Customer Testimonials on web site

Good? Bad? A waste of time?

[travelin cat]

My partner insists that we have customer testimonials on our site. We have a cms that allows us to rotate different testimonials in and out and they appear on each page in one of the most coveted spots (upper left) on our site.

I think this is a waste of the prime real estate, and people will either purchase from you or not, depending upon many factors, this not being one of them.

Anybody completed any studies on their sites with customer testimonials? Am I totally off base here?

[surrealillusions]

I dont think its a waste of time, I find it helps when i see customer comments on the companies website..however, if you're cynical (like i am sometimes), the company can filter out only the good ones to post online, or even make them up (whos going to know?).

Think about when buying on amazon, the customer reviews of the products are one of the main reasons that makes me want to buy that product or not.

:)

[onlineleben]

Ever been to amazon?
The whole site is built on customer testimonials (reviews).
It works.

[Marcia]

I can't speak for anyone else, but personally I absolutely LOVE genuine customer product reviews.

[Visit Thailand]

Agree I love customer reviews. But a word of warning. I had my credit card out earlier today for a US$89 purchase. Nipped into the forums and saw a thread that raised question marks for me.

Went to G and did a bit more research and decided to buy from someone else.

Guess it all depends on what you are selling and if external websites test the products.

[edited by: Visit_Thailand at 12:07 pm (utc) on April 4, 2008]

[Steerpike]

Judging from the original posters description I got the impression that the testimonials described are cherry-picked fragments designed to highlight the best bits of the company.

If that's the case I don't believe comparisons to Amazon are valid and I'd even go so far as to say those type of testimonials are close to useless - I doubt the majority of internet users even 'see' them anymore. I certainly would agree strongly against giving them so prominent a position as the top left of each page.

Steerpike