So you’ve decided to include customer testimonials on your website to help establish your credibility and gain the trust of your viewers. Awesome!

The question is, “Is it better to group them together on a dedicated “testimonials” page, put them in a carousel on your homepage, or spread them strategically throughout the site?

When it comes to planning the content for your website, the first question should always be, “Does this element that I want to include add value?”

Nobody wants to reread what’s already been stated on the page, so you’ve got to be sure that each of your testimonials will add value to your site and support your content rather than just repeating what you’ve already said.

The goal of each testimonial is to provide a unique benefit that a previous client had from working with you so that you can establish credibility and gain your viewers’ trust.

The question then is, “what’s the best way to make testimonials work to help make a sale on your website?”

Let’s look at the options.

Single Dedicated Page

The first would be a single page that is dedicated to showcasing all of your testimonials. Housing all of your testimonials on one page allows users to read your reviews in one place.

This means when they come to your site, if they’re looking specifically to read reviews of your product or service, they can quickly and easily find them, which is fantastic and promotes a good user experience, especially for a business that relies on user reviews.

This set up also allows the reader to more quickly get comfortable with you because they are able to read all of the positive experiences others have had working with you right there in one location.

Carousel or Slider

The second option for displaying testimonials is an automated slideshow or click-through carousel of your testimonials. You usually see these on a website’s homepage.

Just like putting them on a single page, having all of your testimonials in one location gives your viewer a central location to quickly read multiple reviews of your work.

However, if your dream client arrives on your website’s about page or services page for example, rather than the homepage, it may not be clear to them how they can find your testimonials if they go looking for them.

So, if you go this route, consider adding a jump link that leads to your carousel in your main navigation or add a text link or button that leads them there throughout your site.

Strategic placement

When you strategically place a testimonial alongside a specific service that it’s related to, the quote suddenly becomes even more meaningful and effective. It acts as a sales tool, by promoting that specific offering.

For example, let’s say you have a page set up to sell your coaching program. You’ve found the perfect image to pull your prospect in and you’ve outlined the details and the benefits of your program. Imagine then, you provide a testimonial from a previous client who had the same problems, questions, and hesitations as your reader has. Now they are interested and they think, “That’s the same problem I have. That’s how I feel!”

The testimonial goes on to talk about the amazing results that came out of joining your program and continues with a glowing review of the overall relationship and experience.

Tada! No need to make an awkward hard sell.

If you had to just choose one method of including testimonials on your website or if you only have a few testimonials at this point to use, my recommendation is to strategically place them alongside your offerings. This will give you the most bang for your buck.

However, if you have lots of quotes as well as the space in your main navigation to include a link to a dedicated page, then I’d say why not do both?

Potential clients need to truly trust you before they will buy from you and testimonials are a great start to making that happen, so go for it!

Including testimonials on your website is just one way you can uplevel your website. Have a look at 8 additional things you can do to make your site appear more professional.