

Did you hear about the case the FTC (US Federal Trade Commission) brought against an online fashion shop called Fashion Nova in January 2022? It was the first case of its kind, alleging that the retailer was deceiving customers by only showing positive reviews on their site.

Fashion Nova settled the case for $4.2 million.

The FTC says it has sent warning letters to 10 companies that offer some type of review management/filtering services, so it is definitely cracking down on potential manipulation of online reviews.

What does this mean for you? It’s probably best practice to show all of your reviews on your site instead of filtering out the negative ones, if you’re going to display them at all.

And a negative review isn’t necessarily a bad thing – it gives you the ability to respond publicly to a problem and perhaps fix the situation for the customer. Sometimes this results in an edited and improved review. And at the very least, 56% of consumers say seeing a response from a business owner made them feel more positive about that business.

However, the plugins I’m familiar with that make it possible to filter out the negative reviews don’t seem to offer a way to show the business owner’s responses. That’s a big problem that I’m doing some research on now, if I find one that does show responses I’ll mention it in a future post.

Here are the guidelines from the FTC about displaying online reviews – see the section under Review Publication in particular.

Filed Under: Self-Promotion and Marketing, Business Credibility Tagged With: reviews, testimonials

Weekly Links Roundup – WordPress and SEO, Google or Facebook Ads, Blogging, Getting Testimonials

February 21, 2020 by Debbie Campbell

The top website and online marketing links of the week.

It’s true that WordPress is my favorite CMS (content management system). That doesn’t mean it’s the right CMS for every business. However, WordPress may be one of the best CMS platforms for SEO. Learn what makes WordPress so SEO-friendly and why it may be a good fit for your business if search engine optimization is important to you.

If you’re considering advertising your business on social media, you have some big questions to answer. One of them may be where to advertise. Are Google Ads or Facebook Ads better for your business? This is a big article with a lot of info and it may provide the answers you need to move forward with your ad buys.

Here is yet another ultimate guide to blogging, but this one from Yoast is an easy read. It covers everything from how to get started and what to write about to marketing and maintaining your blog.

Finally… I always encourage clients to collect and share customer testimonials on their websites. Whether they are within your site (my favorite plugin for managing them is Strong Testimonials) or on a third-party site like Google Reviews, it’s easy to display them on your site and gain the credibility and trust benefits. Learn how to get good testimonials from your customers.


Did you find this information useful? Please share with your friends and colleagues! And comment below with questions or observations.

Filed Under: Self-Promotion and Marketing, SEO, Blogging, Establishing Trust, Business Credibility Tagged With: blogging, seo, testimonials, wordpress, advertising, google ads, facebook ads, strong testimonials

Weekly Links Roundup – Business Blogging, Scannable Content, Testimonials Slider, Video Galleries

April 26, 2019 by Debbie Campbell

The top website and online marketing links of the week.

Think blogging is a waste of time? (Hint: it’s not, if you do it with a focus on quality and consistency). Here’s a quick guide on starting a blog for business and why it really does matter if you’re trying to make your website the strong online base for your marketing efforts that it should be.

And if you’re taking the time to write well and frequently, make sure your content is also very easy to read. Most people today scan instead of reading – so you need to focus on great headlines, short paragraphs, lists and subheadings to break up your content. Here’s a guide to making your posts more scannable.

One of the most important types of content you should include in your business site is testimonials. Comments from your customers often have a big impact on potential new customers wondering if your product or service is a good fit for them. They increase your credibility. Learn how to use one of my favorite plugins, Strong Testimonials, to build a testimonial slider in WordPress.

Finally… recently I needed a video gallery plugin for a client site. Here’s one of the reviews I found for the best WordPress video gallery plugins. I actually wound up using GridKit, which was perfect for our particular project.


Did you find this information useful? Please share with your friends and colleagues! And comment below with questions or observations.

Filed Under: Website Content, Blogging, Business Credibility, Video Marketing Tagged With: blogging, testimonials, website content

Weekly Links Roundup – Non-profit Newsletters, Testimonials, Improving Conversions, Calls-to-action Best Practices

July 2, 2018 by Debbie Campbell

The top website and marketing links of the week.

If your business (in any industry) has an email newsletter, you might find yourself hard-pressed to find something interesting to write about every month (or week, or whatever your timetable is). Here’s a guide to developing newsletter content for non-profits that will help readers better understand and connect with you.

I always encourage clients to display testimonials on their websites – they can be a powerful persuader for potential new customers. Research shows that 70% of consumers will trust an online opinion of even someone they don’t know personally. But – there are good and bad ways to handle testimonials that impact their effectiveness. Learn how to manage testimonials.

One good way to improve conversions on your site is to make it a journey, not a set of pages with no guidance. Use a call-to-action to take your visitor where you want them to go, and use internal links to bring them deeper into your site. Get more tips on improving conversions.

And since we’re talking calls-to-action, here’s a post detailing CTA examples and best practices. See how seven other sites do it, and do it well.

 

Filed Under: Newsletters and Email Campaigns, Establishing Trust Tagged With: call to action, testimonials, email newsletters, non-profits, improving conversions

Weekly Links Roundup – Testimonials, Product Reviews, GDPR, Analytics Alternatives

June 1, 2018 by Debbie Campbell

The top website and marketing links of the week.

I always encourage clients to display testimonials on their site, if their industry allows them. Testimonials are a great way to influence prospective customers toward purchasing your products or services. And reviews let your customers speak – even if they are not always positive, how you handle negative reviews is important, too. Letting prospects see how you take care of problems is at least as important as the glowing testimonials! Learn more about why you should add testimonials and reviews to your site.

…And along that vein here’s a great guide to adding product reviews to your WordPress site. This is a comprehensive overview with a good selection of recommended plugins, and why you might want to use one of them even if you’re running an ecommerce site with WooCommerce which already has built-in reviews.

If you were in a tizzy trying to get your site into compliance with GDPR last week, you were far from alone. Read this opinion post  on GDPR from the New York Times – it might make you feel better.

Finally… if you collect traffic data for your website, did you know that Google Analytics is not the only option? That’s what I said. Learn about Kissmetrics, Matomo (formerly Piwik) and AFS Analytics. All except Kissmetrics offer a free plan as well as commercial pricing.

 

Filed Under: News, Ecommerce, Plugins, Privacy, Analytics Tagged With: ecommerce, google analytics, reviews, testimonials, gdpr, privacy, product reviews

Friday Link Wrapup – Value of Professional Design, Original Content, Customer Testimonials

November 4, 2016 by Debbie Campbell

The top website and marketing links for this week.

First impressions matter – especially online. What does the design of your site say about your business? A lot more than you think! If you look like an amateur, it reduces your credibility. It’s going to be harder for you to convince people of your value, especially if you have a service-oriented company. Learn more about why it’s critical to have a professional design for your business site.

Along those same lines, it’s also important to have original content on your site. Learn why original content is important for SEO.

Finally – learn about the power of social proof. Understand how gathering a nice volume of customer testimonials and using them effectively throughout your website may have a big impact on your bottom line.

Filed Under: Hiring a Web Professional, Self-Promotion and Marketing, SEO, Web Design, Website Content Tagged With: seo, testimonials, professional design, original content

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