Don't be shy - soak up the praise! When you let others toot your horn for you, you not only raise your credibility but you also build a deeper level of trust with your visitors. While its okay to tell visitors that you are credible, these statements are much stronger coming from a testimonial. Before many visitors will purchase, they expect this level of trust.

Which leaves a better impression - you saying "I'm so great!" or someone else's testimonial that reads, "I found the service so great that I can't wait to do business with them again!"? A good testimonial works like a reference on a resume and builds credibility. Several marketing professionals suggest that a "C" should be added to the AIDA formula to represent Credibility. Testimonials are the best route to construct solid credibility.

Testimonials place oomph in a website and can move a visitor from a sightseer into a valuable customer. When a website errs and leaves out testimonials, the website is misses an opportunity to capitalize on the power of these tributes. Some tips on how to get high quality testimonials are below:

1. Write to your customers for a testimonial. "If you build it, they will come" is a way to build testimonials. Many customers are eager to write about their positive experiences if you just ask them first.

2. The best testimonials are positive. If a client mails you a positive comment, ask that customer to elaborate on the comment along with permission to use it as a testimonial. Lots of customers consider this a compliment. Always get the customer's permission on a "release letter" form before you use any testimonial. A sample release letter can be found at www.marketingtoday.com/marcom/testi2.com.

3. For every freely offered testimonial, give a deal or reward in return. Send out notices about your testimonial campaign and spell out rewards, donation or monetary, or money off future purchases. State laws vary on gift donation amount, so check the limits ahead of time.

Many testimonial campaigns can be done directly from your website, direct e-mails, or in the mail.

Use these testimonials generously throughout your website. Don't limit the testimonials to one page! Testimonials have the best effect when interspersed throughout the website and strategically placed on pages that directly pertain to that testimonial. Many testimonials work well in the left or right margins, along side articles or product descriptions. Also, inserting testimonials into content such as course material is very effective.

Know your visitors, in particular their job positions, well before inserting loads of testimonials. The more likely that your visitors are pioneers or high-level executives the less likely they will be persuaded by testimonials. However, visitors who are "emulators" want to see plenty of testimonials that represent an opinion they respect.

The best type of testimonial sounds like a real person's speech. That is, it doesn't sound scripted. A longer testimonial sounds more believable than a short one. Below are more tips on picking good testimonials:

- Put the testimonial in quotation marks. End the testimonial with the person's entire name and title. For instance, "A.K. from Alaska" isn't as believable as "Andrew Karver, Vice President of Sales, XYZ Company, Anchorage, Alaska".

- Pick a testimonial that contains lots of details.

- Testimonials that pack a punch and sound real come off in a positive manner.

Relying on testimonials to sell your service or product is a mistake. Instead, use testimonials as a tool to position your service or product in a manner that further supports the reader's decision to do business with you.

About the Author:

Copyright 2005 Riki Trafford. All rights reserved.

Riki Trafford is the manager of Direct MO Marketing Inc which offers low cost, highly-targeted, keyword-focussed web traffic. Why not exchange links with 1dmom.com. We would love to add your link to our traffic directory. Just follow the instructions on this page: http://www.1dmom.com/links/