How to Add Scrolling Testimonials to Your WordPress Site

Testimonials are great. They’re a sign that you’re doing something right with your WordPress business. So, you should be proud to put them on your website for the world (and prospective customers) to see.

The only problem with testimonials, however, is that they usually come in the form of written praise. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it does mean that you’re giving visitors even more text to read on your site now. Unless you have clients who are willing to record a video of themselves talking about how amazing you are, how do you get over the potential ho-hum factor of adding a plain-text testimonial to your WordPress site?

Here’s the thing: a written testimonial is not necessarily going to be as eye-catching as other types of user-generated content, like photos or videos. If you don’t want visitors to completely miss the important truth nuggets found within your testimonials, then adding movement to them could help direct visitors’ eyes over to these trust builders.

Scrolling testimonials. Sliding testimonials. Rotating testimonials. Whatever you want to call them, these blocks of moving testimonials will help give visitors a more accurate picture of what it’s like to work with you—and, more importantly, the benefits of working with you—all in one consolidated, but engaging space on the page.

WordPress plugins, as always, will help you achieve this cool effect, so let’s take a look at what your options are and walk through the process of getting scrolling testimonials on your WordPress site today.

In this post:

WordPress Scrolling Testimonials Plugins
BNE Testimonials Plugin
Easy Testimonials Plugin
Testimonials Showcase for WordPress Plugin
Testimonials Widget Plugin

How to Create Scrolling Testimonials

WordPress Plugins to Add Scrolling Testimonials to Your WordPress Site

Scrolling testimonials are a great way to capture your visitors’ attention and show them there’s something worth looking at in this specific spot on your WordPress site. That’s why you should use a plugin to give them the extra pop and attention-grabbing design that’s sure to get them read.

Here are some options:

BNE Testimonials Plugin

BNE Testimonials Plugin

The BNE Testimonials plugin is available for free in the WordPress repository if you want to get a sense for how it works. Basically, it enables you to set up individual testimonials and then insert a shortcode that indicates how you want them displayed: as a vertical list or as a slider. It’s then up to you what sort of information you want to include. Customer name and quote are required, but you can also add:

Photo
Testimonial category
Company name or tagline
Company’s website URL

It’s the premium version of this plugin, however, that’s really going to help you make a good impression with these scrolling testimonials. Features include:

Masonry and thumbnail slider layouts with pagination guides
Additional theme designs
Testimonials imported from Facebook, Yelp, and Google
Ratings (when appropriate)
Testimonial submission form

More details: BNE Testimonials Plugin

Easy Testimonials Plugin

Easy Testimonials Plugin

The free version of the Easy Testimonials plugin should be sufficient enough for what you want to accomplish.

You’ll be able to:

Add sliding testimonials to sidebar, widget, or within a page or post
Include images with each testimonial
Add a rating to testimonials
Organize testimonials by using the category feature
Link testimonials to relevant product or service pages

If you build or manage a large volume of websites that you know will need a testimonial slider and you want each to have a custom look, you’ll likely want to upgrade to Pro. There are 75+ themes included, you have more control over typography, and there is more room to experiment with animated slide transitions.

More details: Easy Testimonials Plugin

Testimonials Showcase for WordPress Plugin

Testimonials Showcase for WordPress Plugin

This is one of the more versatile and powerful testimonial plugins on this list. That’s because it gives you the power to create any type of testimonial list, page, widget, or slider. And there are no restrictions on customization either. You could also use this to build a slider or running list for partner or client logos, team member bios, etc. You can update:

Layout
Fonts
Colors
Spacing
Placement of testimonial elements
Hover effects
Autoplay and timer
Ratings display options
Social media integration

The Testimonials Showcase plugin also comes with a drag-and-drop builder, which makes the process of building out your scrolling testimonials even easier.

More details: Testimonials Showcase for WordPress Plugin

Testimonials Widget Plugin

Testimonials Widget Plugin

Simply designed so as to work with whatever theme your site uses, this is a great plugin for when you only want to display your testimonials in a sliding, fading, or carousel widget. Perhaps the best thing about this plugin, however, is that it allows for mixed content, so you don’t have to worry about keeping your text testimonials separate from those rare video testimonials you receive from clients. All will work in this plugin.

Here is what you can expect from the free version of this plugin:

Responsive slider
Choice of sliding transition
Speed controls
Slider controls
Client name, photo, job title, location, company, contact information, URL, and testimonial fields available
Image, text, and video compatible
Show testimonials based on category, some other pre-determined setting, or you can show them at random

More details: Testimonials Widget Plugin

While you could use a slider or carousel plugin to build out your scrolling testimonials, it’s best to use a plugin created specifically for testimonials. Images and videos have a different way in which they should be displayed and promoted, which is why there are plugins like these that mostly cater to all-text testimonials that rely more on beautiful headshots, ratings systems, and plentiful white space.

How to Create Scrolling Testimonials with the Easy Testimonials Plugin

Most of the scrolling testimonial WordPress plugins mentioned above will give you similar settings to calibrate. The process of getting those scrolling testimonials on the page will be similar, too. For the purposes of this example, I’m going to use the Easy Testimonials plugin to show you how to add scrolling testimonials to your site:

Step 1 – Collect Testimonials

In order to have scrolling testimonials on your WordPress site, you’re going to need testimonials (plural). So, I’d advise you to spend some time collecting testimonials from clients, both past and present. In fact, this is an excellent opportunity to reconnect with past clients. You can see how they’re doing and take an interest in what’s going on with them now. You never know. They may be ready to jump back on board for support assistance, a redesign, or something else entirely.

Here are some tips on how to collect testimonials:

Send your current clients a survey.
Reach out to everyone else by email.
Use pop-up surveys on your website to gather feedback and testimonials. (Definitely go the route of asking for both, so your customers know that you’re interested in hearing from them, in general, and not just in gathering words of praise.)
Capture your clients’ testimonials when talking to them on the phone. You’ll likely hear these potent quotables at the very end of a project. The best thing to do is record your conversations, so you can go back and get their exact phrasing later. You can also write your own testimonials based on what you believe your clients would say about the work you did. Then send them a copy of the testimonial, explaining that you’re looking to grow your business and would love their assistance in providing you with some positive words.

In exchange for any of these testimonials, be sure to let your clients know that they’ll receive a backlink to their business website, which will in turn help their SEO efforts.

Also, don’t forget to ask your clients’ permission to use the testimonial. In order to make a real impact with testimonials, you’ll need to at least include the person’s name and the company they work for. That way visitors won’t worry about whether the “Good job!” testimonial without a name was real or not.

Once you have their permission, then you can go ahead and add it to your site. But first…

Step 2 – Install and Activate the Plugin

When you’ve found the WordPress plugin you want to use to add scrolling testimonials to your site, install and activate it.

For the purposes of this tutorial, I’m going to use the Easy Testimonials plugin.

Install and activate the Easy Testimonials plugin.

Once your plugin is installed, you can get started creating your testimonials.

Easy Testimonials screen and menu.

Step 3 – Add New Testimonials

Using the new Testimonials area in WordPress, click on Add New. You’ll arrive at a page that looks just like the new post or page modules in WordPress.

Add New Testimonial screen.

Fill in this page with your testimonial details, including individual settings like:

Client Name
Email Address
Position/Web Address/Other
Location / Product / Item Reviewed
Rating

Also, make sure to review and fill in the Testimonial block settings.

Add new testimonial

When you’re ready, click the Publish button.

Repeat the above process to add all the testimonials you want to display.

Step 4 – Generate Testimonial Shortcode

After adding your testimonials, go through and configure your testimonial styling options. See the Help & Instructions section of the plugin menu for detailed setup instructions.

When you’re done configuring your testimonial settings, go to the Advanced Settings section.

Easy Testimonials Advanced Settings – Shortcode Options

To display scrolling testimonials, select and copy the Testimonials Cycle Shortcode to your clipboard.

Step 5 – Embed Scrolling Testimonials

Finally, you’ll need to embed your scrolling testimonials into your website.

Paste the shortcode from your clipboard into your content.

Paste your testimonials shortcode into your content.

After embedding the code and publishing, preview your website to confirm that all looks exactly as intended.

If any adjustments need to be made, simply revisit the Testimonial plugin settings and edit accordingly. Then republish your page or post containing testimonials when you’re ready.

Wrapping Up

Testimonials are a popular form of social proof to help brands establish credibility. They’re especially helpful when running a business like yours that is (mostly) relegated to remote and online interactions with clients.

These type of trust-builders give you an opportunity to “sell” new clients on your trustworthiness and professionalism without having to meet in person. They’re also a great way to give potential customers some insights into what it’s actually like to work with you or use your products.