subject: Why A Website Host Should Be Sure They Have Testimonials On Their Site [print this page] Web hosting involves creating web pages, to persuade people to buy into a service, or a product. Adding customer review sections and testimonial sections will increase customer buy-in, when they are constructed to address specific customer anxieties. Website hosts must not forget to include these and other credibility indicators, when designing sites for their own business.
Customers have a favorable view of both reviews and testimonials. When asked about the truthfulness of website components, customers rated consumer reviews as most truthful, and video testimonials as second-most truthful. Written testimonials also had impact, when customers provided information like photos, names, company names, or titles. No customer comment will register with users, unless the comment is powerful, specific, and authoritative.
Customers have specific anxieties which a testimonial must address. The most common customer anxieties, concerning online purchases, include price, credit card security, reliability, and quality. Any testimonial, therefore, must be tailored toward these specific anxieties. For example, in a testimonial about price, customers must validate the competitiveness of the price, and the belief that the benefit gained from the service justified the purchase price. A helpful testimonial must also be placed in close proximity to the source of anxiety. For instance, if the website has a "call to action" paragraph, inviting the user to place an order, then a testimonial related to the appropriateness of the price, must be placed in close proximity to that paragraph. As another example, a testimonial about credit card security would be best placed near the place where a customer inputs credit card information.
Any testimonial must be intense enough to override customer anxiety. The intensity of the testimonial should overcome both substantive fears, and fears that are more perceptual. For example, a customer who fears that a newly designed web page will crash within a week, has anxiety rooted in substance. On the other hand, a customer who fears that, when a site crashes, the host won't care, has an anxiety rooted in perception.
A testimonial must carry authority. When web hosting, a designer should place the testimonial with the most authority at the head of the section. For example, if someone with an authoritative title, or someone who has won an award, offers a testimonial, then that testimonial must lead the section. Also, the providers of testimonials should be people who will have the respect of the intended audience. Other credibility indicators may bolster the strength of testimonials. Any additional credibility indicators, such as a Better Business Bureau logo, must fit in the context of the page, the offer, and the ordering process. Testing and retesting the effectiveness of credibility indicators will ensure that they appropriately address customer anxiety.
Webhosting is a business, and all businesses must prepare a marketing strategy. Hosts may create outstanding sites, but if new customers aren't coming into the business, then hosts won't be making sites for much longer. Therefore, to proclaim the excellence of their website hosting service, hosts should incorporate both reviews and testimonials into their own sites.
