If you want to earn the trust of prospective customers, you need to consider adding social proof to your website. It’s a great way to provide concrete evidence that you’re great at what you do, which could lead to more sales for your business. So, to help you reap these rewards, we’re going to outline what types of social proof you can use and how to display them on your website.
Short reviews that can be read quickly and easily
Adding short and snappy reviews to your website is a great idea because they provide evidence that you do a great job without requiring prospective customers to read a lot of content. They could be simple star ratings that your previous customers have given your products, or you could display just a line or two of positive feedback you’ve received from a previous client.
These types of reviews tend to work best for product-based businesses because they make it easier for potential customers to compare and contrast different items so they can make a well-informed choice.
Now, let’s take a look at an example of a site that displays short reviews effectively.
FreshBooks is a company that provides accounting software for small and medium-sized businesses. On their site, they use a combination of star ratings and short reviews from past customers to show potential clients they’re great at what they do. As you can see, they have a star rating of 4.5 out of 5 and there’s a short review below that’s easy to scan. This means visitors won’t have to spend much time looking through these reviews that will convince them to use the company’s tool.
You can do something similar on your site by making sure to display your reviews using star ratings and short sentences that people can easily scan through. If you need some help with this, check out this free 5-star review template from Psdly.com that you can use on your website.
Testimonials in written or video form to provide more context
Although short and snappy reviews can be effective, sometimes they aren’t enough. This means you might need to use longer testimonials in either video or written form, as they can provide more context about your products or services.
Longer testimonials also allow you to give potential customers more information that could help them make better purchasing decisions. Plus, longer testimonials can help your future clients to better relate to and see themselves in your past customers, which could encourage them to take action if they want similar results.
Let’s study an example of a website that uses longer testimonials to give you some inspiration.
Smith.ai provides virtual receptionist services, with offerings like 24/7 phone answering, SMS, and live chat monitoring for websites. They use longer testimonials that give more context about the services offered by the company and provide useful information that can help potential customers make a decision. They’ve also included the names of the people who provided these testimonials, which helps to lend an air of credibility to their reviews.
As you gather reviews for your website, see if you can get past clients to also provide longer testimonials that accurately depict their journey with your brand, as this works well as social proof, especially if you own a service-based business.
If you would prefer to publish your testimonials in video form, make sure you check out the archives of video templates that will make it much easier for you to display them on your website.
Examples of reputable publishers mentioning your business
Another way to display social proof on your website is by letting your visitors know if any reputable publishers have mentioned your business on their sites. This is really effective for earning prospective customers’ trust because it shows that notable organizations recognize you as an authority in your industry.
To do this effectively, you could display the logos of all the publishers who have mentioned you on their site. Or you could create a section where you highlight a few of the sites that have mentioned you, repeat what they said about your business, and include links that go back to their sites so your visitors can check out these mentions themselves.
To give you some inspiration, let’s study how Bounce uses this technique.
Bounce, an international luggage storage service, shows us how they use this technique by highlighting the various logos of publications their business has been mentioned by.
You’ll see names like Forbes, Inc, Entrepreneur, and The Boston Globe — all of which are notable websites. This social proof does a great job of letting potential customers know that Bounce is recognized in its industry and this could encourage more people to use the company’s services, resulting in increased sales.
You can also replicate this for your site by creating a section where you display logos of the popular and authoritative media sites that have mentioned your business. And, to provide extra proof, you could even embed links that will lead to the exact post where they’ve mentioned your site.
User-generated content that shows customers love your business
One of the most effective forms of social proof is user-generated content that shows how previous customers are using and enjoying your products. This will resonate with your prospective clients and prompt them to take action.
Examples of user-generated content could include photos that your customers have posted on social media or videos they’ve sent you that show they are having a great time with your products or services. You just need to be careful when using this type of social proof, as there are some logistics involved. For instance, you’ll need to ask your customers for permission to use their content on your website so you can avoid any copyright issues.
Now, let’s study how a particular business displays user-generated content on its website so you can get some ideas.
Kasala is an online store that sells furniture, accessories, and other appliances for the home. If you visit their site, you’ll see that they make use of user-generated content that shows how their products look in the homes of previous customers who have bought and are enjoying them. This is a great way to show potential clients that others just like them are loving the items they’ve gotten from the store and this could prompt people to make a purchase.
On your website, consider allowing past customers to include photos in the reviews they provide for your products. Alternatively, you can also include a photo gallery on your site where you display user-generated photos of customers enjoying your products or services.
Awards or qualifications that are related to your field of work
Depending on the kind of industry you work in, you may want to display your professional awards and qualifications from notable organizations. This will help to show that you’ve studied your area of expertise or have been awarded for your skills and knowledge.
This form of social proof typically works well for businesses in fields that require people to be licensed or qualified before they can practice their profession. Some examples are businesses in the medical, legal, or accounting industry.
To give you some inspiration, let’s take a look at a business that uses this tactic well on its website.
Trey Porter Law, one of the leading DWI law firms in San Antonio, displays their awards and qualifications on their homepage. On their site, you’ll see that they’ve highlighted the awards they’ve received from authoritative organizations like Expertise, Avvo, and The National Trial Lawyers.
By displaying these awards, the company is showing website visitors that they have been recognized by respected institutions in the legal field. This could work well in motivating potential clients to use the company’s services, increasing sales for the firm.
Do you have any awards you’ve received from notable institutions in your field? It’s a good idea to display them on your site, as this will show prospects that you’re good at what you do and make people want to use your services as well.
Summary
As a business owner, you shouldn’t underestimate the power of displaying social proof on your website as it can help you earn the trust of prospective customers and get more sales. In this article, we’ve outlined the different types of social proof you can start displaying on your site, as well as the ways to do it.
And, if you want access to more guides and templates that can help improve your business and website, check out these archives of web elements from Psdly.com.
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Author bio & headshot:
Aaron Haynes is the CEO of Loganix, an SEO fulfillment partner that supports marketing agencies and professionals. The company specializes in helping businesses to improve their online visibility and ultimately make more sales. The Loganix blog has a lot more information and advice, so make sure you check it out if you found this article helpful.
