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Guide

How to Import Testimonials You Already Have

Already collected feedback from your clients, in a spreadsheet, a form or another tool? Bring it into Akteora in a few minutes. All you need is one CSV file with one testimonial per row, and this guide shows you how to make it.

Download the CSV templateStart importing

Updated · 7 min read

1. Get your testimonials into a spreadsheet

Most forms and testimonial tools can export what you collected as a spreadsheet or CSV file. Open that export in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers. If yours can’t export, copy the testimonials into our template instead.

Only import testimonials you have the right to republish. Some review sites, such as Google and Trustpilot, limit how reviews posted there may be reused, so check their terms before you import from one. Akteora asks you to confirm that every import is genuine, marks imported testimonials as imported, and publishes none of them until you approve it.

Download the CSV template

The template opens in any spreadsheet program. It has the column names already in row 1 and two example reviews to replace.

2. Arrange the columns

Row 1 must hold the column names, and every row below it is one review. Delete any title rows, totals or blank rows above the headers. Only text is required. Name your columns as below and Akteora matches them automatically; if yours are named differently (“Review”, “Reviewer Name”, “Star Rating”), they are usually recognised too, and you can always match them by hand while importing. Other columns are ignored, so there is no need to delete them.

ColumnWhat goes in itExample
text
Required		The review, exactly as the customer wrote it. Up to 5,000 characters.They rebuilt our onboarding in two weeks.
name
Optional		The customer’s name, shown with the review.Maria López
rating
Optional		Whole stars from 1 to 5. Leave it empty for half stars or other scales.5
date
Optional		When the review was written, year first.2025-03-14
title
Optional		Their job title.Head of Operations
company
Optional		Where they work.Fernhill Studio
email
Optional		Kept private. Never shown publicly.maria@fernhill.com
source_url
Optional		A link to the review on the site it came from.https://g.page/r/…
source
Optional		Only when one file mixes reviews from several sites.Trustpilot

3. Fix dates and ratings

  • Dates: write them year first, like 2025-03-14. 14 March 2025 and March 14, 2025 work too. A date like 03/04/2025 is refused, because it is 4 March in some countries and 3 April in others. In Excel, select the column → Format Cells → Custom → type yyyy-mm-dd.
  • Ratings: whole stars from 1 to 5. 4/5, 4 stars and ★★★★☆ are understood. A half star (4.5) or a score out of 10 can’t be shown as stars. Leave that cell empty and the review still imports. A customer’s rating is never rounded or converted.
  • Review text: leave it exactly as the customer wrote it. Imported reviews are shown as the customer’s own words.

4. Save it as a CSV file

Excel (Windows and Mac)

  1. File → Save As (on a Mac, Save a Copy also works).
  2. Choose CSV UTF-8 (Comma delimited) (*.csv). Avoid the plain “CSV (Comma delimited)”: on Windows it saves accented names like “López” in a way that can’t be read reliably, and Akteora will ask you to save again.
  3. If Excel warns that some features will be lost, choose Keep current format. Only the sheet you are on is saved, so keep your reviews on one sheet.

In countries where Excel uses a comma for decimals, it separates values with semicolons. That’s fine: Akteora detects commas, semicolons and tabs automatically.

Google Sheets

  1. To start from an Excel file, open a new sheet and use File → Import.
  2. Select the date column → Format → Number → Custom date and time, and choose year-month-day.
  3. File → Download → Comma-separated values (.csv). The current sheet downloads, already in UTF-8.

Numbers (Mac)

  1. File → Export To → CSV…
  2. Open Advanced Options and set Text Encoding to Unicode (UTF-8).

5. Import it in Akteora

  1. In the dashboard, open Inbox → Import reviews. Owners and admins can import.
  2. Choose the brand the reviews are about, and where they were first posted.
  3. Choose your CSV file. It is read on your computer and never uploaded as a file.
  4. Check that each column is matched to the right field.
  5. Look at the problems listed, if any. Rows with a problem are left out; the rest can be imported now.
  6. Confirm that these are genuine reviews copied without changes, and import.

Your reviews arrive in the inbox labelled with where they came from, and unapproved, so you choose which to publish on your website widget and testimonial page.

Import reviews now

If something doesn’t import

“… could be read two ways”
The date looks like 03/04/2025. Reformat the column as yyyy-mm-dd (step 3).
“Ratings must be whole stars from 1 to 5”
It is a half star or another scale. Leave the cell empty and import again.
“This file isn’t saved as UTF-8”
It was saved as plain “CSV”. Save it again as CSV UTF-8 (step 4).
“The review text is empty”
A row has no review, or the wrong column is matched to Review text. Delete blank rows and title rows above the headers.
Which one is “Row 3”?
Rows are counted from your first review. The line number shown beside it is the row number you see in your spreadsheet.
I fixed the file. Will importing it again create duplicates?
No. Reviews already imported for the brand are recognised and skipped, so you can import the whole corrected file again.

What happens to imported reviews

  • They are labelled with their source, such as “Imported from Google”, wherever they appear.
  • They arrive unapproved and private until you publish them.
  • Their star ratings are shown on the review but not counted in your public average, which reflects testimonials collected through Akteora.
  • Their words are stored exactly as imported and can’t be edited afterwards.

Plans include a number of imported reviews: see pricing. Developers can import through the API as well. See the importing guide in the developer docs.