What Are Testimonials

A testimonial is a statement made by a person in praise of a particular product or service. Wikipedia says:

"In promotion and of advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a person's written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of some product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary citizens, whereas the word "endorsement" usually applies to pitches by celebrities. Testimonials can be part of communal marketing."

You can go to Wikipedia page for Testimonials to read more.

This is the first post in a series of blog posts I plan to write about the importance of testimonials for your business and personal life.

Testimonials play an important role in social connections. The first thing you do after meeting an interesting person is to find her on Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter. Reason to do that is very simple. You are always looking for some references while making new connections. Common friends, common connections, common social groups. Something to find a connection some how. You ask common friends about the new person. In summary, you are trying to get a handle on her Reputation.

Testimonials are important for both individuals and businesses. In this post, I will talk about testimonials for businesses.

Testimonials can be used as a powerful marketing tool. It's through testimonials that you tell the world what your past and current customers think about your business.

Due to the increased use of Internet, customers have access to many more tools and services than ever before. Internet users use Google and other search engines to find products and services. That makes online presence a must for even offline businesses. Whether your business is offline or online in nature, you have to have a strong online presence. 

Search engine visibility and a good page rank are crucial for getting prospects(prospective customers) to your website. However, having more people visit your business website is not your end goal. The end goal is to make them trust your business and do business with you. It could be purchasing a downloadable software package or signing up for a web service. This is where Testimonials come into picture.

In future blog posts, I will be writing more on testimonials.