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Testimonials when you only have two reviews

Getting found 5 min read

What to put on your site when you have two reviews instead of two hundred, which substitutes for proof actually work, and what looks worse than saying nothing.

You have two reviews. Every template you have looked at has room for six, with faces, and a row of stars along the top.

So the page sits half finished, and the temptation is to fill the gaps with something.

Two real reviews beat twenty invented ones

Do not write them yourself. Not under a made-up name, not from a friend who did not use you, not a composite of things customers have said.

Beyond the obvious problem, invented reviews read as invented. They are too smooth, they praise the wrong things, and they all sound like one person because they are. A stranger who half-notices that has learned to distrust everything else on the page, including the parts that are true. Platforms ban them, and in the United States the Federal Trade Commission has a rule against fake reviews and testimonials.

What a review is actually doing for the reader

Somebody reading a review is looking for evidence that a person like them took the risk first and it worked out.

That is why one specific review beats five vague ones. "He came out the same evening, told me the water heater had another winter in it, and charged me for the call rather than selling me a new one" does the job. "Great service, highly recommend" does almost nothing, even five times over.

So a shortage of reviews is a smaller problem than it feels, as long as the ones you have say something.

Use the two you have properly

Quote them in full, in the customer's own words, spelling mistakes and all. Trimming a review to its most flattering clause is how it starts to sound written.

Put a real first name, a last initial, and the town. Put the month and year. If it came from your Google profile, say so and link to it, because a review a reader can go and verify is worth several they cannot.

Then put each one next to the thing it proves. The review about the emergency call belongs on the emergency page, not in a carousel on the home page with the other one.

What to show instead of volume

You are short of one particular kind of proof, and the substitutes are often stronger.

The work itself. Before and after photographs of a job you actually did, with a sentence about what was wrong. This is the closest thing to a review that you can produce on your own, and it is worth taking the pictures properly.

The specifics. The street or the neighborhood, what the fault turned out to be, how long it took. Detail is what makes a claim feel checked.

Your license and insurance. Facts a stranger can verify beat opinions they cannot.

How long you have been doing it, and who you are. The About page carries more weight when the review count is low, so it is worth the hour.

A plain guarantee you will honor. One sentence about what happens if the work fails. Do not write one you cannot afford.

The things that look worse than nothing

A five-star graphic over three ratings. A testimonials page with two testimonials on it, which draws attention to the emptiness. Quotes attributed to initials, or to "a satisfied customer", which reads as invented whether or not it is. Stock headshots next to real quotes, which makes the real quotes look fake. Any phrase like trusted by hundreds when you have not served hundreds.

Also: a review carousel that moves on its own. If somebody is trying to read the one piece of proof you have, do not slide it away from them.

Getting the third and the fourth

Ask at the moment the job ends and the relief is fresh, not by email two weeks later. Ask in person, say plainly that reviews are how people find you, and make it one tap by having the link ready on your phone.

Ask everybody, not only the jobs that went perfectly. The mechanics of doing this without breaking any rules, and without paying for anything, are set out here.

If somebody says something useful in a text message and will not write a review, ask whether you may quote the message on your site with their first name. Most people say yes, and a screenshot of a text with a name and a date is honest proof.

Where a review earns its place on the page

Near the decision, not in a section of its own.

One review directly above the phone number. One on the service page it belongs to. One near the form. A reader who has just decided what a job might cost is the reader who most wants to know somebody else survived it.

The separate testimonials page can wait until there are enough to fill it.

Before you publish somebody's words, check these

Questions people ask

Can I write the review myself if the customer agrees to it?

No. A testimonial in your words with their name on it is still your words, and it will read that way. If they are willing, ask them three questions on the phone and let them answer in their own sentences.

Should I use full names?

A first name and a last initial with the town is the usual balance, and ask which they prefer. Some customers are happy to be named in full. Nobody should be surprised to find themselves on your website.

What if a review mentions a price?

Leave it in if it was true at the time, and put the date next to it so nobody arrives expecting an old figure. If your prices have moved a long way, use a different review.

Do I need photographs of the people who reviewed me?

No, and a stock photograph is worse than none. A photograph of the job they are describing is better than a photograph of them.

Should I have a testimonials page at all?

Not yet. Two reviews on a dedicated page look thinner than the same two placed where they matter. Build the page when you have enough that the page is not the story.

What if a customer leaves a bad one?

Answer it in public, plainly, without arguing. Replying to reviews covers how, and the short version is that a calm reply is read by every stranger who comes after, which is more people than the review itself reached.

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