Why Product Reviews are Important & How to Get More Featured.jpg

Why Product Reviews are Important & How to Get More

According to Inc., 91 percent of people are reading online reviews, and what’s more is that 84 percent of them trust reviews just as much as personal recommendations.

People rely on reviews to help them gain some kind of understanding of what a product is really like in person. When people are shopping online and can’t touch or experience a product first-hand, they rely on the experience of others to guide their purchasing decisions.

And, it’s typically not enough to have one or two reviews for each product. You want as many reviews as you can get, because potential customers want to read them, and they want the reviews they read to be current.

Why You Need More Product Reviews

Aiding in the decision-making process is just one of the many reasons why you need more product reviews on your ecommerce website. Here are a few more benefits that come from earning more product reviews:

#1. Reviews drive sales.

When someone is able to see that previous customers have had a good experience with the product and are happy with it, they’ll be a lot more willing to actually make a purchase.

Customer reviews are trusted at a rate of 12 times more than descriptions on marketing materials. Suffice it to say, good reviews drive sales like nothing else.

The best part is that good reviews drive sales at no cost to you. You don’t have to pay for expensive ads to get more reviews; you simply need to put the time into getting more of them.

#2. Reviews improve organic visibility.

Organic visibility is huge for any small business online, but that’s especially true for small ecommerce businesses that are competing with big box retailers online and that don’t have the luxury of narrowing down their competition by geographical location.

Just as online shoppers trust the content of your customer reviews more than the product descriptions on your website and marketing materials, so does Google and other search engines.

When people write reviews for your products, a lot of them are going to naturally use the keywords that you’re targeting, and that will go a long way to helping your product to rank for those keywords.

Most of the gains you make in terms of SEO (search engine optimization) come from hours spent creating new content and building links, but with reviews, you can get a big organic boost without having to put in nearly the effort.

#3. Reviews help you get better.

Not every review you get will be a rave about the product in question. It’s totally natural to expect a negative review or two, and with any kind of feedback, you have to decide to either get bitter or get better.

Keep in mind that not every review will have a gold nugget of wisdom that you can learn from. Some people are impossible to make happy, no matter how incredible your product is or what kind of customer experience you provide. So how do you distinguish between picky customers and legitimate feedback that can help you get better?

Look for themes in your negative reviews. If multiple people have made comments about how your checkout process is clunky, it’s probably time to look into streamlining it and making it easier for your customers.

How to Get More Product Reviews

It’s easy to understand why having product reviews is so important, but actually getting them can often be the difficult part. The fact is that, while people heavily depend on reviews, not many will actually write them without being prompted. Here are a few ideas to help you generate more product reviews:

#1. Send follow-up emails.

After someone has made a purchase and received their product(s) in the mail, make it a point to send a follow-up email. This email doesn’t have to be too wordy. Simply, ask how satisfied they are with their purchase.

Anyone who has indicated that they are satisfied should be sent a request for a review. Make sure to include a link that sends customers directly to where they can leave a review on your website.

Most people will be happy to write a review if you ask, and sending follow-up emails makes requesting reviews easy, painless, and automatic.

#2. Make it easy for your customers to write reviews.

The fewer hoops your customers have to jump through to write a review for you, the more likely they will be to actually do it. That’s why making it as easy as possible for your customers to write reviews is an important part of getting more of them.

Make it possible for your customers to leave reviews directly on your website, and include a “Leave a Review” button right on the product page.

Sending a follow-up email also helps to make it easier for your customers to leave reviews. Your follow-up email that has a direct link to the appropriate place should eliminate the need for your customers to put in time searching for where to leave a review.

#3. Get more reviews with incentives.

If asking for reviews via follow-up emails isn’t enough to convince people to write reviews for your products, you can bet that incentives will be.

Offering incentives, like coupons, discounts, entries to sweepstakes, or loyalty points, is a great way to get more reviews. Just be careful, as this is a slippery slope to buying reviews, which is a definite no-no.

When you incentivize your reviews, make sure that you avoid requesting any specific type of review or requesting them from only some customers. Keep things legitimate by requesting reviews from everyone and simply asking for feedback rather than a specific type of feedback.

Getting more product reviews is easy; all it takes is a little consistency. And, it’s a great way to support the goals you have for your ecommerce website. However, if your website isn’t up to par, you need to go back to the drawing board and build one that is.

With the Websites 360® website builder, you have the tools to build a professional, user-friendly, mobile-friendly website. Plus, each design template is 100-percent customizable, giving you the ability to make it truly your own.

Start building your next-level ecommerce website today!