Online reviews are becoming increasingly essential for businesses of all shapes and sizes and it’s long been known that word of mouth is one of the most powerful marketing tools for any business.
NB: This is an article from Arise
People listen to, and are easily influenced by other people, so, it’s consequently important that your business is collecting, displaying and responding to online reviews. A recent survey revealed that more and more consumers are being affected by online reviews than ever before, with the number of customers reading reviews up 60% in 2021 compared to 2020!
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Another eye-opening study showed that a huge 94% of online shoppers stated that a negative review has convinced them to avoid a business altogether.
Online reviews are therefore going to have a huge impact on your business and the customers you’re attracting.
How will online reviews affect your business and why are they important?
Build Trust
People like gratification, and are easily influenced by other people and peer-to-peer endorsements. If your company has a considerable percentage of positive reviews, it’s far more likely that new prospective customers will naturally have more trust in what your business is offering. Reviews build trust and reputation far quicker than most other methods.
Set Your Business Apart From Your Competitors
It’s likely that potential customers that are researching your product or service will be at the decision-making stage of their buying journey. This means they’ll be considering your business as well as your competitors. One thing that’s really going to make you stand out from the crowd… reviews.
Encourage Conversions
According to Trustpilot, nearly nine out of ten people will make the effort to read reviews before they purchase a product and 79% of these shoppers trust the reviews as much as personal recommendations. Positive reviews could be the deciding factor of whether someone will purchase from you, or go elsewhere.
Looking at eCommerce sites, the latest statistics show that conversion rates of product pages with reviews are up to 3.5 times higher than those without! So make sure you showcase them!
Boost Your SEO
Online reviews are also an excellent way to increase your organic visibility and SEO efforts. Reviews that contain certain keywords and phrases will aid a site’s chances of ranking higher up search engines.
