You have a handful of kind words saved somewhere: a thank-you email, a message after a finished job, a card you photographed. The customers have said you can use them. Now you want them on the website, and you would like them to look like real people talking rather than a grey box of italic text nobody reads.
To display testimonials in WordPress, the blocks you already have are usually enough; a plugin or your theme’s own layout only becomes worth it once the collection grows. Where you place them matters as much as how they look. Gathering them in the first place is a separate job, covered in our post on collecting real testimonials from customers.
Before anything goes on the page
Every testimonial you publish should have three things behind it:
- Permission in writing. A reply by email or message saying yes is enough. Keep it with the testimonial.
- An agreed way of naming the person. Full name, first name and town, a job title, or a business name. Only what they agreed to.
- The original wording. You can trim a long message, but do not change what it says or add praise that was not there.
A simple spreadsheet is enough to track this: the quote, the name format, the date, where the permission is saved, and which pages use it. If someone later asks to be removed, that last column is the one you will be glad of.
A photo of the customer is a separate permission. Ask for it separately, and never put a stock photo of a smiling stranger next to a real quote. It makes genuine words look invented.
How to display testimonials in WordPress with core blocks
The Quote block
The simplest version is the Quote block. It has a space for the quoted text and a citation line underneath for the name.
- In the block editor, click + and search for “Quote”.
- Paste the customer’s words into the main area.
- Click the citation line below it and type the name in the format they agreed, for example “[Name], [Town]”.
- Use the block’s style options in the sidebar if your theme offers more than one look.
The Pullquote block is a larger, more decorative version. It suits one strong testimonial on its own, such as near the top of a service page. For a set of several, the plain Quote block is easier to read.
Testimonial cards in columns
To show two or three side by side, add a Columns block and place a Quote block in each column. If you have permission for photos, put a small Image block above each quote and use the same shape for all of them, for example a square crop, so the row looks even. On a phone, columns stack one above the other, so check the order still makes sense when read top to bottom.
A Group block around the columns, with a light background colour and some padding, separates the testimonials from the rest of the page without needing any custom styling.
Reuse without copying
If the same testimonials appear on several pages, build the section once and save it as a pattern. Select the Group block, open its options menu and create a pattern. A synced pattern changes everywhere when you edit it once, which is useful when a customer asks for their name to be shown differently.
Plugins and theme layouts
Core blocks are enough for most small sites. A plugin starts to help when you have a lot of testimonials and want to manage them as a list rather than as text inside pages.
- Your theme or block collection. Many themes and block plugins, Kadence Blocks among them, include a testimonial block with space for a photo, name, role and sometimes a star rating. If you already have one, try it first.
- Page builders. Elementor and similar builders have a testimonial element. Use it if the rest of the page is built in the same builder.
- Dedicated testimonial plugins such as Strong Testimonials usually add a separate section to the dashboard where each testimonial is its own entry. You then show a selection on any page with a block or shortcode. This is handy for adding a new testimonial without opening every page.
Some testimonial plugins also offer a form for customers to submit their own. If you use that, moderate every submission before it appears, and make sure the form says clearly that what they write may be published.
Be careful with sliders
Rotating testimonial carousels are common, but plenty of visitors never wait for the second slide. Moving text is hard to read, and it can be a problem for people who use screen readers or find motion distracting. Two or three testimonials shown in a row usually do more than eight hidden in a slider. If you do use one, turn off autoplay or give visitors a pause control.
Where testimonials work best
A testimonials page tucked away in the menu is easy to miss. The same quotes placed next to the decision they support are far more likely to be read.
| Page | Which testimonial to use |
|---|---|
| A service page | One from a customer who bought that exact service, mentioning the result |
| Contact or booking page | One about how easy it was to get started or how quickly you replied |
| Pricing page | One that speaks to value or to a worry, such as “no surprises on the bill” |
| Home page | Two or three short ones covering different kinds of customer |
Testimonials are one of several things that reassure a visitor; our post on trust signals on a business website covers the others.
Stars, ratings and Google reviews
Testimonials you collected and chose are not the same as reviews on a public platform, and visitors know the difference. Avoid putting a star rating next to hand-picked quotes; a row of five-star testimonials you selected yourself does not mean much and can look like a review score.
Some plugins also add review structured data. Google treats praise that a company hosts about itself as self-serving and leaves it out of star ratings in search, so the markup will not put stars under your listing. If you want independent reviews on the page, show your Google reviews properly with a widget; the post on showing Google reviews on WordPress explains the options.
Keeping them current
- Add new ones as they arrive. A testimonial dated from many years ago, or one that mentions a service you no longer offer, does more harm than good.
- Remove quickly when asked. If a customer withdraws permission, take the quote down everywhere it appears. Your spreadsheet tells you where.
- Check after a redesign or theme change. Testimonial blocks from a theme or plugin can disappear or show as shortcodes when the theme changes.
If you are deciding between testimonials and other additions, such as a portfolio or a reviews widget, the overview of adding new features to a WordPress site compares the routes. Our WordPress help guide covers the rest of running one.
Frequently asked questions
Can I edit a testimonial to fix spelling or make it shorter?
Fixing an obvious typo or trimming a long message is fine, as long as the meaning stays the same. Do not add words or change the tone. If you shorten it a lot, send the customer the version you plan to publish and ask them to confirm. Keep their reply with the original.
Is it better to have a separate testimonials page or put them on each page?
Both can work, but testimonials placed next to the service or booking button they relate to tend to be read more. A separate page is useful as a full collection for people who want to see more. If you have only a few, put them on your key pages first.
Can I use quotes from Facebook or LinkedIn recommendations?
Only with the person’s permission. A public post is still their words, and copying it onto your site presents it as a testimonial given to you. Message them, ask whether you may quote it and how they want to be named, and keep their reply on file.
How many testimonials should I show on one page?
There is no fixed number. Two or three relevant ones on a service page are usually enough to reassure without crowding the page. A full testimonials page can hold more, grouped by service or type of customer so visitors find people like themselves.
Raw shortcodes where your quotes used to be, or a slider that froze after an update, usually mean a plugin or theme has stopped doing its part. That is a bug rather than a design problem, and our WordPress bug fixing service handles exactly that kind of fault.
Next in this series: How to Add a Pricing Table in WordPress
