Overheard a guy at a coffee shop talking about his testimonial layout...

I was totally set on keeping my portfolio page as the main focus of my site. Then I overheard this freelancer at a coffee shop say he got 3 leads in one week just from moving his testimonials above the fold. I figured I'd test it out on my own site for a month... swapped the order around and added a short quote from a client I billed $800 last quarter. Sure enough, I got a message from a new prospect within 4 days asking about my rates. Has anyone else had luck rearranging page sections like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

sullivan.quinn3d ago

That one testimonial probably cost you more than it made you.

joseph_green133d ago

Probably cost you more than it made you" - that line got me thinking. I used to think bad reviews were always bad for business. But I saw this one restaurant owner post a reply to a brutal review. He admitted they messed up an order, said exactly what they'd fix. Didn't argue or make excuses. Just owned it. People went crazy for that honesty in the comments. Totally changed my mind about how you handle criticism. Sometimes being straight up about a mistake builds more trust than never making one.

the_nancy2d ago

Probably cost you more than it made you" - yeah, I've been on that side of the fence too. I once posted a reply to a bad review where I basically said "yep, we screwed that one up, here's what happened, sorry." And you know what? Someone commented back that they appreciated me not blaming the parts or the weather or whatever. I just sat there like, well I guess that's the lowest bar possible, just admitting you messed up without pointing fingers. But it honestly worked out better than any made-up excuse ever could have.