Many of us don’t view as much television as we used to. We often forget how many ads there are in between small snippets of a television show or program.
A lot of those ads are home to testimonials. Not only are there a lot of testimonials, but it’s often clear that they’re not real. In other words, there are clearly paid actors saying that they love a product and that you should love it, too.
Sure, you might not be interested in that particular ad, but the reality is that huge companies pay millions of dollars to use testimonial ads. This is because they still work.
We’re going to talk a little bit about using testimonial ads in SEO in this article, giving you a little insight into what they are and how you can use them.
What’s the Deal with Testimonial Ads?
It’s confusing, isn’t it?
Clearly this person isn’t a real customer or patient of the company displaying the ad, but they’re on your screen, nonetheless. Millions of people will see this advertisement, and, for whatever reason, enough people will respond to the ad for the company to justify running it.
Don’t worry, this isn’t just an article against testimonial ads. There is legitimate value to testimonials. That value should be made clear by the fact that people still support companies as a result of ads that blatantly use actors to herald the benefits of a product they have likely never taken.
People want to know that other people have had success with something. It’s that simple, and it’s called social proof.
Social Proof
The reason that testimonials work so well is something called social proof.
This is essentially the idea that when there are a number of people that claim something to be good or useful, that’s enough proof for an individual to make the same judgment for themselves.
Social proof can come in a lot of forms. It could be a group of community members shouting in unison that they “love McCormack’s Autobody Wonderworld because it’s THE BEST!”
It could also be a calm, measured physician supporting a medical supplement of some kind. Ultimately, social proof, when used in advertising, is the use of a third party of some kind to support a product or service in order to sway potential customers.
It seems manipulative, but it isn’t when you use actual people who have used the product. One very effective and honest use of social proof is the use of online business reviews.
SEO and Testimonials
When it comes to the search engine algorithm, there is no direct social factor more powerful than business reviews.
The search engine’s goal is to provide the most effective search results for its users. When the results become less relevant, the site loses ground and another search engine will start getting more customers.
So, in order to know which sites should rank and which should not, search engines use an algorithm that sifts through the billions of sites on the web to find the most relevant pages.
What’s most relevant is what the users find the most useful, and there is no better indication that a site is useful than a choir of business reviews that praise it for its value.
This is why business reviews are such a sought-after ranking factor in the SEO world. Reviews are, of course, a very convincing form of social proof. While a positive review couldn’t quite be considered a testimonial ad, it can certainly be a testimony of someone’s opinion.
Using Testimonials for Your Site
Generating a bunch of business reviews will work well for your search rankings and potentially boost traffic to your site, but you’ll want to incorporate testimonial ads into your site if you’re looking to boost sales. Jean from AlignMat Acupressure Benefits used reviews on her site to help boost social proof and sales, “we reached out to past customers and many were happy to provide us with reviews!”
It can be difficult to avoid the trap that so many corporations fall into and use fake actors or dishonest information in the search for more sales. Our recommendation is to find real people who can testify to the quality of your service.
If you were a chiropractor, you could simply ask a customer that you’ve had success with to create a video or make a statement. They could testify to your services and give a recommendation that other customers come too.
You could do this with any number of customers and amplify the value. One huge piece of the puzzle with SEO for chiropractors is testimonials because people don’t want to take chances with their bodies; patients want to know that others have had success, too.
Whatever your practice, try reaching out to clientele who you’ve worked with and see if they’d be willing to testify to the quality of your business.
Testimonial Format
The type of testimonial that you choose to display is entirely up to you. That said, different methods speak to different demographics.
For example, if most of your traffic comes from search engines, that means that people will be presented with your home page more often than they’re viewing your social media pages, for example.
In that case, written testimonials displayed on your page could be very effective. People are already going to be scrolling through your page when they find your site, so why not give them a few testimonials to browse through as they get to your product pages?
If social media is a huge draw for your business, it may be worth it to invest in a more visual testimonial. Videos tend to resonate strongly with individuals on social media. With that in mind, a video testimonial could be the final piece that sends some users to your page to engage with your product pages.
Want to Learn More?
Optimizing your site for success involves a lot more than incorporating testimonial ads. Digital marketing is a large, complex effort that can yield great results for your business if you know what you’re doing.
It takes a little research to get off of your feet, though. explore our site if you’re interested in learning more about how to find success through digital marketing.
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