Ease of access to the internet has radically changed people’s perception of shopping.
Gone are the times’ people used to shop items blindly, as nowadays people make an effort to read several online reviews before making a purchasing decision or even visiting a particular business. Studies have revealed that more than 90% of shoppers read several reviews before deciding to visit a business.
In another study, 95% of online shoppers revealed that a negative review persuaded them to visit another business instead.
Undoubtedly, having a positive online presence regardless of your business does give you a not only competitive advantage against your competitors but also forms a crucial part of branding.
Learning the significance of online reviews will aid you in optimizing your customers’ experience to come up with a positive online impression. Let’s review the importance of online reviews to a business:
They Enhance Your Brand Visibility
The success of any brand depends mainly on its visibility. The more visible it is, the higher the chances of success and vice versa. Most buyers will use social media platforms such as Facebook and search engines such as Google to find more information about the product they intend to buy. It’s worth noting that websites have their distinct strategies of indexing and surfacing content, though they prioritize on unique and up-to-date content, and customer reviews can play a significant role when it comes to feeding the content machine, making your brand friendly to algorithms.
Positive online customer reviews can give you an edge when it comes to valuable content that search engines value when picking the best possible results to return.
A higher ranking does not only translate to more exposure but also makes people view your website as an authority in your niche, which in turn, boosts sales.
Reputation
A considerable number of positive online reviews is likely to build significant trust and credibility among your prospects and customers with regards to your brand.
Online reviews are a powerful way of making your business reputable.
According to the research, many shoppers discredit businesses with a rating below four stars. This is an indication that companies with better average ratings stand a higher chance of converting views to traffic and sales. Having your prospects and customers talking positively about your brand is one way of building trust in your business. With a high positive footprint, you’re likely to make more sales.
Improve Rankings
Besides, creating a better relationship between your brand and your target audience, online reviews play a crucial role in improving your website ranking on search engines such as Google. Google takes into account what people say about your business, and this contributes significantly to the ranking of your website.
Encourages Others to Leave Their Feedback
A business or brand with existing reviews is likely to motivate other customers to leave their feedback once they purchase a product. The presence of multiple reviews from other clients inspires others to make theirs on that particular product or service, enhancing its value.
Customer Satisfaction
Online reviews can help you to determine whether you’re doing your job appropriately or not and how to enhance your service. This will help you to define the issues that customers are facing and develop strategies for better service delivery and address such issues. Creating a conducive environment for your consumers will have a positive impact on the growth of your business in the future.
At first, online reviews may not seem valuable to new business owners, but as time goes by, they will start to realize the impact they have on their businesses about sales.