In the world of eCommerce, where people can’t physically touch items before purchasing, online shop reviews offer a much-needed glimpse of a product’s experience, helping buyers make informed decisions before clicking the “check-out” button.
Businesses want to sell – shoppers know this, so they turn to reviews to verify the brand’s claims about their offerings. Consumers trust reviews because they are unbiased opinions from buyers who want to share their experiences. If used strategically, eCommerce reviews can become powerful social proof that persuades people to purchase.
In this blog, we discuss how reviews can bring you more leads and sales by touching on the following topics:
- Why online customer reviews are the ultimate salesperson for eCommerce
- Effective ways to collect reviews
- The best review platforms to leverage
- The importance of reviews in SEO
Why Online Customer Reviews Are the Ultimate Salesperson for eCommerce
Reviews are vital for online businesses.They are among the top information consumers seek when faced with a buying decision. In fact, you don’t have to do as much convincing when you have online store reviews. The positive feedback from your previous customers will speak for your business, and that’s why online customer reviews are the ultimate salesperson for eCommerce.
However, there are review metrics you need to focus on to get the best outcomes out of your business reputation management program, and they are:
Review Quantity
A famous saying goes, “Less is more,” but it doesn’t apply with review generation. The number of online store reviews you have matters.
According to a G2 and Heinz Marketing study, 61 percent of buyers read 11 to 50 reviews before making a purchase.
Humans tend to follow each other’s patterns, and this is especially true when online shopping. When people rave about a particular product, it’s a validation that the merchandise is as good as the business claims. But how many eCommerce website reviews until a business appears trustworthy in the eyes of its target market?
According to a research survey by Digital, a store needs over 100 online shop reviews to be regarded as reliable, says 39 percent of the respondents. For this reason, a business should always seek opportunities to generate reviews.
Review Recency
Review recency pertains to how long ago online store reviews were published for a product. It is another essential metric in your eCommerce marketing strategy because 85 percent of buyers look for how recently the review was written to influence their buying decision (Bazaarvoice). In addition, 41 percent of consumers strongly agree that reviews written in the past month are more reliable than those published on older dates (Bazaarvoice).
The statistics outlined above show the need for constant review generation efforts to capture your target’s interest.
Review Relevancy
Most review platforms don’t show eCommerce reviews in chronological order. Instead, they are displayed by what the platform deems as “Most Relevant.” Five significant factors make a review more relevant than the others, and they are:
- Keywords: Using the name of the business and the product’s name can increase the review’s relevance ranking.
- Length: The number of words can impact the relevance of the evaluation. The more words the feedback contains, the better.
- Local: Feedback posted by a user who shared other reviews in the local area is seen as more relevant.
- Specific: Reviews with clear examples or specific stories are more likely to rank higher.
- Time: The more time passes since the review was given, the less important it becomes.
Effective Ways To Collect Reviews
Businesses must generate reviews continually to gain the maximum benefits from them. Here are the most effective ways to collect them:
- Post-purchase emails: Email campaigns are among the most effective review generation methods today. According to ReviewTrackers, 70 percent of online shop reviews come from post-transactional review solicitation emails.
- Display CTAs everywhere: Encourage your buyers to take action by displaying calls to action (CTAs) prominently. Post them on your social media accounts, website and listings. You can also add a review request to the product package.
- Utilize QR codes: QR codes are the quickest method to generate reviews. Customers can scan your QR Code and give their rating or feedback in under a minute.
The Best Review Platforms To Leverage
Managing your presence on review sites is integral to your business reputation management strategy. However, there are a lot of review sites out there, and creating an account for each is not ideal.
Here are the top review sites that consumers most visit:
Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile, previously Google My Business (GMB), is a free site for brands to manage their presence on Google. With a GMB profile, your business comes up in search results whenever a potential customer does a related search. When someone searches for a query, they are presented with a local pack that shows three to four relevant local businesses that sell the products they are searching for. Each enterprise displays a star rating that customers give after a purchase. Clicking on the listing shows the eCommerce website reviews.
Yelp
Yelp is another review platform frequented by consumers, receiving over 178 million visitors monthly. If you don’t have a Yelp profile, you miss out on all those potential customers. A study performed at Harvard Business School discovered that each additional rating star added to online store reviews on Yelp meant a five to nine percent increase in revenue for that business.
Amazon
Amazon is the world’s biggest eCommerce marketplace. So, it’s no surprise that it is one of the most powerful business review sites today. If you are new to selling on this website, some experts offer Amazon marketing services to help you set up your shop and create a streamlined review acquisition process. When hiring Amazon marketing services, you set yourself up for success in this highly competitive platform.
The Importance of Reviews in SEO
The importance of reviews doesn’t end with establishing a reputation and validating your products. Since they are a form of user-generated content (UGC), eCommerce reviews also impact your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. Google relies on signals to determine if a site is worth good rankings. When a user leaves eCommerce website reviews for your products, Google sees that as an endorsement of trust, rewarding you with better visibility on the results pages.
Google stated that managing and responding to reviews is also a crucial ranking factor. Therefore, constant review monitoring is necessary to respond promptly and appropriately.
However, review monitoring and response take a lot of time and effort. If you feel you don’t have the time to do the processes yourself or don’t have the in-house staffing to carry out the tasks, you can outsource the service instead. Local SEO experts offer online reputation management services, including everything you need to maximize your gains from reviews. So let the local SEO experts handle your review monitoring, generation and response procedures and focus your attention on more pertinent aspects of your business operations.
Unlock eCommerce Success With Review Management
Online reviews are an effective word-of-mouth marketing strategy in the digital age that provides good perspectives on products. The key to gaining more leads and sales is setting up continuous review generation, monitoring and response processes. Doing so positions your business ahead of the curve in the highly competitive landscape of eCommerce.
Rize Reviews can be your partner in setting up an effective eCommerce marketing strategy that produces the best outcomes for your business. Our online reputation management services can help you get more reviews, attract more customers and grow your business. You can contact us by calling 866.325.0303 or filling out our online form.
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