The Benefits of Customer Reviews and How to Get More

We live in a world where people are constantly expressing their opinions about stores, products, restaurants, experiences and services. No matter where these reviews live (Google, Yelp, social media, your website, etc.), they can sometimes make or break your business. A good combination of negative and positive reviews can increase sales and bring more customers. These customer reviews are very important for every webstore to have. Whether you are an established company or one making its way into the industry, you need reviews to help customers, influence them to purchase and improve your website as a whole. In this guide, we discuss the benefits of reviews and how to get more. 

First, let’s go over the benefits of reviews.

Adds Trust and Credibility

Let’s be honest — we’ve all checked out the reviews of restaurants, events, places, products and stores before we visited or purchased from them. It is human nature to see what others think and have experienced. Reviews posted by their peers give customers extra reassurance. All shoppers want to know that a company’s provided experience, customer service, services and products are up to standard and are worth it. Whether you have positive or negative reviews (or a mix), customers are actively looking for companies that include them. The more reviews you have, the more trustworthy and credible your brand is in their eyes. In fact, 91% of young consumers trust online reviews as personal recommendations. By not including reviews, you are missing out on a plethora of potential customers.

Improves Search Engine Results Ranking

Everything on your website, including reviews from customers, gives Google extra content to analyze. This user-generated content improves your SEO efforts, especially if they use your targeted keywords. The more you or your customers target your keywords, the higher your ranking can go up. But remember, many moving parts come with SEO. Reviews alone will not make a deep impact on your rank. To thoroughly improve your SEO and ranking, work with a professional and knowledgeable marketing team who understands the moving and technical parts of search engine optimization. 

Influence Customers

Since shoppers view reviews as personal recommendations, these opinions also influence customers to complete a purchase. In many cases, the product or service review is the main factor in persuading potential consumers to make that purchase decision. These shoppers want to know what other people thought, the item’s worth or value and the product’s quality. No one likes receiving a product that does not meet their expectations. That is where reviews come into play. Positive and negative opinions will guide your shoppers into deciding if they should purchase or not. While you may not want negative reviews, they still need to go up to show customers that your brand is authentic. However, if you notice that a product or service is receiving only bad reviews, you may need to reconsider the nature, presentation and quality of the product itself and go back to the drawing board.

Improves Click-Thru Rate

As a business, one of your main goals is to get customers to click your link on search results. And, we’re here to let you know that reviews do improve these clicks. 56% of customers click on companies that have online reviews. And, webstores that have three stars or more have even more chances of customers visiting or purchasing. People trust sites that have reviews, which makes them more comfortable in visiting. 

Now that you understand the benefits, it is time to learn how to get more reviews. 

Send Surveys or Follow-Up Emails

Sometimes shoppers need that extra reminder to leave their opinion. A common way that companies gain reviews about products or their webstore is to send surveys or follow up emails. An email is a great way to direct your customers to where they need to leave a review. Depending on what your customers prefer, there are many ways to get these reviews. You can send them directly to their product, create a multiple choice survey or ask them to leave the review through email. The best way to discover which option suits your business is to A/B test them. These emails are also the perfect opportunity to include a call to action, other items and personalization.

Have a Google My Business Listing

Your webstore reviews do not have to be on your website only. Instead, you can venture out to other platforms like Google My Business. A Google My Business listing calls out your store hours, website, business description, address, images and store reviews. This platform is a free extension that allows you to engage with your customers, gain new shoppers and lets you see how consumers are interacting with your page. You can also pair up your listing with your website, so everything stays connected. Implementing Google My Business is achievable on your own but includes a lot of technical elements that would go more smoothly with an experienced marketing team. Once you start a Google My Business account, everything you post and all the reviews you receive will also affect your SEO efforts.

Interact With Users Leaving Reviews

Online users enjoy when brands interact with them. All people want to see is if there is a person behind the brand. And nowadays, it is more important than ever because shoppers are looking for brands that are authentic, ethical and care for their customers. They want to see a company that takes the extra time to acknowledge them. In fact, 53% of people expect a reply to their review within one hour. While this may not always be possible, try to respond within 24 hours. The sooner you reply, the higher chances of having a better reputation with customers. Interacting with your users gives potential customers additional trust and confidence and helps existing customers want to continue shopping from you. 

Sportys interacts with their customers even off their webstore when they leave reviews on their Google My Business listing:

Reward Customer for Their Input

While some customers are happy to leave reviews without any issues, you can entice more shoppers to leave their opinion by offering an exclusive discount once the review is complete. You can send out an email or text message explaining the steps on how to leave a review and how to receive the exclusive offer. This reward does not have to be big. Typically, brands keep it between 10-30% off the shopper’s next purchase.

While Interactone cannot produce these reviews for your company, we can help you set up and design your review sections as well as provide the best ways reviews will help your business. If you are ready to improve your reviews, website, social media, email campaigns, marketing campaigns, SEO and more, give us a call today.