What is testimonial link building?
Testimonial link building is the practice of writing a genuine testimonial for a product or service you use and offering it to the vendor, who publishes it on their website alongside your name, company and a link to your site [1]. The link usually sits on the vendor's homepage, testimonials page or a case study page.
A typical example: a bakery has used the same online booking software for three years. The owner writes four sentences about how the software cut no-shows, sends them to the vendor's marketing team with a headshot, and the vendor adds the quote to its customers page with "Jane Smith, Owner, Smith's Bakery" linked to the bakery's website.
Testimonial link building is a small tactic. The number of testimonial links a business can earn is capped by the number of products and services it genuinely uses and rates, which for most businesses is a handful [2].
How does testimonial link building work?
Testimonial link building works in four steps [1] [2]:
- List what you actually use. Software, suppliers, agencies, plugins, equipment. Only products you have used long enough to judge belong on the list.
- Check how each vendor shows testimonials. Look at the vendor's homepage and testimonials page. Note whether testimonials carry links at all, and how those links are marked.
- Contact the right person. Marketing or customer success teams usually own testimonials. Offer a short, specific testimonial, and a photo or video if you can.
- Check the published version. Confirm the testimonial appears, the link points to the right page, and the link is not marked
nofolloworsponsoredif a followed link was what you hoped for.
Vendors agree because a specific testimonial from a real, named customer is useful sales material. The value to the vendor is the testimonial, and the link is the natural way to show the customer is real.
Is testimonial link building against Google's guidelines?
Testimonial link building is not named in Google's spam policies, but a testimonial written mainly to get a link sits close to a practice Google does name: exchanging goods or services for links [3]. Whether a testimonial link is fine or link spam depends on what is being traded.
Google's link spam examples include buying links, "exchanging goods or services for links", and excessive link exchanges [3]. A testimonial is content with value to the vendor. If the testimonial is offered on the condition that the vendor adds a followed link, the arrangement looks like a trade of content for a link.
Search Insider draws the line at the condition, not the link:
| Situation | How it reads |
|---|---|
| You praise a tool you use; the vendor publishes it and links your site, as it does for every customer quote | A normal editorial link |
| You ask whether the vendor links customer names, then decide to send a testimonial you would have written anyway | Fine |
| You offer a testimonial only if the vendor guarantees a followed link | A trade of content for a link, close to a link scheme |
| You praise a product you have not used, to get a link | Link spam, and a fake testimonial under US consumer law |
Google has not published any statement about testimonial links specifically. Anyone claiming Google "approves" or "penalizes" testimonial links is extrapolating from the general link spam policy.
Is testimonial link building legal?
Testimonial link building is legal when the testimonial is honest and comes from a real customer, but writing a testimonial for a product you have not used is now explicitly prohibited in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials, announced on August 14, 2024, bans reviews and testimonials that misrepresent that they come from someone with actual experience of the product [5]. The rule took effect on October 21, 2024 [6].
The same rule bans compensation conditioned on a review expressing a particular sentiment, positive or negative [5]. The FTC's updated Endorsement Guides, announced on June 29, 2023, separately expect material connections between an endorser and a business to be clearly disclosed [4] [8].
Two practical consequences follow for link builders:
- Never write a testimonial for a product you have not used. That is the clearest breach of the rule [5].
- Do not make the link the price of praise. The FTC has not said whether a backlink counts as compensation. Search Insider's view is that an arrangement in which a positive testimonial is given in return for a link is the kind of exchange worth avoiding, both for Google and for consumer law. This is not legal advice; businesses outside the US should check their own country's rules.
When did testimonial link building become popular?
Testimonial link building became a widely taught tactic in the late 2010s, with Matthew Woodward's guide on Search Logistics, first published on January 27, 2019, among the best known [1]. No single person is credited with inventing it, and the tactic's history is mostly a history of the rules around it.
2019: guides popularize homepage testimonial links
Search Logistics published its testimonial link building guide on January 27, 2019, presenting the tactic as a way to win homepage links from well-known software brands [1]. Woodward's guide stressed that testimonials should be honest and only for services the writer genuinely used [1].
2019: Google adds rel="sponsored" and turns nofollow into a hint
On September 10, 2019, Google introduced rel="sponsored" and rel="ugc" and announced that nofollow would be treated as a hint [7]. A testimonial link marked nofollow became something Google may or may not use, rather than one it ignored outright.
2023: FTC updates its Endorsement Guides
On June 29, 2023, the FTC announced updated Endorsement Guides covering fake reviews and the disclosure of material connections between endorsers and businesses [4].
2024: FTC bans fake testimonials
On August 14, 2024, the FTC announced its final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials, including those by people with no actual experience of the product, with civil penalties available for violations [5]. The rule took effect on October 21, 2024 [6].
What is the difference between a testimonial link and a review link?
A testimonial link is published by the vendor on the vendor's own site, while a review link is published by a third party, such as a blog or review platform, writing about the product. The vendor chooses which testimonials to show and can remove them at any time. A review is the reviewer's editorial content.
The two are often confused because some guides call writing a review on your own blog "testimonial link building". That is the reverse direction: you link to the vendor, and hope the vendor links back, which is closer to a link exchange.
Do testimonial links help SEO?
Testimonial links can help SEO in a small way, because a link from a relevant, established vendor is a real editorial signal, but how much any one link helps is not published by Google and cannot be measured directly. Two claims in circulation deserve caution:
- "Testimonials get you homepage links." Some do. Many vendors show testimonials without links, put them on a separate page, or mark the links nofollow. Check before you write.
- "Testimonials boost AI visibility." Editorial.Link lists visibility in AI search among the benefits [2]. No published study has measured that effect. A brand named on a vendor's site is one more mention on the web, which is plausible as a minor signal, but it remains a claim, not a finding.
Testimonial links are also fragile. Testimonial carousels change with every redesign, and homepage testimonials are often swapped out for newer or bigger-name customers. Expect some link decay.
How do you check a testimonial link?
To check a testimonial link, find your testimonial on the vendor's live page, right-click your company name and choose Inspect. If the highlighted code contains nofollow, sponsored or ugc, the link is not a plain followed link. If there is no <a href=...> around your name at all, you have a brand mention without a link, an unlinked brand mention.
Also check three things a backlink tool will not show you:
- Is the testimonial visible without clicking? Testimonials loaded only when a carousel rotates may not be in the page's initial HTML.
- Does the link point to the right page? Vendors sometimes link a homepage when you asked for a specific page, or misspell the URL.
- Is it still there in six months? Recheck after the vendor redesigns its site, because testimonial sections are often rebuilt or replaced.
When should you use testimonial link building?
Use testimonial link building when you genuinely use and rate a product, the vendor already publishes named customer testimonials, and you would be happy to give the testimonial even if no link came with it. In that case the tactic is low risk, takes an hour, and can earn a relevant link from a well-known site.
Do not use testimonial link building as a volume tactic. Pitching dozens of vendors you barely know, writing praise for products you have not used, or making a followed link the condition of the testimonial turns a legitimate courtesy into a link scheme and, in the US, a possible breach of the FTC's fake review rule [3] [5].