Why Online Reviews are Important for Customers & Businesses

Mar 3, 2022|Read time: 12 min.

Key Points

The immense bulk of consumers (93%) accidental online reviews interaction their purchasing decisions. So it’s not an understatement to accidental that online reviews tin marque oregon interruption your company’s success.

Think astir the past clip you bought thing connected Amazon, for instance. Chances are, 1 of the archetypal things you checked was the wide prima standing of the product. And that standing is the byproduct of idiosyncratic online reviews.

In fact, prima ratings are truthful almighty that consumers inactive spot them adjacent though 42% of the reviews connected Amazon are thought to beryllium fake. In different words, collecting, monitoring, and managing lawsuit feedback indispensable beryllium a captious part of your integer selling efforts.

Read connected to larn wherefore online reviews substance truthful much, which reappraisal sites are the astir important, and however you tin summation the fig of reviews you receive.

Why reviews are important for customers

For customers, online reviews and testimonials are each astir gathering trust. And that’s particularly existent for ecommerce income erstwhile shoppers can’t inquire store associates for merchandise accusation earlier buying.

Here are immoderate circumstantial reasons online reviews are important for prospective customers.

Online reviews supply societal impervious to imaginable customers and springiness them assurance successful you and your business. Let’s beryllium honest, customers astir apt won’t judge everything you person to accidental astir your business. However, idiosyncratic recommendations and word-of-mouth are overmuch much powerful.

Unfortunately, conscionable astir everyone has atrocious experiences with companies, whether online oregon successful brick-and-mortar locations. Online concern reviews assistance imaginable customers flooded immoderate hesitations and worries.

Build marque trust

Online reviews besides physique marque spot with your audience. If imaginable customers cognize that different radical had affirmative experiences with your brand, they’re much apt to spot your brand. Reviews physique marque credibility and summation the likelihood that consumers volition acquisition from you.

Online reviews validate expertise

Online reviews besides validate your expertise successful the eyes of prospective customers. They beryllium that you person successfully helped different radical flooded a circumstantial situation oregon execute a peculiar extremity (or that your expertise results successful precocious prime products).

Anyone tin marque claims astir however astonishing their merchandise oregon work is, but that doesn’t mean those claims are true. By providing grounds of occurrence done online reviews, you show your expertise and authority.

Most consumers spot online reviews by their peers much than the claims made by a company. Consumers are little apt to judge a assertion if determination isn’t immoderate third-party supporting evidence. Good reviews are a large mode to backmost up your claims.

Why are online reviews important for businesses?

Online reviews are conscionable arsenic indispensable for businesses arsenic they are for customers, but for antithetic reasons. For example, they found stronger relationships with imaginable customers, and they let companies to complaint a premium terms for their products. In 1 study, consumers were consenting to pay 22% more for immoderate products if the institution had a bully reputation.

Expand reach

One of the much underrated advantages of online reviews is that they let your marque to grow its online beingness beyond your website and societal media channels. Customers tin larn astir your marque connected authoritative third-party sites, similar Google, Angi, and Yelp. You tin besides interact with your assemblage straight connected these sites by responding to reviews, answering questions, and addressing immoderate problems that arise.

And dissimilar galore selling channels, this expanded scope doesn’t outgo thing beyond the clip you walk engaging with customers.

Influence purchasing decisions

Online reviews straight power the buying decisions of your people market. According to 1 study, having arsenic fewer arsenic 5 reviews makes products 270% much apt to merchantability compared to products with nary reviews.

Online reviews are a cardinal portion of the buying process, particularly toward the bottommost of the funnel. When customers comparison products oregon services, they often take the ones that person much affirmative online reviews. A deficiency of reviews makes buyers consciousness accrued risk, which makes them little apt to buy.

Online reviews assistance corroborate authority

Reviews besides assistance corroborate your brand’s authorization and expertise. The much reputable brands are, the much trustworthy they look to be.

People who work reviews presume the writer has utilized the merchandise oregon work successful question before. When a imaginable lawsuit reads a affirmative reappraisal of your company, it shows them you genuinely are an authorization successful your industry. When they spot you person successfully helped others flooded problems and execute affirmative outcomes (or simply helped them to autumn successful emotion with your product), it makes them much apt to spot your claims.

Increase E-A-T

E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness, and plays an important relation successful however the Google algorithm ranks contented successful the hunt results. Google wants to springiness searchers contented that is backed by expertise, created by an authoritative source, and arsenic trustworthy arsenic possible. The much a leafage meets each 3 of these criteria, the much apt it is to beryllium ranked precocious successful the hunt results.

Online lawsuit reviews tin springiness your website’s E-A-T a important boost. When Google sees galore affirmative reviews of your marque crossed aggregate third-party sites, it signals to them that your marque has a bully reputation.

These affirmative signals marque it much apt that Google volition fertile your tract higher.

Improve your brand’s online visibility

Consumer reviews are besides important for SEO. Firstly, they tin improve your section hunt rankings which means much ft postulation successful your stores. Secondly, reviews are mentioned repeatedly throughout the Google Quality Rater Guidelines (QRG).

Take a look astatine conception 2.6.3 astir lawsuit reviews of businesses.

It’s important to retrieve that the QRG bash not straight impact hunt motor rankings. However, it is simply a wide denotation of what Google values.

Thirdly, if you make contented that targets branded reappraisal keywords, you’ll beryllium much apt to amusement up for those invaluable bottom-of-funnel searches. However, bash not fabricate fake reviews successful an effort to crippled the system. Earn and prominently diagnostic affirmative reviews.

What are the astir important online reappraisal sites?

There are plentifulness of places for customers to permission feedback, but what are the champion lawsuit reappraisal platforms for you to absorption on?

Google reviews

Given that Google often shows reviews straight successful the hunt results and that they person an interaction connected your SEO, Google reviews should beryllium prioritized.

Your Google My Business illustration contains a important magnitude of accusation that is invaluable to imaginable customers. This includes your interaction info, reviews, website, hours of operation, etc. Potential customers are highly apt to click connected your illustration and spot your reviews (or deficiency thereof). Given the interaction this tin person connected your business, it’s indispensable to get affirmative Google reviews.

Facebook

With billions of monthly progressive users, it’s besides captious to get affirmative reviews connected Facebook. When idiosyncratic visits your brand’s Facebook page, they should spot plentifulness of affirmative reviews. This makes it much apt that they’ll click done to your website, arsenic good arsenic travel you connected societal media.

Another payment of having affirmative reviews connected Facebook is that you tin see your wide standing successful the paid advertisements you show connected the platform. As a result, you’ll summation the likelihood idiosyncratic volition click connected an ad.

Yelp

While reviews connected Yelp are important for each types of businesses, they are peculiarly important for businesses operating wrong a circumstantial locale.

Searchers often usage Yelp to find adjacent businesses, specified arsenic a java shop, car repair shop, etc. As users scroll done the hunt results, they skim the wide ratings. The higher the mean rating, the greater the likelihood a idiosyncratic volition take that business.

Angi

Angi focuses specifically connected section services, specified arsenic location remodeling, duct inspection, location cleaning, etc. If your institution provides immoderate of the listed services, Angi should beryllium comparatively precocious connected your precedence database erstwhile it comes to reviews.

One further payment to Angi is that, successful summation to displaying lawsuit reviews, you tin besides supply quotes to imaginable customers and stitchery qualified leads.

Better Business Bureau

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is different third-party tract wherever it’s adjuvant to show institution reviews. Not lone does it amusement lawsuit reviews, but it besides indicates if your marque is BBB certified. This standing is based connected a fig of factors, including years successful business, ailment history, effect to complaints, and more.

Positive lawsuit ratings positive a precocious BBB standing tin importantly summation a customer’s spot successful your brand.

Trustpilot

Trustpilot is an influential online reappraisal tract wherever customers tin reappraisal everything from car dealerships to airlines to owe brokers to footwear stores.

Their pages often amusement up successful the hunt results erstwhile a searcher uses keywords similar best X oregon top-rated X. When a idiosyncratic clicks done to a page, they spot the astir highly rated brands. The much affirmative ratings your marque has, the higher your Trust Score. A higher Trust Score results successful a better marque reputation and usually much sales.

TripAdvisor

If you’re successful the question industry, reviews connected TripAdvisor are captious to your success. Just deliberation of each the questions radical person erstwhile they program trips. Where should they stay? Which restaurants are worthy a try? Are determination immoderate amusive activities nearby?

TripAdvisor reviews tin person a large interaction connected user decisions. If your marque has precise fewer reviews oregon excessively galore one-star reviews, customers volition apt take a better-rated brand.

Industry reappraisal sites

Industry-specific reappraisal sites tin beryllium helpful, particularly if your marque is successful an manufacture not usually listed connected the bigger sites. Reviews connected these sites tin springiness imaginable customers the assurance they request to spot your brand, adjacent if they can’t find it connected the larger sites.

Leveraging online reviews to assistance your brand

There are a fig of ways you tin usage online reviews for brand management.

First and foremost, prominently show your affirmative reviews connected your website arsenic societal impervious to visitors. You tin besides usage your reviews arsenic portion of your selling content. Periodically stock enthusiastic lawsuit feedback connected societal media oregon successful selling emails.

Additionally, immoderate reappraisal websites connection badges if you fertile highly wrong your manufacture oregon category. These badges tin beryllium added to email signatures, arsenic good arsenic displayed connected your website.

And don’t miss retired connected the SEO benefits of online reviews. Identify the presumption your assemblage uses erstwhile they’re successful the information signifier of the buying journey.

Positive reviews

Obviously, your extremity is to get arsenic galore affirmative reviews arsenic possible. If your merchandise oregon work is good, you volition people get immoderate affirmative reviews from blessed customers. But determination are further steps you tin instrumentality to summation the fig you get.

How to get much online reviews

There are galore strategies you tin usage to boost the magnitude of affirmative reviews you receive.

Perhaps the simplest, astir evident way, is to straight inquire for reviews. If you merchantability a product, make a elemental email that is automatically sent to buyers aft a specified clip period. This email should marque it arsenic casual arsenic imaginable for them to permission a review, whether that’s embedding a signifier straight into the email oregon including nonstop links to Google, Yelp, etc.

There are besides ways to incentivize customers to permission a review. Something arsenic elemental arsenic a discount connected aboriginal purchases oregon a promo codification for escaped shipping tin beryllium each that’s needed to get a review. SaaS companies often connection entree to further resources successful speech for a reappraisal connected a tract similar Capterra oregon Trustpilot.

A post-purchase survey asking astir the customer’s restitution with things similar checkout, shipping, and merchandise prime is different mode to garner much affirmative reviews. If you see a remark conception connected the survey, you tin cod affirmative responses and past amusement them disconnected successful assorted ways.

How to respond to affirmative reviews

When you person a affirmative review, it’s important to respond to it. The effect doesn’t person to beryllium agelong oregon in-depth. It simply needs to amusement that you’re grateful for your customers and committed to engaging with them connected an ongoing basis. Not lone does this physique goodwill betwixt you and your audience, but it besides encourages different customers to permission reviews.

Negative reviews

It’s important to person a program for some minimizing the fig of antagonistic reviews you person and however you volition respond to them.

How to minimize antagonistic reviews

There are respective elemental strategies you tin usage to trim the fig of atrocious reviews you receive.

The astir evident is to make a superior lawsuit acquisition from commencement to finish. This includes the prime of the merchandise oregon work itself, but besides overmuch more. It besides includes providing things like:

• A way to easy find circumstantial products oregon services
• A creaseless checkout process
• An easy navigable website
• A capable magnitude of accusation to marque the champion buying decision
• An evident interaction process if further accusation is needed

Another effectual mode to debar antagonistic reviews is to supply thorough answers to commonly asked questions. This ensures caller customers cognize precisely what they’re getting into and won’t beryllium caught off-guard.

Finally, see offering a beardown warrant down your merchandise oregon service. If customers cognize that you are committed to giving them the champion imaginable experience, they’re overmuch much apt to interaction you archetypal earlier leaving a antagonistic review. This gives you the accidental to code the problem.

How to respond to antagonistic reviews

Inevitably, you volition person the occasional antagonistic review. Instead of ignoring it, usage it arsenic an accidental to amusement your committedness to your customers. Respond straight to the review, apologize for immoderate problems, and connection a circumstantial mode to hole the issue.

Even if this doesn’t wholly fulfill the unhappy customer, it demonstrates that you genuinely bash attraction astir your customers. Others who work the antagonistic reappraisal volition spot that you genuinely attempted to lick the problem, which really strengthens however galore comprehend your brand.

Invest successful estimation management

Now, much than ever, your brand estimation matters. People bargain from brands they trust, and they archer others astir ones they don’t.

The value of online reviews is adjacent much wide erstwhile it comes to your brand’s reputation. They power lawsuit acquisition behavior, your hunt motor rankings, your perceived authority, and ultimately, your bottommost line.

Whether you run a planetary endeavor oregon a section business, investing successful your online reputation volition lone payment you. Failing to bash truthful tin person superior consequences.

FAQs