On most company websites the references look the same: a grey row of logos under a heading saying “Our clients”. The visitor learns nothing about what was done for whom, how it turned out, or whether the work happened last year or in 2014.
A logo without a number is decoration, not proof. This article is about what a case study people actually read looks like, how to ask for one so the client says yes, and what to do when they will not be named.
Short answer
- A reference needs three things: the brief, the solution and the result. Without the result it is a description of work, not a reference.
- The strongest sentence in the whole thing is the one where the customer talks about their own problem, not about you.
- Even a tight lipped client usually allows a relative figure. “A third more enquiries” passes where “from 40 to 61” never will.
- Ask at handover, not a year later. In a year the client has moved on and the enthusiasm has gone.
- Three solid case studies beat twenty logos. That holds for large companies too.
The five parts of a usable case study
The order follows how somebody considering an enquiry reads: first they look for themselves, then for the problem, and only then for you.
- Who the client is and what they do. One sentence including size and field. The reader is looking for themselves in it: “that is a company like ours”.
- What was wrong, in numbers where possible. Not “the client wanted a more modern website” but “the site produced two enquiries a month and half of them were outside our field”.
- What was done. Briefly and without jargon. The reader does not care which framework; they care which decision.
- What it delivered. A figure, a period, and an honest admission of what cannot be measured.
- A sentence from the customer. With a full name, role and company, otherwise it is text anybody could have written.
The second point is what is missing most often. Companies describe what they delivered rather than what it solved, and the reader is left with nothing to compare their own situation against.
| Kind of proof | What it actually proves | How much work |
|---|---|---|
| A client logo | That you met once. Nothing more | Almost none |
| A count of jobs or years | That the company exists and does something | Almost none |
| An unattributed quote | Nothing. Anybody could have written it | Almost none |
| A quote with a name and company | That a specific person stands behind the claim | One email and an approval |
| A review on a public profile | That you are not writing your own ratings | Asking, but you cannot control it |
| A case study with a number | That the work had a measurable result | Half a day and the client's consent |
| Video with the client | The strongest, because it cannot be faked cheaply | A day of work and a brave client |
How to ask so the client says yes
The most common reason companies have no case studies is not refusal. It is never having asked, or having asked at the wrong moment and in the wrong form.
- 1Ask at handover, not a year later. The client is pleased with a finished thing, it is fresh in their mind and their willingness is the highest it will ever be. A year on they have other worries.
- 2Do not ask for “a reference”. That sounds like homework. Ask for fifteen minutes on a call and agree that you will write it up for approval. The difference in success rate is enormous.
- 3Ask about the problem, not about yourself. “What annoyed you most before we started?” produces a better sentence than “Were you satisfied?”, and above all a different one: a usable one.
- 4Write the text for the client and send it for approval. Wait for the client to write it and you wait months. Send three finished paragraphs asking for corrections and you have it in two days.
- 5Ask about numbers before you start writing. Ideally the ones you measured yourself: enquiries, phone calls, admin time saved. For the client's own figures, expect an approval process.
- 6Offer something back. A link to their site, sharing the study on your channels, or their logo somewhere visible. It is not a bribe, it is the reason the effort is worth it to them.
- 7Send the exact wording that will be published and say where it will appear. Clients approve a sentence, not an idea, and that shortens approval from weeks to days.
When the client will not be named
It happens mostly with large companies, in the public sector and wherever the work is sensitive. It is not the end, it is a different form.
- Anonymise the company, not the situation. “A plastics manufacturer with 120 employees in the Zlín region” tells a reader more than a logo they do not recognise.
- Use relative figures. “A third more enquiries” gets through approval where absolute numbers never will, because turnover can be derived from them.
- Ask separately about the quote and about the name. Sometimes a quote passes without the company name, sometimes the name passes without a quote. Two questions have twice the chance of one.
- Offer approval of every word. In a corporate the fear of the legal department is larger than any unwillingness to help.
And the line we do not cross: invented figures and improved quotes are out of the question. Not only because it is dishonest. Because it comes out eventually and takes the true references down with it.
“The client was very satisfied with our professional approach and speed of delivery. We look forward to working together again.” No name, no number, nothing about what was actually solved. Anybody could have written that about anybody.
“We were getting two enquiries a month and half were outside our field. After the rebuild we get seven and nearly all of them fit. What helped most was putting prices on the site.” Jan Novák, managing director, a company of twenty people.
The honest part: when a reference does harm
- When it is out of scale. A small firm boasting about a multinational deters the sole trader, who concludes they cannot afford you. References should match the people you want to attract.
- When it is old. A 2018 case study in first place says there has been nothing to show since. The date belongs on a reference even when it stings.
- When there are twenty and they are all alike. Nobody reads twenty; people read three. The rest only dilutes.
- When it is written for you rather than the reader. You can tell by how often your company name appears against how often the customer's problem does.
The best check: give the case study to somebody in your target group and ask what they took from it. If they say “that you are good”, it is a bad one. If they say “that it lifted their enquiries and cost roughly this much”, it is a good one.
How we handle it
- Every reference of ours carries the brief, the solution and the result. Where we have no number we say so, rather than replacing it with an adjective.
- We install measurement at launch, so that six months later there is a figure to write a case study from. Without it all anybody can claim is that the site looks nicer.
- We ask at handover and write the text ourselves. The client only has to read and approve, which takes minutes.
- An anonymous version is fine. Field, size and region are enough; the name is not a condition.
And the honest other side: not every job produces a case study with a number. On some nothing was measured, on some the client does not want it published, and on some the result was good for reasons unrelated to the website. Admitting that is cheaper than manufacturing figures that will not hold up.
Frequently asked questions
What should a case study on a website contain?
Five parts: who the client is and what they do, what was wrong in numbers where possible, what was done, what it delivered, and a sentence from the customer with a name and company. The second part is what is missing most often. Without it the reader has nothing to compare their own situation against and it reads as a delivery note.
How do I ask for a reference so the client agrees?
Ask at handover rather than a year later. Do not ask for a reference; ask for fifteen minutes on a call, write it up yourself and send it for approval. Ask about the problem the client had rather than their satisfaction with you. And send the exact wording along with where it will be published.
What if the client will not be named?
Anonymise the company, not the situation: the field, the size and the region tell a reader more than an unfamiliar logo. Use relative figures, because turnover can be derived from absolute ones and they rarely survive approval. And ask separately about the quote and about using the name.
Do client logos work on a website?
As a supplement yes, as proof no. A logo only proves you once met; it says nothing about what was done or how it turned out. One case study with a number is stronger than twenty logos, and a named customer sentence is stronger still, because it cannot be manufactured.
Are there legal duties around reviews on a site?
Anybody publishing consumer reviews has had to state, since 6 January 2023, how they ensure the reviews come from people who genuinely used or bought the product or service. It follows from an amendment to the Czech Consumer Protection Act and the Czech Trade Inspection Authority checks it. Business to business case studies are outside that duty.
How many references should be on a website?
Three to six good ones on the home page and the rest on a page of their own. A reader will not go through twenty case studies; they read two or three that resemble their own situation. Twenty similar ones dilute the good ones and add maintenance.
Summary
- A logo without a number is decoration. A reference needs the brief, the solution and the result.
- What is missing most often is the starting position, the thing readers compare themselves against.
- The strongest sentence is the one where the customer talks about their problem, not about you.
- Ask at handover and write the text yourself. Waiting for the client to write it means waiting months.
- With a tight lipped client, a relative figure and an anonymous but specific description work.
- An out of scale reference deters people. Show the kind of work you want more of.
- The date belongs on a reference. A 2018 case study at the top says there has been nothing since.
Want a case study people actually read
When we build a site we install measurement with it, so six months later there is something to write from. And if you have finished jobs that never became case studies, write to us: we will go through them and say where a figure can still be reconstructed.
Sources
- Act No. 634/1992 Coll. on consumer protection, as amended by Act No. 374/2022 Coll. in force since 6 January 2023, on duties around consumer reviews
- The Czech Trade Inspection Authority on the consumer protection amendment
The rest of the article comes from what we see on projects rather than from research. The figures in the examples are illustrative and show the shape of a good reference, not data about any particular company.