Firstly let's consider what a testimonial is. Basically a testimonial is a positive appraisal of your products or services by previous clients that are either solicited or unsolicited. They will usually include the name and some contact details of the client that provided them.

It is important that all of your testimonials are genuine and a lot of people feel that the testimonials they read in the internet are fake. Genuine testimonials will contain information on the way in which your products or services helped the client. If you see a testimonial that just says "The product is great" it will less weight with your potential clients.

Testimonials can be a great marketing tool and can help to convert potential clients as they will see what other think of you. If the comments look genuine and are positive about what you do it will give potential clients confidence in you. The more confidence they have in you the greater the chance will be that you will convert that person into a sale. However there are a few things to keep in mind when adding testimonials to your website:

1. If your testimonials are too long there is a chance people will not read them.

2. Consider not labelling them as testimonials and instead putting them under the heading "What our Clients Say"

3. Make sure there are some contact details attached to each one. Many potential clients may want to check them out and make sure they are genuine so it is useful if they can make contact with the person providing the testimonial.

4. Do not include those testimonials that are to generic as they will look fake. Make sure they have some relevant information about what you do and how you help.

5. Add some relevance to them. If you have page where you show previous client work such as a portfolio, try to add the testimonials here. So if a potential client sees something you have done that they like and they can also see a positive testimonial at the same time it will give extra weight to your work.

6. If you provide a service that is of benefit to businesses try to put some case studies on your website. If you can show how your service improve the business of one of your clients and include the odd quote from the client it will be of extra interest to your potential client. This will show them exactly how you could help them.

7. Make sure people can find the testimonials on your website and that they are not hidden away somewhere.

It is a fairly sure thing that testimonials if used correctly can significantly help to improve your sales conversions and so should definitely be included on your website. However do not be tempted to fake your testimonials in any way. If you decide to go down this route then your lies will probably catch up with you at some time and do you far more harm than good.