We know that running an online business can be a lot of hard work. You’ve got to put in the effort to make sure customers are happy and that your business is running smoothly, along with providing great service. But one thing that can make a huge difference in the success of your business is the opinion of your users. In this article, we’ll be taking a look at what customer reviews are and how they can help power up your online and offline business.
What are customer reviews?
To be brief, they are essentially comments or ratings that your clients leave on your website or social media page. Such comments help to give your potential clients an insight into the quality of your product or service and can often be an important factor in whether they decide to purchase from you or not.
Customer reviews are also a great way for website owners to get an idea of what people think of their product or service. They provide a better understanding of what customers are looking for and what they are not. This helps to make improvements to the product or service and give customers the best possible experience.
Benefits of user feedback for businesses
Reviews are usually based on the concept of social proof. This is a psychological phenomenon where individuals consciously or unconsciously follow the lead of others in order to determine the correct behavior. When a well-known and respected individual endorses a product or service, it encourages others to imitate the behavior. This type of promotion is called Influencer Marketing and is becoming increasingly popular, especially when it comes to goods and services on social media. When an influencer or celebrity recommends something on their Instagram account, their followers are likely to purchase it. The idea is that if a famous person has approved of it, then it must be good. Social proof from celebrities or people close to us plays a major role in how effective reviews are.
That’s why one of the main benefits of online user feedback is that it can help to build trust with your customers. If customers can see that other people have had a good experience with your product or service, they will be more likely to purchase from you.
What types of customer reviews can you get?
There are a few different types of customer reviews that website owners can get. Let’s see them in more detail below:
- Star rating system. It allows customers to rate a product or service from 1 to 10 or even more stars. This is a great way to get an idea of how people feel about your product or service in a simple and easy to understand manner.
- Written reviews. These are comments or reviews that customers can leave on your website or social media page. Written reviews are great for getting an in-depth look at how customers feel about your product or service and can be a great way to get feedback from customers.
- Reviews from third-party websites. Sites like Google and Yelp allow customers to leave reviews on products or services they have used. These are among the most popular review sources online.
Now that you know the most common types, we can proceed to finding out how you can motivate your users to leave reviews on your product or store.
How to get customer reviews
Getting customer reviews is an important part of running an online business. And there are a few different ways that website owners can get them. One of the easiest ways is to simply ask for them. You can do this by sending out emails to customers after they have purchased a product or service from you. Even though email seems to be a little bit outdated, it’s still among the most powerful marketing tools, so don’t ignore it.
Another way is to offer incentives. You can offer a discount or free product to your customers if they leave a review. Simple, yet effective strategy.
Finally, you can also use widgets or plugins to embed business reviews, from Google, for instance, on your website. This is a great way to showcase customer reviews in a way that is easy for view and can help to encourage your audience to leave new ones, as the widget can provide an easy way to get to the review service in one click.
How to handle negative customer feedback
Let’s just admit it: getting negative customer reviews is a difficult experience for almost any website owner. But, even though it may sound a little bizarre, negative feedback is not always a bad thing. It can be a great way to get an honest look at how customers feel about your product or service and can help you to make improvements. Of course, if you’re ready to work with it.
The key to dealing with negative reviews is to respond to them in a professional and courteous manner. You should never sound angry or hostile, as this can make your clients even more upset. Instead, you should take the time to listen to their opinion and work with them to find a solution together. Maybe, offer a coupon or some promo code for their future purchases in order to smooth out the negative impression of the experience of working with you.
Also, let’s not forget about the emotions that sometimes prevail. Everyone experiences it from time to time, so why can’t your users?
How reviews can power up your online business
It has been established through research that consumer testimonies can have a great effect in strengthening the reputation of a resource. In addition, positive reviews can bring about a notable increase in sales. It was observed a few years ago that consumer reviews were more important than the overall standing of the store, and this is still the case today. However, it is important to make sure that the reviews posted on the store’s website are credible, and not contrived. You should make sure that the reviews give the impression of trustworthiness and not as if they were paid for or composed by the store itself.
Using customer reviews can help you with search engine optimization of your store as well. By including reviews in your website’s content, you can help to improve its ranking in SERPs. This can help to increase website visibility and drive more traffic to your website.
Conclusion
As you can see, reviews can be a great way to power up your online business. They can help to build trust with customers, increase website visibility, and make improvements to your product or service. You can easily increase customer satisfaction and make your product or service more appealing to potential customers with the help of this powerful yet simple tool.
Taylor is a freelance SEO copywriter and blogger. His areas of expertise include technology, pop culture, and marketing.
