Once upon a time, a company could be successful simply by offering a needed product or service, providing reliable service, and having friendly employees. If a business met those essential criteria plus had word-of-mouth advertising and perhaps the occasional media campaign, it would be consistent. Today, those elements are still a big part of a company’s success, but there is more to it than that. Today’s companies will also need an easy-to-navigate website, a social media presence, and positive online reviews.

If you want to stay competitive in today’s market, you can no longer rely on what worked ten years ago. From a company website to reviews, you need to implement as many tools as possible. And while you might not think having online reviews is a big deal, consider these facts collected by WiserNotify regarding their value.

  • 68% of consumers form an opinion by reading as few as six online reviews. In 90% of situations, an opinion or decision is made after reading ten or fewer reviews.
  • 95% of consumers read online reviews before purchasing or deciding on a product or service.
  • 85% of users trust online reviews, even without knowing the reviewer, as much as word-of-mouth advertising.
  • Products/Services with at least five online reviews have a 270% better chance of being chosen over an item or service with reviews.
  • 57% of buyers will only use a business with a 4-star or higher rating. Businesses with four or more stars generate 32% more revenue than those with lower review ratings.

There are many other statistics about the value of online reviews, but essentially, the need for positive online reviews cannot be overlooked.

Benefits of Online Reviews

Customer Influence and Trustworthiness

Think about why a consumer would read online reviews. One of the main reasons is their uncertainty about your product or services. Reading online reviews gives people assurance that they are making the right purchase. Shoppers look for entities that have minimal negative reviews and ratings of 4 stars or higher.

It should be noted that with the influx of AI, consumers have become savvy at spotting fake reviews. Don’t utilize this approach to obtain numerous reviews. Be patient and do your part to encourage clients to leave reviews.

Increase Sales

Positive reviews make potential clients become actual clients. Even a single positive review can impact converting to a sale. According to Forbes, 11-30 reviews are twice as likely to result in a sale as no reviews. A company with over 100 reviews is 250% more likely to result in a sale.

Promotes SEO and Online Visibility

When people do a web search for a particular product or service, the results will also show review sites. Because these sites have a unique method of indexing content, and that content is- by nature- original, these sites will help boost search results, keeping your brand in the top listings of SERP. To go a step further, reviews often include a geographic descriptor, thus boosting local SEO. The more reviews your company has, the higher up in the search results your page will rise.

Customer Communication

Reviews mean your clients/customers have taken the time to “speak” with you. Don’t leave them hanging. Take the time to reply to any comments, questions, or suggestions. You never know – a client may be the perfect person to resolve that “how do we do (whatever) better?”

Stand Out

Not every company in your industry is going to have reviews. When you have online reviews, your company has an edge over the others.

While having a website and a social media presence are necessary for today’s business, downplaying the value of online reviews would be a mistake. As such, you must regularly check what people say about your business on sites such as Yelp, Google Business, Facebook, BBB, and others. However, remember, one bad review does not make a disaster—unless you ignore it or handle the situation poorly. For instance –

  • Statistics show that 53% of customers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within a week.
  • Moreover, 96% of customers look for negative reviews to determine how a company resolves the issue.

So, if you notice a bad online review, respond promptly and do whatever you can to reach an amicable solution.

How to Get Online Reviews

Customer reviews are a primary aspect of success. While someone leaving a negative review is often quick to go to their keyboard and say something, your happy customers are often not as quick to speak up. As such, it is up to you to encourage people to leave comments and reviews. Here are a few tips for garnering feedback.

  • Just ask. Send an email with a link(s) to your preferred review site(s)
  • Include a QR code or email in the packaging that takes people to the preferred review sites.
  • Offer an incentive for leaving a review. It might be a percentage off the next order, being entered into a drawing, or even a free item. Just be sure to keep it ethical. Leaving reviews on your website is great. However, not every customer will be comfortable doing this. Consider encouraging reviews on multiple sites.
  • Say Thank You for the reviews, especially the positive ones.
  • Respond quickly to negative reviews and resolve the problem sooner rather than later. You may wish to assign someone to check your review platform(s) consistently.
  • Be social – Many clients leave reviews on social media platforms rather than sites like Yelp or others. Be sure you have pages on sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and others. If you don’t have time to monitor these pages, talk to our team about social media management.

Online reviews are a vital part of your company’s success. They are not just customer musings but powerful tools for building your business. If you need help getting client reviews, want to set up a review collection tool, or just have questions, don’t hesitate to contact the Page Progressive team. We would love to hear from you. Or consider leaving us a review 😉