Last October, CNET’s parent company, Red Ventures, held a cross-department meeting to discuss the AI writing software it had been building for months. The tool had been in testing internally ahead of public use on CNET, and Red Ventures’ early results revealed several potential issues.
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CNET pushed reporters to be more favorable to advertisers, staffers say
The AI system was always faster than human writers at generating stories, the company found, but editing its work took much longer than editing a real staffer’s copy. The tool also had a tendency to write sentences that sounded plausible but were incorrect, and it was known to plagiarize language from the sources it was trained on.
Red Ventures executives laid out all of these issues at the meeting and then made a fateful decision: CNET began publishing AI-generated stories anyway.
“They were well aware of the fact that the AI plagiarized and hallucinated,” a person who attended the meeting recalls. (Artificial intelligence tools have a tendency to insert false information into responses, which are sometimes called “hallucinations.”) “One of the things they were focused on when they developed the program was reducing plagiarism. I suppose that didn’t work out so well.”
Of the 77 articles published on CNET using the AI tool since it launched, more than half have had corrections appended to them, some lengthy and substantial, after use of the tool was revealed by Futurism. CNET editor-in-chief Connie Guglielmo, EVP of content and audience Lindsey Turrentine, and Red Ventures vice president of content Lance Davis defended the tool in an internal meeting with staff in January but said the company would pause the use of the tool “for now.” In a follow-up blog post, Guglielmo said publishing using the AI software was on hold until CNET was confident it could “prevent both human and AI errors,” but she was clear that this wasn’t the end of AI tools in the newsroom.
“Expect CNET to continue exploring and testing how AI can be used to help our teams as they go about their work testing, researching and crafting the unbiased advice and fact-based reporting we’re known for,” Guglielmo wrote.
“Everyone at CNET is more afraid of Red Ventures than they are of AI.”
But the controversial use of an AI system to generate stories even in the face of known issues with plagiarism and accuracy is merely the most visible outcome of Red Ventures’ ownership of CNET. Under the ownership of Red Ventures, a private equity-backed marketing firm that’s bought up more than a dozen digital publishers since the mid-2010s, staff at the storied tech news outlet say they have been fighting to protect CNET’s editorial independence and rigor amid a push toward sponsored content and affiliate marketing by its new corporate owners. As one staffer told The Verge for a previous piece, “Everyone at CNET is more afraid of Red Ventures than they are of AI.”
Multiple former employees told The Verge of instances where CNET staff felt pressured to change stories and reviews due to Red Ventures’ business dealings with advertisers. The forceful pivot toward Red Ventures’ affiliate marketing-driven business model — which generates revenue when readers click links to sign up for credit cards or buy products — began clearly influencing editorial strategy, with former employees saying that revenue objectives have begun creeping into editorial conversations.
Reporters, including on-camera video hosts, have been asked to create sponsored content, making staff uncomfortable with the increasingly blurry lines between editorial and sales. One person told The Verge that they were made aware of Red Ventures’ business relationship with a company whose product they were covering and that they felt pressured to change a review to be more favorable.
“I understood a supervisor to imply in conversation that how I proceeded with my review could impact my chances of promotion in the future,” they say.
Red Ventures ignored an emailed list of questions from The Verge about its AI tool as well as CNET’s editorial independence and ethics, advertising, and staffing. The company instead offered to send a short statement about CNET’s editorial integrity but refused to provide it on the record attributable to anyone.
This apparent breakdown of the traditional barriers between editorial and advertising content is worlds away from CNET’s history, according to former staffers. Now more than 25 years old, the site has long been known for its thorough news coverage and comprehensive reviews program, which examines everything from laptops and phones to bookshelf speakers and home projectors.
“[The reason I came to CNET] was the opportunity to be able to tell the truth no matter what,” a former staffer says. To them, working at CNET was different from other journalism jobs, where journalists can be honest but may need to self-edit. “You get to tell the truth [at other jobs], but a lot of times, you’re not allowed to say things that you really feel.”
But the CNET operated by Red Ventures is a very different place than the CNET it acquired in 2020. CNET, along with other Red Ventures-owned publications, is loading up on cheap SEO-driven articles to game Google’s search algorithm and fill search results with content designed to deliver affiliate links to readers. As a result, CNET’s independent journalism and the people who produce it — the thing that once made CNET valuable and rank highly in search to begin with — feel that they are being pushed out in favor of whatever and whomever else makes Red Ventures the most money, according to multiple former employees.
“When you’re [covering] products and not people, it’s really easy to be like, ‘This new Apple thing sucks.’ I just thought that was a refreshing change of pace to be able to say things as they are,” the former staffer says. “And that continued all the way until Red Ventures took over.”
After Red Ventures scooped up CNET for $500 million in 2020, CEO Ric Elias promised the outlet would be able to continue to be an independent publication known for its robust offering of reviews and in-the-weeds tech news coverage. CNET staff had nothing to worry about, Elias told The New York Times. There was a “nonnegotiable line” separating the journalism from the money, and CNET’s staff of tech journalists could call him on his personal cellphone if there were ever a problem.
“I told them, ‘There’s a red line,’ and they’re like, ‘OK, we’ll see,’” Elias said.
That skepticism now appears prescient. Former CNET staff say the guardrails that keep editorial content independent, like a divide between revenue teams and journalists, or a clear chain of command among leadership, were repeatedly breached after the Red Ventures acquisition. “Most of the time, [Guglielmo] seemed to just be relaying orders” from Red Ventures, a former staffer says. In turn, journalists were placed in difficult positions as they tried to fend off the encroaching influence of the business side.
Former CNET staffers describe being asked to work on ads for companies that the outlet covers, including Volvo and home security company Arlo and having to push back against such requests from executives at the company. Three people told The Verge that they believe resistance to Red Ventures initiatives caused various CNET staffers to lose their jobs, with one saying that the pressure to be a “yes man” was a “collective experience” for some teams.
Multiple former CNET staffers point to the demise of the CNET Smart Home as an example of Red Ventures’ overreach. The Smart Home — a four-bedroom, five-bathroom home in Louisville, Kentucky, that the outlet had purchased in 2015 to test and produce videos on home products like robot vacuums and thermostats — had become something of a brand in and of itself. Since Red Ventures’ takeover, Smart Home staff repeatedly refused to work on sponsored content, saying it went against the integrity of their work. Readers look to tech reviewers for honest, unbiased assessments of companies’ products and services, and working on content that is paid for by these same companies can cast doubt on a reviewer’s ability to be independent.
“It’s a culture that if you disagree with them, they’re going to get rid of you and replace you with a zealot.”
In 2022, a Red Ventures executive named Marc McCollum stopped by the Smart Home for a short walk-through. McCollum, according to his LinkedIn profile, led the acquisition of CNET Media Group. A former staffer says he played a key role in the transition, with a focus on increasing profits.
Shortly after McCollum’s visit, teams working out of the Smart Home learned that the company was planning on selling the house, and people working at the house believed their jobs would be at risk if the space were sold. But McCollum indicated that the company may be able to keep the house if it secured a lucrative advertising deal with GE, which had expressed interest in using the Smart Home for a commercial, multiple former employees say.
Hoping to avoid layoffs, some CNET staff pitched in on the GE deal in early talks and planning, and Red Ventures inked a deal. But CNET editorial staffers refused to shoot the ad itself, and contractors were ultimately used to work on the commercial, a former staffer says.
The GE shoot was ultimately moved from the Smart Home to an off-site location due to space limitations at the house, a GE Appliances spokesperson who would only identify themselves as “Whitney” told The Verge via email. GE was not aware of Red Ventures’ plans to sell the house, “Whitney” added.
But by the time the GE ad was released in September, many staff on the Smart Home team had already left the company. Seeing the “writing on the wall” — that the house would soon be put up for sale — some people were able to land new roles, a former staffer says; others were laid off that summer. The house was put up for sale shortly after the GE ad anyway, eventually selling in December for $1.275 million, according to Zillow.
“It’s a culture that if you disagree with them, they’re going to get rid of you and replace you with a zealot,” a former employee, who was laid off, says of Red Ventures. “Somebody that’s absolutely a true believer, [that] drinks the Kool-Aid.”
Former CNET staffers say their colleagues have also been pressured into appearing in ads for companies the outlet covers despite the murky ethics of using reporters in sponsored content. On-camera video hosts were uncomfortable with the idea of being in ads and pushed back against it, according to several former staffers. Using recognizable journalists for video content that’s paid for by advertisers can blur the lines and make it hard for viewers to tell what is and isn’t an ad.
In one recent video, titled “Moen Unveils Innovative Smart Sprinkler Product at CES,” a CNET host takes viewers through the company’s booth at January’s Consumer Electronics Show, interviewing company representatives and testing products. The video is an ad, but the host doesn’t say that, and neither the video description nor title included a disclosure until recently. The only disclaimer was a small pop-up that YouTube inserts when an uploader has indicated there’s a paid promotion in a video, though CNET doesn’t actually specify what in the video is promoted. Moen did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the nature of the sponsorship or its labeling. After The Verge asked Red Ventures about the ad, a disclosure was silently added to the video’s description.
One of the key priorities for Red Ventures seems to be the company’s focus on affiliate links, which pepper its portfolio of sites like The Points Guy, Bankrate, and CreditCards.com. Over time, a focus on affiliate revenue has crept into CNET’s editorial decisions, causing frustration among staff.
In one meeting after the Red Ventures acquisition, a former employee says editorial staff were shown how much the company earned through affiliate categories like home furnishings with the suggestion they keep it in mind when producing future content. CNET staffers were also told that a separate commerce team would begin writing video descriptions that included affiliate links, which many people worried would suggest on-camera hosts were endorsing specific products.
“Red Ventures’ big mantra is that they help people make life’s most important decisions,” a former staffer says. “And yet all of their influence has been to get people to make decisions that are going to be the most profitable to Red Ventures.”
CNET staff say that the proximity to revenue made it harder to maintain the editorial standards
“It’s very demoralizing. It’s actually soul-crushing. All you want to do is your job and you’re being told, ‘Don’t cover this,’ because the revenue potential is not there,” another former staff member says.
Advertising is what keeps most digital media companies afloat, and affiliate marketing is common across the industry. (The Verge earns a commission from affiliate links, as do other Vox Media-owned outlets, like The Strategist.) But in many newsrooms, there is a strict separation between the people dealing with advertisers and the people producing the news. At The Verge, for example, editorial staff never work on ads, and reviews writers don’t know how much parent company Vox Media earns through specific affiliate marketing links.
But under Red Ventures, former CNET staff say that the proximity to revenue made it harder and harder to maintain the editorial standards promised to audiences.
“I do believe that the journalists who are doing the work at CNET are extremely ethical. I think that they have a lot of integrity, I think they work really hard,” they say. “But I think that they are under a great deal of pressure to make money for Red Ventures. And that’s just never a good situation for journalists.”
Though the AI tool generating stories for CNET, Bankrate, and CreditCards.com was formally announced just weeks ago, Red Ventures’ “experiment” with enlisting artificial intelligence has been underway much longer. Like other publishers who’ve incorporated automated tools into their work, the Red Ventures proprietary AI software was sold to the newsroom as a way to more efficiently produce “the boring stuff” so writers could use their time instead and work on bigger projects. In actuality, enlisting artificial intelligence to write SEO bait accelerates the speed at which Red Ventures-owned websites can churn out search-optimized content loaded with affiliate links, cutting down the need for human writers — and the reporting they produce.
For Sarah Szczypinski, a former journalist on the CNET Money team who left the outlet in early 2022, the association with CNET in light of the AI-writing saga has been frustrating. Though Szczypinski quit many months before the AI-generated articles began appearing, people have started contacting her after the news broke, wondering if she, too, had used AI tools for her stories. Szczypinski maintains she wrote her stories on her own, without automation tools.
“The leadership team gave no thought to what these unilateral decisions would do to the people working there, especially the people who are journalists and need their readers to trust them,” Szczypinski told The Verge. “We still have lives to live and careers to forge. And we can’t do that with something as damaging as this hanging over our heads.”
In late January, Szczypinski contacted Red Ventures and CNET, asking to have her author page and bylines pulled. Her name has been scrubbed from dozens of articles, now replaced simply by “CNET Staff.”
Throughout the time Red Ventures has owned CNET, the outlet’s leadership has promised readers time and again that its journalism is as strong as ever. Even as Guglielmo, Turrentine, and Red Ventures executives dodged questions from readers, staff, and reporters about the AI system, they pointed to CNET’s track record built over decades as evidence of trustworthiness. Audiences trust CNET for tech news, reviews, and recommendations, they reasoned, so they can trust CNET for how to move forward with artificial intelligence.
But even the more public ways CNET has tried to elicit trust from its audience have been hollowed out by a relentless drive toward optimization and gaming the search algorithm at the expense of the very work that had made CNET valuable.
CNET’s public ethics policy has not been meaningfully updated in years — it still lists CBS as its parent company — but last year, the publication added nearly a dozen links detailing exactly how it tests and vets products to a hyper-specific degree, with separate posts for how CNET reviews everything from credit cards and TVs to vacuums and more. One way of looking at these posts is to provide readers — and potential customers — with as much detail as possible about CNET’s methodology.
But for Red Ventures, these articles are just more fodder to boost its bottom line: Google likes when publishers demonstrate “experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness,” and the search algorithm factors in articles like these when it ranks search results. Articles packed with words like “unbiased,” “credible,” and “thoroughly vetted” are great for Red Ventures’ SEO-heavy strategy.
After all, Google can’t tell if it’s true.
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This 46-Year-Old is Making +$6k/Month Recommending Laptops and Tablets
Louie Lovoy had spent more than 2 decades of his professional career in the non-profit sector, but he was itching to try something else.
With no previous experience or understanding of SEO, he and a business partner dove headfirst into the world of online businesses and bought a website on Empire Flippers. And so, their adventure began.
Between hiring and firing SEO specialists, monthly revenue peaking at $10k and then nosediving to $2k, and a Google algorithm update, it’s been a real rollercoaster.
Keep reading to hear about the many lessons Louie has learned and how his site, NetbookNews, is on track to make $7k this month.
Find out:
- How he decided to venture into affiliate marketing
- How his site was performing when he bought it
- What happened after he added new content
- How the algorithm update affected his site
- What happened with the SEO specialists he hired
- How his income streams break down
- His approach to keyword research and link building
- His favorite tools and resources
- The biggest challenge he has faced
- His most important accomplishment
- His main mistake
- His advice for other entrepreneurs
Meet Louie Lovoy
My name is Louie and I have been married for 21 years to my beautiful wife Lindsay. We have 2 boys, Levi (13) and Luke (7). My background has been in non-profit organizations for the last 24 years but in 2020, my business partner and I decided to take a risk and purchase an online business.
Why He Bought NetBookNews
In the summer of 2020, I was looking for an additional income stream and exploring several different opportunities. During that search, I listened to a podcast where someone mentioned buying an online business on Empire Flippers.
This was intriguing to me and I presented the idea to a friend and asked him if he would be open to investing in my idea to purchase an online company as a loan to me. He said that he was not just interested in doing it as a loan to me but wanted to be 50/50 partners together in the enterprise.
With that, we began searching for the best possible online business we could find. We wanted something that was based in SEO and didn’t require any physical inventory. That led us down the road of affiliate marketing.
We looked at dozens of websites that were for sale and interviewed dozens of business owners. Finally, we found NetbookNews and decided this was the best fit for us mainly because of the strong domain authority that the site had built over time.
We purchased NetbookNews in November of 2020. The site has 100% organic traffic from SEO and provides helpful articles about laptops and tablets that are all based on keyword research. Some of the articles are product buying guides and some of the articles are relevant tips and how-tos.
When we purchased the site, it had averaged $4,300 per month in net profit over the prior 6 months. We contracted an SEO specialist who advised us to create another category of site articles focused on cameras. He did keyword research and gave us a list of keywords to go after.
We began creating content briefs around each keyword and hired a writer to write articles based on the content briefs over the next 6 months we added about 15 new articles to the site. After no revenue growth took place we decided to stop adding new content.
Finally, in early 2022 the site began growing like crazy and even hit an all-time high of over $10,000 of growth revenue in April of 2022.
Then Google made a big change to their algorithm in May of 2022 that really revealed some deficiencies in our site. By June of 2022, our revenue dropped all the way down to around $2k per month and stayed that way through October of 2022.
During that time we searched and searched for a new SEO specialist. We finally found and hired a new one in October of 2022 and he did a massive audit and overhaul of our site.
Our site experienced the natural holiday revenue spike in November and December and in January we hired a writer and with the help of our SEO specialist began going after lots of new keywords and shifted our focus from product reviews to tips and how-to articles.
He even advised us to remove that camera category that we added so that Google would see our site as an authority site that is focused on laptops and tablets. We have added around 20 new articles in 2023 so far.
How Much Money He’s Making
This strategy has proven to be the right one and our revenue has grown from $2k in October of 2022 all the way to over $6k in February of 2023 and we are currently on pace to do over $7k in March of 2023.
We have 2 separate income streams that are split fairly evenly. The first is display advertising through Mediavine. The other is affiliate marketing commissions through Amazon Associates.
It has been an up-and-down roller coaster ride since purchasing the site in November of 2020 but it has taken us about 2 and a half years to achieve our current revenue level and we are continuing to trend in the right direction.
I personally work on the business for about 3 to 5 hours per week.
His Thoughts on SEO
Our #1 marketing strategy is 100% SEO. We have not done any paid advertising. SEO and organic search traffic are the entire key to success for our business.
Keyword Research
Currently, we are contracting an amazing SEO specialist that does all of our keyword research. He looks for keywords that we can rank for and then passes those along to our writer who creates excellent content that Google seems to be favoring.
Link Building
Link building is very important in order to continue to increase our domain authority and subsequently boost the ranking of each individual article.
In January of 2023, we invested in a press release that resulted in 300 new quality backlinks. In the past, the previous owner built thousands of links through HARO.
Louie’s Content Creation Process
We are currently contracting a writer that is creating around 13 new articles per month. He is writing these articles based on the keyword research done by our SEO specialist.
We have also begun going back into older posts and replacing some of the outdated products with newer ones that are more helpful and relevant to our readers.
His Favorite Resources and Tools
I would say Empire Flippers is one of my favorite resources, and when it comes to indispensable tools for my business, those would be Upwork, Fat Joe, and Ahrefs.
His Biggest Challenge
My biggest struggle has been the temptation to withdraw owner’s distributions out of the company instead of reinvesting more into the future growth of the company.
Louie’s Most Important Accomplishment
I’m most proud of investing in an asset that can grow in value over time vs. continuing to merely trade time for money.
What He Wishes He Knew When He Started
I wish I had known about the importance of constantly investing in the growth of the company instead of expecting to get something for nothing.
His Main Mistake
I went for 1.5 years without investing in the growth of the company because all I wanted to do was take money out of it.
His Advice for Other Entrepreneurs
Be patient. Reinvest revenue for growth. Find experts that know your industry and pay them and trust them.
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19 Customer Testimonial Pages in 2023 and What Makes Them Effective
No matter what type of business you run, there’s nothing more impactful for marketing and sales than glowing customer reviews. Customer testimonial pages can be incredibly impactful in driving conversions, building trust and credibility with potential customers, and also improving customer loyalty.
Customer testimonials can make a huge difference and leave an impression that lasts long after they click away.
Here we’ll explore 19 remarkable customer testimonial pages, so you can draw inspiration on how to craft one that resonates with your target customers.
We’ll also dive into why these pages work so well – as each has its own unique style, benefits, and challenges to consider when creating yours!
What Are Testimonial Pages, and Why Should You Have One?
Customer testimonial pages are an invaluable resource for any business, regardless of size or industry.
Put simply, it’s like having a cheering section full of fans! Positive testimonials allow you to show off your accomplishments and share endorsements from past clients who are proud to have worked with you.
A testimonials page highlights real-life success stories from past clients and those already using and benefiting from your goods or services: this helps to build your company’s reputation in a compounding way.
They’re a great way to show off your business and make potential customers feel confident about dealing with you.
It also serves as solid social proof for those unsure of what path to take when making their decision. Positive testimonials are essential for a successful business website since they give customers additional insight into what it’s like working with you.
In short, it’s an invaluable sales tool – getting those “window shoppers” in the door for good!
Great Examples Of Testimonial Pages
Here are a few great examples you can model your pages after!
1. Senja
Senja understands the importance of testimonials, as well they should – that’s what their product is all about!
Senja is a powerful tool that helps users collect video and text testimonials, manage them in one dashboard, and share the final results with beautiful images.
It works across platforms, allowing users to quickly filter tags, ratings, and job titles.
2. Podia
Overflowing with appreciation from its loyal customers, Podia’s testimonials page is a testament to its ability to help entrepreneurs build their presence and succeed online.
Our Podia review and hundreds of others like it have helped show how much users can benefit from the platform.
3. Canny
Canny’s testimonials page proves why countless software teams rely on the platform to collect their customer feedback. Through its case studies, you can understand how and why individuals use it to capture customer feedback.
4. Cloudflare
CloudFlare offers various customer reviews in case study format, with long-form articles and videos for visitors to watch. The case studies can be filtered by industry, region, use case, and product/service to make it easier for a potential customer to find relevant testimonials.
5. GetResponse
Testimonials should be concise and to the point, yet GetResponse understands that extended blog post testimonials also have their advantages. GetResponse’s website visitors can quickly locate the most relevant recommendations by filtering them based on industry or specific tools used.
6. Shopify
This page is full of inspiring stories from Shopify customers around the world. These success stories highlight how entrepreneurs have used the platform to grow their businesses and what they’ve been able to achieve with it. It’s a great way for a prospective customer to relate on a more personal level and see how successful others using the same tool can be.
7. CodeAcademy
Video testimonials are a great way to add an extra layer of emotion and authenticity to your testimonials. CodeAcademy has taken this approach on its Testimonials page by providing short videos where learners discuss what it felt like to learn coding with the platform.
8. HubSpot Testimonial Pages
Hubspot’s case studies directory allows site visitors to filter by six options to quickly find a pertinent, highly detailed customer success story. Through the HubSpot platform, users can even filter by black-led businesses or female-led businesses to uncover relevant stories of individuals and companies that have achieved success. This makes it easier for readers to identify with the companies showcased on the page.
9. Gong
If you’re looking for a great example of how a testimonials page can be done right, then look no further than Gong’s case studies page! Featuring detailed info about how businesses across different industries achieved great results with the platform, it’s a surefire way to get prospective customers excited about using Gong.
10. Leadpages
Leadpages has got testimonials on lock! Their customer page is a smorgasbord of success stories! Users can easily navigate their way through the many categories of case studies, and each category has a bunch of squeaky-clean mini-sagas about how Leadpages are making marketing dreams come true.
11. MultiWebMarketing
At MultiWebMarketing, it’s all about the success stories!
They proudly show off their case studies with amazing images so potential customers can get a real idea of their value if they choose MWM. It’s easy for potential customers to see themselves achieving similar fantastic results!
12. Huemor.rocks
Huemor.rocks knows that great design packs a punch, so they have taken their customer testimonials page to the next level with a stylishly modern and visually impactful page design.
13. Databox Testimonial Pages
If you’re seeking serious story-time inspiration, look no further than Databox’s testimonials page. It packs a real punch regarding detailed customer stories and data-driven insights.
14. Tray.io
This testimonials page provides insight into how Tray.io’s integration and automation platform can help businesses of all sizes achieve their goals. It showcases the success stories of a variety of customers from different industries, demonstrating the scalability and effectiveness of Tray.io.
15. Heap Testimonial Pages
The Heap Customer Stories page offers a comprehensive selection of customer success stories that show the effectiveness of their platform in helping businesses reach their goals. From increased conversion rates to faster time to insight, these inspiring stories demonstrate the power of Heap’s analytics platform.
16. Zendesk
Zendesk’s testimonials page provides a great insight into the success they’ve achieved with different industries and company sizes.
This allows customers to gain a better understanding of how the service can suit their needs. The page features inspiring customer stories demonstrating how companies have improved their customer service through Zendesk.
17. GoCardless
The GoCardless customer stories page is a great resource to learn how businesses of all sizes are successfully utilizing their payment processing solutions. It’s an inspiring collection of success stories that showcase the power and reach of GoCardless!
18. Applied Systems
The Applied Systems testimonials page showcases the success stories of some of the leading insurance companies in the United States. This makes it a great resource for those looking to understand how to leverage advanced software and solutions for their business.
19. Bonjoro
Bonjoro’s testimonials page is an excellent resource for understanding how they have been able to help businesses of all sizes and industries by providing personalized video messages. The vibrant graphics and playful feel make the page engaging and enjoyable, creating a unique user experience that inspires visitors.
How to Create Effective Testimonial Pages
Creating great testimonial pages for your site can be a bit tricky. It requires effort to gather true reviews from honest customers, but the end result is worth the extra work!
While you want to ensure you get rave reviews from satisfied buyers, here are some tips to help you create effective and engaging testimonial pages.
- Authenticity is key when creating an effective testimonials page. Make sure the reviews are genuine and coming from a real person.
- Concise yet detailed reviews are also important, providing more information without rambling.
- Be sure to ask specific questions to get the answers you’re looking for. That way, you can filter out irrelevant information and focus on real people expressing genuine thoughts about your products and services.
- Personalize each review with photos or other visuals to provide powerful visual reinforcement that each review truly comes from an actual customer.
- Keep the conversational tone natural and avoid overly formal language. Nobody wants a scripted-sounding testimonial page!
Different Types of Testimonial Pages
- Video testimonial pages. These are effective because they are often seen as more sincere and authentic than text-only reviews. The best videos feature customers talking about their experiences honestly and genuinely off-script.
- Social media. These are great for showing how real customers interact with your business. They can be a fantastic way to showcase loyalty and trust from your existing customers and reach new visitors.
- Customer interviews. This is a great way to highlight customer stories in an engaging and interactive format. Interviews can provide valuable insight into how customers use your product or service and why they chose you over competitors.
- Long-form testimonials/blog posts. Longer reviews give readers more information about the experience of working with you. They have more detail that can help make decisions.
- Short-form testimonials/quick quotes. These are great for quick and easy reading. They should still include enough detail to showcase satisfied customer experiences effectively.
- Case study/customer success story. These are more in-depth than other types of testimonials. They provide an even more comprehensive understanding of how customers use your products or services.
- Third-party reviews, peer reviews, or authority testimonials. These can increase the authenticity of your testimonial pages since they come from a credible source outside your company.
Regardless of the type of testimonial pages you choose, showcase customers’ genuine experiences with your business.
Tips on How to Get Customer Feedback
- Ask! One of the most effective ways to get customer feedback is simply by asking. You can do this through surveys, emails, or other methods. Make it easy for people by including a link to wherever you want the customer to leave their review.
- Create touch points. Create contact points throughout the customer experience that allow you to capture feedback. You can include surveys on your website, requests for reviews at the end of an order or delivery process, or even provide a link to a short survey in your emails.
- Incentives. Offering incentives like discounts, coupons, or free products are great motivators for customers to leave reviews.
- Follow up on positive experiences. If a customer has had a positive experience with your business, following up and asking them to leave a review can be very effective.
- Social media. Utilizing social media is an easy and effective way to get customer feedback. Posting polls or surveys on your social media pages can help you get responses quickly and easily.
- Analytics and reports. Analyzing your website analytics and customer reports can provide valuable insight into how customers interact with your business. This information can help you identify areas where improvements may be needed and get an idea of how satisfied customers are.
- Customer service and support. Asking customers for feedback on their experience with customer service or support teams is a great way to get honest and insightful feedback. This can help you identify potential areas of improvement.
No matter which method you choose, it’s important to ensure the process is easy and accessible for customers. Provide options for customers to leave feedback in different formats, and be sure to thank them for their time and input.
How to Make Your Testimonial Pages Stand Out from the Competition
- Showcase the most relevant testimonials when displaying testimonials on your website, including ones relevant to the page or product they’re featured on.
- Include customer photos. Including customer photos with the testimonials can help to create a more personal connection with the reader. It also increases the authenticity of the testimonial.
- Keep them up-to-date. Make sure your testimonials are kept up-to-date and regularly refreshed. This way, visitors will have access to the most recent customer experiences.
- Include multiple formats. Offer different formats for customers to leave reviews, including text, video, and audio. This makes it easier for customers with different preferences to leave feedback.
- Make them easy to find. Place customer reviews and testimonials in prominent positions on your website so visitors can easily find and read them.
Testimonial Pages: Final Thoughts
Customer testimonials are a powerful tool for businesses looking to showcase their customers’ experiences.
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What is CBD Crumble? | GreenState
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If you enjoy smoking your CBD products, then crumble may be one of the best things you’ll find. Crumble is a wax-like form of CBD extract that’s been quickly gaining traction in the market. There is a growing interest in CBD crumble, especially among more explorative customers.
So, what is the buzz all about? What is CBD crumble and how does it work? In the following paragraphs, we share insight into what is CBD wax crumble, how to use crumble CBD, and the benefits that it offers.
What is Crumble?
CBD crumble is a concentrated CBD that has been extracted from dried herb to give a wax-like, honeycomb-looking product. Interestingly, while CBD crumble typically looks solid at first glance, it has a very weak consistency, which causes it to “crumble” under light pressure — hence its name.
But, that’s not all there is to this exciting, relatively new product. CBD crumble generally come in very potent forms, its CBD concentration could exceed 80%. But that may not even be the best part.
You’ll may enjoy the entourage effect when you consume CBD crumble, as it is full-spectrum and contains several other beneficial compounds, including CBG, CBN, flavonoids, terpenes, and other phytonutrients.
But, how well do dabs compare with flowers? Here’s an article with a comparison between the health aspects of dabs and flowers.
Does CBD Crumble Get You High?
CBD crumble may not get you high. This is because CBD is generally a non-psychoactive cannabinoid and CBD crumble does not contain THC. However, you’ll possibly feel the effects of the CBD very fast, depending on your administration method and dabbing can be one of the fastest ones.
CBD Crumble Effects
When you consume CBD crumble, you may feel the same effects as every other form of CBD. However, the difference is that maybe CBD crumble could act faster.
Here are some possible effects of CBD crumble:
Possible Pain Relief
Research publications have shown that CBD may help ease pain in the body due to its possible interaction with the endocannabinoid system. As a result, consuming CBD crumble may provide relief for pain.
May Reduce Inflammation
Experts also believe CBD could have anti-inflammatory properties, which may come in handy if you’re dealing with health conditions that involve inflammation.
Could Improve Mood
The interaction of CBD with the body’s endocannabinoid system may also improve the production of serotonin and oxytocin — the body’s “happy” chemicals — which could help improve mood. This may also aid the management of conditions like anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
Better Relaxation
Some studies show that CBD could have a relaxing effect. It could reduce the production of stress hormones and may promote muscle relaxation.
How to Use CBD Crumble?
CBD wax crumble is a versatile cannabidiol product that you may enjoy in a variety of ways. Here are some ideas on how to use crumble CBD:
Vaporizing
A popular way to administer CBD crumble is by vaporizing it. However, you’ll need a refillable cartridge or a concentrate vaporizer. Once you acquire any of these devices, you would add your CBD wax crumble to the chamber, heat it up, and then inhale.
Dabbing
Dabbing is considered more efficient than vaporizing by many. In order to dab you’ll need a dabbing rig. You’ll heat up the rig and add only a small ration of the crumble. Like vaporizing, you’ll also have to inhale here.
Smoking
Smoking CBD crumble will require traditional methods of rolling paper and something to spark it up after. Roll a regular joint with dried CBD hemp flower, sprinkle crumble in the flower, and roll a joint like normal. However, the bright side here is you wouldn’t need any high-end gadget or tool to enjoy your crumble.
Eating
If you like to get creative with your food, you can add some CBD crumble to the cooking process. You can create a CBD crumble edible by adding it to your baked goods or putting some in your drinks. However, ingesting your crumble could mean a slightly longer waiting time before you feel its effects.
How to Smoke CBD Crumble?
The best way to smoke CBD crumble may be through dabbing. Here are some tips to help you along the way:
- Turn on your flame and heat the nail directly until it’s red hot.
- Then, turn off the flame and place the glass dome over the nail. Wait for about 20 to 30 seconds.
- Next, add your CBD crumble directly onto the nail inside the dome.
- Inhale slowly while rotating the dabber tip to ensure there’s no oil stuck to the dabber.
Can You Eat CBD Crumble?
Yes, you may choose to add your CBD crumble to your food and drinks if you prefer to ingest it. However, you should note that consuming CBD crumble orally may mean you have to wait until the CBD makes it through your digestive system before you can feel its effects.
CBD Dabs vs. Crumble vs. Shatter
CBD dabs, crumble, and shatter are all types of CBD concentrates that can be more popular among consumers looking for a more potent form of CBD. The only difference is in the texture and that’s the best way to differentiate between the three substances.
On one hand, CBD crumble has a crumbly, wax-like texture while CBD shatter has a more stable, glass-like form. However, CBD dabs have a much more waxy feel to them.
Where to Find Pure CBD Crumble?
Finding a reputable brand that manufactures high-quality CBD crumble and has lab results and certifications to back them up is key if you’re going to be consuming crumble.
The first product we like to recommend in the crumble category would be this full-spectrum CBD crumble from Pinnacle Hemp. This product comes with 400mg of CBD and is loaded to the brim with terpenes. It is compliant with the 2018 Farm Bill and is lab tested to ensure quality. You can also buy this product from CBD.co or Buy CBD Hub. All three websites have their own discounts and promotions every now and then so you might find a better deal on one compared to the others.
Final Thoughts
So, in this article, we discussed what is CBD crumble, its possible effects, how to use crumble CBD, and a lot more. Crumble is definitely one of the more unique ways to consume CBD.
If you’re looking for a possibly fast and maybe efficient way of consuming CBD, you should check out crumble CBD.
Hearst Newspapers participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may earn a commission when you click links in this content. Our professional curators independently research and recommend products and services, with no newsroom involvement. Merchants can pay for a sponsored listing and may choose to rewrite their summary. When that happens, we label the listing as “Sponsored” and highlight it in grey to differentiate the merchant-provided content from our writing.
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