Did you know that reviews and testimonials are vital for your business success?  Survey data shows people really want to read about other customer’s experiences:

• 99.5% of shoppers research purchases online at least sometimes. Nearly 87% do so regularly or always. 
• 77% of shoppers specifically seek out websites with ratings and reviews.
• 74% of consumers say that ratings and reviews are a key way they learn about products they’ve never purchased before.
• Nine in 10 consumers say they consider reviews when making a purchase decision.  
• 93% of shoppers say this content impacts whether or not they purchase a product.
• 78% of consumers say the more expensive the product, the more they read reviews.

And that last one is very relevant to dog trainers, because for many dog owners, hiring a trainer is a real investment of their time and money. 

Where to reviews for most impact

Back in 2018, when Melissa first wrote a post about collecting testimonials, best practice was to ask your client to answer some questions by email. You would then craft the testimonial and display it on your website. And that’s still an ok strategy.

BUT…

In 2025, things on the ‘net have changed. Now, the best practice is to ask your client to leave a review on whichever review sites you use. Google Business Profile and Facebook (which feeds into Bing) top the list, but other examples are Better Business Bureau, Trustpilot, Yelp, and Yellow Pages.

Why the change? Because these sites will only allow clients and customers to leave reviews and testimonials; the business can’t fudge them or create their own. This leads to higher levels of believability – and trust. 

Not to mention, listing your business with review sites also makes you far more noticeable and raises your business’s digital profile… Which makes it easier for people to find you online.

Making the most of testimonials in 2025

Given how much online marketing has changed over the last few years, here are some tips for making the most of your testimonials right now.

Collecting testimonials

To keep the process as simple as possible, make asking for them part of your off-boarding process. In your off-boarding email, ask for the review and include a link to where they can leave it. 

You can still help the client craft something useful by asking questions (see here for a template you can steal), and even editing it for them if necessary, but the key difference is that they need to post it to the review site – you can’t. 

What makes a great testimonial?

What makes a great testimonial? One that’ll move the dial on your sales and actually bring in new clients?

Well, things like “Hilda was wonderful! So bright and enthusiastic, our dog loved her!” probably won’t do much for you. Why? Because even though it paints Hilda in glowing terms, it tells the reader nothing about her ability as a dog trainer.

Instead, you want testimonials that hit the following points:

• Clearly state what problem they had before finding you (the ‘before’)
• What things look like now in descriptive language (the ‘after’)
• Why they chose to work with you over the competition or why they’d recommend someone work with you over the competition 
• If they’ve worked with other trainers before, why you were the one they actually recommend

Most review sites will take care of this for you, but if adding testimonials or reviews to your own site the more client detail you can include, the better. Ideally, that would mean the client’s full name, general location (city or town), and their dog’s name and breed — in the very best case, with a photo!

Sharing the love

Once you have testimonials on your GBP or Facebook business page, get the word out about how great you are! 

You can do this in different ways. Either share screenshots of the reviews to your social media accounts or copy/paste the review text into a branded Canva template before sharing. Again, add as much context to your post as possible without going overboard (don’t write a novel!).

If you’re really not sure what kind of text or caption to include, simply say thank you for the review. Something like “Hey, thank you Gertrude, for leaving us a review last week. We really appreciate it!” works perfectly.

If the client isn’t happy with having their name and location details included and you want to display their testimonial outside of the review site, try to add some context to make it as real and relatable as possible. Statements like “A recent client in Newburgh, New York,” “A busy mom of three,” or “First-time dog owner” are all better than the sale-killer “Anonymous.”

And, again, If you can, include a picture of the client with their dog. Pictures of faces attract the eye and make the text more believable. Just be sure to get the client’s agreement before you post.

But what about testimonials on your website?

You may be wondering if having testimonials on your website is now obsolete. And the answer is NO. They’re still very valuable and can help people make a purchasing decision or tip them over into getting in touch.

However, the best way to collect them now is to direct clients to leave a review on your chosen review site. From there you can copy/paste it onto your website, copy/paste it into a Canva template and then upload to your website, or, even better, take a screenshot of the testimonial in situ and display that.

Best practices for testimonials on your website:

• Keep it short ‘n’ sweet – no long blocks of text
• Keep it relevant – post the testimonial with the service it relates to
• Use pictures and full client details if possible
• Use static blocks, not fancy interactive displays such as flips or sliders
• Make sure the testimonial focuses on results, not you, if possible

So many testimonials, so little room…

If you’re one of the lucky trainers who have heaps of glowing testimonials you may have read that second bullet point and thought “Yeah, but that makes my service page read like War and Peace.” 

Here’s the work around: scatter key ones where relevant, and then provide a dedicated page that lists all of them. 

That way if someone wants to read all your testimonials they can. But the best ones, those that’ll support increased sales, are right where they can do the most good: on your home page and alongside the service they’re referencing.

And that’s it. Collecting reviews and testimonials are a key part of a successful marketing strategy – so now you have all the information you need to really make those reviews count!