Testimonials on Our Blogs - 35% Subscriber Conversion
19 August, 2008 - Blogging - 4 Comments
First of all, I must apologise to those who listened to my talk at the WordPress UK North meetup on Friday as everything I say in this post was said in my presentation. Normal service will be resumed shortly.
For those of you who didn’t see me speak, I want to share with you my “Final Tip” that I gave in my blogging presentation on Friday evening.
As bloggers, we open up numerous methods of communication between us and our readers. Email. Comments. Social media. Trackbacks. There’s no other form of journalism or business which is as open for comment and opinion.
Let’s Take Advantage of the Communication.
Every day, I come across multiple examples of companies taking advantage of their communication. Every day I come across marketing material that is covered with testimonials. Flyers. Web sites. Direct mail. Emails. - I see testimonials everywhere.
Occasionally, I publish a post that is of far superior quality to all other content on this blog. Usually it will go crazy on StumbleUpon, result in many new subscribers and some very kind comments. When this happened a couple months ago, I started to think of ways I could use the positive comments to build my credibility as a blogger. And then it hit me. If companies use testimonials, why can’t bloggers?
Trawling the Archives
I set about trawling through all my comments, carefully picking out some of the best that gave positive opinion on my writing. I came up with five comments, received permission from the authors to publish them on a testimonials page, and then created a new WordPress page. Along with the testimonials, I linked the authors name to their blog and linked to the post that each testimonial was talking about. I then, of course, added a link to the page in my Web site menu at the top of the site. Feel free to take a look at my testimonials.
The Subscription Link
At the bottom of the testimonials page, I added a link to subscribe to my blog. With the reader having just read five glowing comments about me and my blog, I expected this link to convert quite well. However, I never imagined it would convert 35% of its visitors. Yes, 35%. This may not seem like a huge amount, but when you take time to consider most pages on a blog convert between zero and 10%, a testimonials page suddenly seems like a fantastic idea.
I must stress that the testimonials page hasn’t been live for long so these stats are very quick and dirty. However, if quick and dirty stats are anything to go by, and you take in to account the only promotion of that page is one small link in my menu, all bloggers should be trawling through their comments and publishing their testimonials for the world to see.
Other than Subscribers, Why Should I Add a Testimonials Page?
Credability - In this crowded world of the blogosphere, your credibility is often the only thing that can help you stand out above the crowd. Hearing the voice of real people giving credit to your writing is a fantastic way to build your credibility.
Extra Page Views - Because the testimonials I receive and publish were received on my highest quality posts, the testimonials page makes a useful second list of popular posts. From watching my visitor trends using Woopra, I often see visitors to my testimonials page clicking through to one of the posts that a testimonial is talking about.
For every 100 visitors my testimonials page receives, 35 people subscribe. I highly recommend creating your own testimonials page.
Do you think a testimonials page will work on your blog? Let us hear your voice in the comments.
Others You May Enjoy
If you enjoyed this post, feel free to subscribe to my RSS feed!
Del.icio.us - Technorati - Digg This! - StumbleUpon
Posted on 19 August, 2008 by Jamie Harrop
Filed Under Blogging |
4 Comments»
Popular Posts
Top Commentators
- Nick (7)
- Mitchell Allen (4)
- Jeremy Day (4)
- Cath Lawson (3)
- Paul Hirsch (3)
Jamie kayaking the River Rothay in January 08
Latest Musings
- 5 Ways to Maintain Your Business Passion
- Charging Per Hour Is Stupid!
- 5 Ways to Lose Passion for Your Business
- New About Page - Including Video
- A Customer is for Life: Not Just for Christmas
Categories
- Blogging (50)
- Ebook (1)
- Events (4)
- General Business (44)
- Guest Posts (1)
- Interviews (14)
- Misc (31)
- Motivation (28)
- Motivational Media (5)
- Polls (3)
- Quick Questions (3)
- Quick Tips (2)
- RSS Only (4)
- Social Media (4)
- Video Blogs (3)
- Web Design (6)
- Your Feedback (11)
Twitter... Follow Me
- Wow! Talk about fast turn-around! Just heard from the agency. The guys want me back for a 2nd interview/hands on task :-) 15 hrs ago
- @dannymcc Cheeky bugger! lol in reply to dannymcc 16 hrs ago
- Interview over. Went well. Lasted an hour. Hope I didn't come across as having a huge ego 17 hrs ago
- More updates...
Great post and superb idea Jamie. Don’t feel like I missed as much by not attending the meet-up now. Will include this in our Friday roundup and also add a testimonial page to my suitable blogs.
Al Carltons last blog post..Yahoo Buzz Open to All
Hey Al,
Thanks for the comment and kind words, and thanks for putting it in the Friday roundup.
Let me know how your conversion rate turns out.
Hi Jamie
Being one of those “soft southerners” I was just wondering if there was a “South” meetup?
Anyway, this is an excellent tip and I thank you for sharing it. I am proud that I am one fifth of your testimonials page!
Andy Patmores last blog post..What Can We Do About This Recycling Madness?
Hi Andy,
Full details of each local WordPress event are at http://wiki.wordcampuk.tonyscott.org.uk/WordPress_UK_locals
WordPress UK London or WordPress UK South West will probably work for you. You soft southern pansy.
Glad you enjoyed the post!