Put the proof next to the promise.In their words, with their name.
To add testimonials to your website, put a short quote, the customer’s real name and role, and a date right next to the claim it proves:
beside a price, a booking form or a checkout button, not only on a page of their own. Use your site builder’s quote block or testimonials section so the words are text in the page, get written permission first, and never change what the customer meant. Below: where testimonials work, what makes one believable, a formatter that turns a customer’s email into a ready card, steps for Squarespace, Wix, WordPress and Shopify, and the FTC and UK rules.
Your year-end accounts, done in weeks, not months.
£480fixed fee
Books tidied and reconciled
Missed expenses found and claimed
Filed before the deadline
2
You found £1,240 in expenses we'd never claimed, and the whole thing took two weeks instead of the two months I'd budgeted.
DODaniel OkaforOwner, Okafor Joinery · September 2026
3
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01 The claim02 A customer proves it03 The next step
A made-up business and a made-up customer, for illustration.
01 / Where they go
Where should testimonials go on your website?
Next to the moment a visitor doubts you. A testimonial works when it answers the question in the reader’s head at that spot: “is it really that quick?” beside a speed claim, “is it worth it?” beside a price. A page of quotes nobody visits answers nothing. Pick the one quote that fits each spot.
1
Beside the claim it proves
If your headline says “done in two weeks”, the quote under it should be the customer who says it took two weeks. Match the quote to the promise, not to the page.
2
On the pricing page
Right by the price or the plan button, where people weigh the cost. A quote about value, money saved or a result that paid for itself.
3
By booking and contact forms
Next to the form or the “Book a call” button. A line about what happened after they got in touch: a quick reply, no hard sell, a clear quote.
4
Near checkout
On the cart page, or as close to checkout as your platform allows. Keep it to one short line about delivery, quality or returns, so it reassures without pulling attention from the button.
5
A testimonials page, linked from the rest
The full set, with longer stories and dates. Link to it from every short quote (“Read more from customers”) so each excerpt has a home with its context.
The weakest spot is a slider on the home page that rotates on its own: the quote is far from any decision, and visitors who scroll past see one slide at most. Want to know if a placement helps? Count the people who reach the button before and after, and read what a good conversion rate looks like for your kind of site before you judge the change.
One site, five spots“ = a quote
1
Home: headline and claim
2
Pricing: price and plan button
3
Contact: form and button
4
Cart: total and checkout
5
Testimonials page
02 / What convinces
What makes a testimonial believable?
Detail a stranger could check. Readers have seen “Great service, highly recommend!” on every site, including the ones that made it up. What makes a quote believable is everything a fake one tends to leave out.
01
A specific result
A number, a time, a before and after: “two weeks instead of two months” beats “so fast”.
02
A real name and role
Full name, job or business and town if they agree. “Sarah K.” reads as anyone.
03
A photo, with permission
Their own photo, or their company logo. Never a stock photo: that implies a person who isn’t there.
04
A date
Month and year. A quote from last month says you still deliver; one from 2019 asks a question.
05
Their own words
Shortened, not rewritten. A bit of rough phrasing reads as real. Polished marketing copy doesn’t.
Weak (a made-up example)
“Great service, highly recommend! Five stars.”
No result, no surname, no business, no date. It could be about anyone, written by anyone.
Strong (the formatter’s made-up sample)
“You found £1,240 in expenses we'd never claimed, and the whole thing took two weeks instead of the two months I'd budgeted.”
A sum, a time, a comparison, a full name, a business and a month. It’s one sentence from a longer thank-you email, cut, not rewritten.
03 / Formats
Testimonials section examples: which format fits where?
Three formats cover most sites. Short quotes go where decisions happen, stories go where people research, and a rating from a review platform shows volume and that someone else is counting.
Testimonial formats compared
Format
What it is
Best for
Where it goes
Pull quote
One or two sentences, with name, role, date and, if they agree, a photo
Answering one doubt at one spot
Beside a claim, a price, a form or the cart
Short case story
The problem, what you did and the result, in 80 to 150 words, with a quote inside
Services, higher prices, business buyers
Service pages and your testimonials page
Star rating from a review platform
Your score and review count on Google, Trustpilot or similar, linking to the reviews themselves
Showing volume and independence
Header, footer, near checkout, or in a widget
Video testimonials follow the same rules as written ones: real customer, permission, no editing that changes what they meant. Getting more reviews in the first place is its own job: see how to get more Google reviews.
Three testimonials section layouts that work
One quote under the button
A single quote directly below a call to action, matched to it. Best on pricing and booking pages.
Three cards in a row
Three short quotes from three kinds of customer, each with a name and role. Best mid-page on a home or service page.
A story with a pulled-out line
A short case story with its strongest sentence set large beside it. Best on a service page or your testimonials page.
04 / Testimonial formatter
Turn a customer’s email into a testimonial card.
Paste the email, message or review, add who wrote it, and say whether you have permission. The formatter drops the greeting, sign-off and signature, suggests the strongest whole sentence (one with a number or a result, usually), writes the name line, checks it against the rules in chapter 06, and gives you an HTML card to paste into your site. It never changes a word inside a sentence. It starts with a made-up customer’s email; nothing you paste leaves your browser.
Testimonial formatter · a made-up customer’s email
1 of 4 sentences · 22 words · has a number
Pull quote, word for word
“You found £1,240 in expenses we'd never claimed, and the whole thing took two weeks instead of the two months I'd budgeted.”
— Daniel Okafor, Owner, Okafor Joinery · September 2026
Before you publish
Check 2 things, then publish.
✓Permission.Written permission on file. Keep that email or message with the quote.
✓Real customer.A real customer, describing their own experience.
!Meaning kept.Trimmed to 1 of 4 sentences, word for word. Read it next to the original and check it still says what they meant.
✓Connection.No connection to disclose.
!Typical results.It names a result. If most customers don’t get that result, say what they usually get, next to the quote.
The card, as it will look
“You found £1,240 in expenses we'd never claimed, and the whole thing took two weeks instead of the two months I'd budgeted.”
Daniel Okafor, Owner, Okafor Joinery
The card’s HTML
<figure style="margin:0;max-width:36rem;padding:24px;border:1px solid #e5e5e5;border-radius:12px;background:#ffffff;">
<blockquote style="margin:0;font-size:18px;line-height:1.55;color:#171717;">
<p style="margin:0;">“You found £1,240 in expenses we'd never claimed, and the whole thing took two weeks instead of the two months I'd budgeted.”</p>
</blockquote>
<figcaption style="margin-top:16px;font-size:14px;line-height:1.5;color:#525252;">
<strong style="color:#171717;">Daniel Okafor</strong>, Owner, Okafor Joinery
<br><time datetime="2026-09">September 2026</time>
</figcaption>
</figure>
It suggests; you decide. The pick is a guess at the most specific sentence. If another one says more, use that one, still word for word, and keep the original email.
Quotation marks mean their exact words. The card puts the quote in quotation marks, so fix nothing inside it but an obvious typo, and only if it changes nothing.
The card is plain HTML with inline styles. No script and no review markup. It inherits your site’s font; change the colours to match.
05 / Platform steps
How to add testimonials on Squarespace, Wix, WordPress and Shopify.
Every major builder has its own quote block or testimonials section. Use it before reaching for an app: the words stay as text in your page, where visitors and search engines read them. Menu names below are from each help centre, checked on 29 October 2026.
Squarespace 7.1
How to add testimonials to a Squarespace website
A set of testimonials, as a section:
Open the page and click Edit, then Add Section.
Choose the Testimonials category and pick a layout with the auto layout icon in its top-right corner.
Hover over the section, click Edit Content, then Content. Replace each demo item, or click Add. Each item has an image, title, description and button: put the quote in the description and the name in the title.
Choose a list, carousel or banner slideshow layout, then save.
One quote, anywhere on a page:
In the page editor, click Add block or + and choose Quote.
Click the pencil, type the quote in the quote field and the name line in the source field.
Use Design for a background or stroke line, then save.
Choose Strip and scroll to the Testimonial presets.
Click one, or drag it into place, then replace its text with your quotes and names.
A list you can keep adding to:
Click Add Elements, then List, then Repeaters.
Add a repeater, then click each item’s text and image to fill in a quote, a name and a photo. Every item shares one design.
Wix Studio and Wix’s newer editor lay out the add panel differently. Testimonial apps are in the Wix App Market under “Testimonials”. Source: Wix Help.
WordPress block editor
How to add testimonials in WordPress
Open the page and click the block inserter +. Look in the Patterns tab for a Testimonials category: WordPress has one, and many block themes fill it with ready layouts.
No pattern you like? Add a Quote block (or type /quote) for each testimonial and put the name line under the quote.
For several side by side, put the Quote blocks inside a Columns block. For one big standout line, transform a Quote into a Pullquote.
Style it in the block settings (Default or Plain, typography, border), then update the page.
Page builders such as Elementor have their own testimonial widgets; the same rules apply. Sources: Quote block, core pattern categories.
Shopify theme editor
How to add testimonials on Shopify
In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store, find your theme and click Edit theme.
Pick the template from the drop-down at the top: the home page, a product page or a custom page.
Click Add section and type “testimonial” in Search sections. Whether there is one depends on your theme.
No testimonials section? Add a Multicolumn section, where your theme has one, with one column block per quote: the quote as text, the name line under it.
Drag the section next to what it supports, such as under the product description or above the footer, then click Save.
Star ratings on product pages come from a reviews app, not from a theme section. Source: Shopify Help.
Any other site
Webflow, Framer or plain HTML
Copy the card’s HTML from the formatter and paste it into your builder’s HTML embed or code element, or straight into the page template. It is a <figure> with a <blockquote> and a <figcaption>, which is how HTML marks up a quotation and who said it, with no script to load.
06 / The rules
Testimonial rules: the FTC, the UK and Google.
Real customer, real experience, their meaning, and any connection disclosed. That is the short version on both sides of the Atlantic. The longer version, with where each rule comes from, is below. This is a summary, not legal advice; if you sell in a regulated field such as health or finance, ask a lawyer.
United States
The FTC rule on reviews and testimonials
In force since 21 October 2024 (16 CFR Part 465). A business may not write, create or sell a testimonial that misrepresents that the person exists, that they used the product, or what their experience was. The FTC says a business that posts testimonials on its own site is not merely hosting them, so if they are fake or false, the business can be liable. It also bans paying for reviews on condition that they are positive, requires insiders’ connections to be disclosed, and lets courts impose civil penalties for knowing violations.
Revised in 2023 (16 CFR Part 255). Quotation marks tell readers these are the customer’s exact words, and an endorsement may not be presented out of context or reworded so as to distort their experience. The person must have been a real user when they gave it. If you show one customer’s result without evidence that it’s what customers generally get, say clearly what they generally get. And disclose any connection readers wouldn’t expect: an employee, a relative, a free product.
Applies from 6 April 2025. It is a banned practice to submit or commission a fake consumer review (one that claims to be, but isn’t, based on someone’s genuine experience), or a review that hides that it was incentivised. Publishing consumer reviews in a misleading way is banned too, and the Act gives as an example removing or not publishing negative reviews while publishing positive ones. The CMA’s fake reviews guidance (CMA208) explains how it applies.
Don’t add review or rating structured data to your own testimonials. Google’s guidelines say that when the business being reviewed controls the reviews about itself, its pages using LocalBusiness or Organization structured data are not eligible for review stars. Your testimonials still count as content: keep them as text in the page.
Builderify puts a rating badge, or your own testimonial card, in the floating widget on the pages you choose. It doesn’t replace the testimonials in your page: the Bubble is added by a script after the page loads, so treat what’s inside it as something for visitors, and keep your best quotes as text in the page itself.
Reviews block
You type in a rating out of five, the number of reviews and the address of your reviews page. The bubble shows the score, five stars and “Based on N reviews”, linking to that page. It shows no quotes, so enter only numbers you can back up, and link to where the reviews can be read.
Google Reviews and Trustpilot Reviews blocks
Badges too: a score and a review count, with Google’s or Trustpilot’s branding and a link to your profile. Neither shows the text of a review.
Custom HTML block
Paste the card from the formatter and the quote appears in the bubble, inline or behind a button. Add one block per quote.
Per-block targeting
Each block decides where it shows: page rules by URL, device, new or returning visitors, traffic source and campaign, plus a schedule. Put the pricing quote on the pricing page only.
What each block showsmade-up numbers
Reviews4.80★★★★★Based on 36 reviews
Google Reviews4.70★★★★☆Based on 112 reviews
Trustpilot4.5★★★★☆Based on 58 reviews
Custom HTML block
You found £1,240 in expenses we'd never claimed, and the whole thing took two weeks instead of the two months I'd budgeted.
— Daniel Okafor, Owner, Okafor Joinery · September 2026
Test the placement. With A/B Testing you can insert the card’s HTML before or after an element, such as your pricing button, for half your visitors, and compare how many reach the next step. No developer, on any of the builders above.
See who read them.User Journey lists each visitor’s pages in order, so you can see whether the people who booked had opened your testimonials page first.
What it costs. Every account gets 250 free credits a month, and there is no monthly fee; top-ups are one-time packs that never expire. The rates are on the pricing page.
Use your site builder's own quote block or testimonials section, so the words are text in the page: a Quote block or a Testimonials auto layout section on Squarespace, a Testimonial strip or a repeater on Wix, Quote blocks or a Testimonials pattern in WordPress, and a testimonials or multicolumn section in a Shopify theme. Put each quote next to the claim, price or form it supports, with the customer's name, role and the month they gave it.
Yes, if they are a real customer describing their own experience and they agree. Ask in writing, show them the exact quote and how they will be named, and keep their reply. If they got anything from you, such as a discount, a free product or a job, disclose it next to their words.
You can shorten it, but not change what it means. In the US, the FTC's Endorsement Guides say quotation marks present the words as the customer's own, and an endorsement must not be taken out of context or reworded to distort their experience. Cut to whole sentences, and send the shortened version back to them for approval.
No. Google's review snippet guidelines say that when a business controls the reviews about itself, its pages using LocalBusiness or Organization structured data are not eligible for review stars. Keep the testimonials as plain text in the page instead.
In the US, the FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials, in force since 21 October 2024, bans testimonials that misrepresent who wrote them, whether they used the product or what their experience was, and courts can impose civil penalties for knowing violations. In the UK, the DMCC Act 2024 has banned fake and concealed incentivised reviews since 6 April 2025. This is general information, not legal advice.
