Online reviews are very important for your website. They give visitors a good impression about your company and can be decisive in leading to a conversion. In this article, I will tell you why reviews are important for your website and why you should use them.
What is a review?
A review or testimonial is a review of a (satisfied) customer. In marketing, it is used to convince potential customers to do business with your company. It is also one of seven influencing principles, which you use to make your website “Social Proof”. So in short, it is a review of a company.
Why should you use reviews on your website?
Most people are naturally sceptical when they first visit a website. By showing reviews, visitors can know what to expect from your products, services or services. Here are 3 reasons why you should use reviews on your website:
- Reviews help build trust
Displaying reviews can be enough to gain visitors’ trust. This is because reviews are the first proof that you have customers, are a real business and not a scammer. In addition, reviews are – usually – positive reactions from customers who have already bought something from your company. The more reviews there are, the sooner visitors will assume you are a trustworthy company. - Reviews work as recommendations
Consumers are more likely to trust each other than to trust companies. This is because they assume that companies want to make money from them and are willing to go far for this. So, reviews work here as a referral and belief that they can safely trust your company. - Reviews can explain benefits of your products, services or services
Reviews not only help to say something good about your business, but are also effective in explaining how useful a product, service or service has been for them. A good comprehensive review is likely to tell exactly what the customer needed and thus how you provided the solution to the problem or need.
How do you get good reviews?
Now you will probably be asking yourself how to get good reviews. Obviously, it is important that you deliver quality and don’t slam your customers. Otherwise, you will most likely not receive heartwarming reviews. I will now give you some tips on how best to collect reviews.
- Choose a tool that can collect reviews.
There are several tools that can collect reviews for you. The most well-known are Google Reviews, Feedback Company, KiYoh, TrustPilot. Each platform has its pros and cons. When going outside Google Reviews, keep in mind that they may not show up in your Google My Business search results. This means that when customers go to search e.g. your business name, no reviews will be displayed here. - Invite customers to write a review
Now that you have chosen a tool to collect reviews, it is time to invite customers to post a review. You are probably tempted to invite only positive customers. However, this is not wise. Also invite customers who were less satisfied with your delivered product, service or service. If you only have negative reviews, this may come across as untrustworthy. So don’t be selective in picking customers. - Use reviews as a learning opportunity
You might now also receive less positive reviews from customers. This is a learning opportunity that you can use to your advantage. Let these customers know what you did with their feedback, for instance in a comment. By doing so, you show potential customers that you handle this well and learn from your mistakes. - Don’t make a difficult process of completing reviews
If it takes a long time to leave a review, customers may not do it. Tools that I mentioned in the first step contain useful features to make this process as easy as possible. An example of this is with webshops. There, you sometimes get a choice of 5 different smileys in an automated email. You can also easily share a link here, allowing customers to quickly fill in reviews.
A tip for gathering as many reviews as possible is to give something in return. For example, give away a free e-book or a discount code where they get a discount on their next order.
Get started with reviews
Reviews inspire trust and can help you get more conversions. So get started and see what an impact it can have on your business! If you need any help or advice on using customer reviews, you know where to reach us. Good luck with it!
