How to Build Up Your Ecommerce Website Reviews and Increase Ecommerce Sales
It’s important to receive customer feedback as it provides valuable insights into their experience with your products or services. Whether positive or negative, these customer reviews and ratings are important for improving your ecommerce site. Not only do they have the power to boost visibility in search engines, but they can also foster trust, address customer questions, assist in decision-making, and increase click-through rates.
Discover the key to increasing the number of reviews on your website, understanding their vital role in ecommerce success, and effectively managing negative feedback. This article will dive into these valuable topics and offer insights to help your business prosper.
Why Are Product Reviews and Ratings Important?
Product reviews and ratings are crucial in improving SEO and visibility, establishing trust and credibility, and demonstrating authenticity and transparency. They also help address questions and concerns and can increase organic search and sales by encouraging customers to purchase. Below, we discuss how each aspect can benefit your ecommerce site and how they work.
SEO and Visibility Boost
Reviews can improve search engine rankings by regularly providing new user-generated content to an ecommerce site that search engines will deem valuable. They can also help with organic search results because relevant keywords included in the reviews are being added to the site. Additionally, customers on the site will spend time looking at reviews, which increases the average time spent on the page, signaling engagement to search engines.
Build Trust and Credibility
Customer reviews and product feedback can also build brand trust and provide information that can help future potential buyers decide if it's something they want. They will often turn to product reviews and ratings to see what colors look like in real life, the longevity and usability of a product, if people are satisfied with their purchases, and more. Even some negative reviews mixed in with positive reviews can appeal to customers because it shows the reviews are authentic and unbiased.
Increase Revenue by Aiding Customer Decision Making
It's important to remember that positive reviews and high ratings play a key role in giving customers confidence in their orders. This is especially true for high-ticket or complex items. In fact, according to a study by the Spiegel Research Center, displaying reviews can increase conversion rates by 270% for higher-priced products. This can significantly impact the revenue generated by your ecommerce business.
Furthermore, by knowing more about the products they want, customers are less likely to return items, leading to increased revenue and profitability. Customer reviews can encourage upsells and cross-sells when potential customers read how others have paired different products.
Increase CTR from Google’s Organic Search Results
Reviews can positively impact an ecommerce site's organic search results. They demonstrate to Google and potential customers that a product or service is reliable and that the company can be trusted. Having review snippets, rich snippets, and keyword-rich content can improve visibility and support better rankings.
How to Increase the Number of Reviews on Your Website
There are a variety of tactics that can be employed to increase the number of reviews on your website. Some of these tactics may include displaying reviews on an ecommerce site, making it very simple and quick for customers to leave a review of their own, incentivizing customers to leave reviews, and more. Discover some of the most powerful strategies to grow the number of reviews on your website below.
Make it Easy to Leave a Review
Make it as easy as possible for customers to submit reviews. Minimize the steps needed to submit a review, create a simple and user-friendly review process, optimize the site for mobile users, and include a clear call to action for customers to leave a review. Tailor reviews requests based on the customer's purchase history or experience.
Display Your Reviews on Your Website
Ensure that ratings and reviews are prominently displayed on the site, for example, above the fold or near the call-to-action buttons. Use eye-catching designs and page elements to draw visitors' attention to reviews, such as review counts and customer photos. Consider adding search functionality that allows users to find reviews mentioning specific keywords or topics and user-friendly formatting and filtering to help customers make informed decisions and improve their browsing experience.
Ensure that reviews are authentic and diverse, including positive, negative, and neutral reviews, to demonstrate honesty and transparency. Avoid censoring or selectively choosing what reviews are displayed, as it can damage trust and credibility. Consider using verification badges or labels to show that reviews come from verified purchasers or customers, as this can increase confidence and encourage customers to make purchases from the ecommerce website.
Send Purchase Follow Up Emails
Email marketing is another effective strategy for increasing reviews. The timing of email deployment, the number of emails sent, and the design of the emails can make all the difference. Send the first review request email within a reasonable timeframe after the product has been delivered. If they don’t respond, send a follow-up email if a reasonable period has passed.
Personalize emails requesting a product review by making them relevant to each recipient. This can be accomplished by designing emails that include the customer's name and reference their specific purchase, providing product benefits and features as a reminder. Furthermore, like the homepage, emails need a clear call to action that directs customers to the review submission form or page.
Use Incentives to Increase Customer Reviews
Offering customers special promotions or incentives to leave a review will also increase the probability they will write one. Types of incentives include discount codes, loyalty points, free shipping, or gift cards that can motivate customers to leave reviews. Consider the target audience and what is the most attractive incentive for them. Different incentives can help meet diverse customer preferences and maximize overall review volume.
Make sure that any incentives offered comply with the guidelines and policies of the review platforms and legal requirements. Avoid giving incentives in exchange for positive reviews, as this could be unethical. Following the rules, being transparent, and maintaining open communication will protect your business's reputation and build trust with customers and review platforms.
Make Reviews Count
Beyond benefiting other potential customers, reviews are an incredible source of information for businesses on how they are doing. Companies should work to improve products and services based on review feedback and identify common pain points, feature requests, or areas of improvement. Share the new and improved products based on reviews to let customers and reviewers see their feedback is valuable.
Build relationships with the most active and influential reviewers to create a community of brand advocates. This community can help generate more reviews and referrals over time. Consider offering these top reviewers exclusive perks, such as early access to new products, special discounts, or personalized service.
Ask for Reviews Directly
Leverage various channels and touchpoints, such as email, SMS, in-app messages, and social media, to ask for reviews directly. It can be helpful to try a variety of channels and approaches to see which ones encourage the most responses.
User-generated content (UGC), such as social media campaigns, is another great source for generating reviews. Encourage customers to share their product experiences, product photos, videos, and the use of relevant hashtags. Run contests or giveaways to require customers to share reviews on social media.
How to Deal with Negative Reviews
Managing negative reviews involves responding promptly and professionally, offering solutions, and using feedback to improve products and services. Challenges should be seen as opportunities to grow customer loyalty and brand reputation.
Respond Promptly and Professionally
Businesses need clear guidelines for responding to reviews, both positive and negative. These guidelines should include the need for a timely response, such as within 24-48 hours of a review. Customers need to know their feedback is important to build trust and credibility.
Consistency in responses is also a requirement to consider. Answers to reviews should be in the brand voice but humanized so customers know they are speaking with a person. Also, include language that shows an understanding of the customer's experience, whether positive or negative, and acknowledges their perspective.
Offer Solutions to Problems
Provide clear and specific solutions to fix the customer’s problem. After providing a solution, follow up with the customer to ensure that the issue has been fully resolved to their satisfaction. If the solution requires further action or investigation, keep the customer informed of your progress and any updates or changes. Work to ensure customer satisfaction; this shows commitment and that businesses genuinely care, which can lead to long-term customer loyalty.
What’s Next?
Want to learn more about increasing customer reviews and other beneficial strategies to help your ecommerce stores generate more revenue? Get in touch with the experts at ROC Commerce. We specialize in creating custom, flexible ecommerce websites tailored to suit your business and your customers' needs. Make the most of every visitor to your website with marketing and personalization features from ROC Commerce.
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