At this point in time, it goes without saying that the internet has dominated various forms of trade and business. If you’re a business owner, you’re more likely to stay competitive in your industry if you have a commanding online presence. It makes it easier for your target audience and existing customers to find out and purchase products or services from you.
However, today’s shopper is savvier more than ever and needless to say, one of the first things a majority will do before purchasing anything from you is research and reading reviews online from previous consumers. They’re much more drawn by the star ratings your business, product, or service is given by other consumers rather than what you promise or say about your business.
Moreover, search engines nowadays include data from review sites and business directories in the list of displayed search engine result pages after a local search relating to your keywords, or business is performed. With more and more consumers preferring online shopping these days, consumer reviews are becoming more and more important.
This is especially the case with products and services in highly-competitive niches like health, business, weight loss, beauty, relationships, fitness, and dating, among others. Eugene from Region Vavid asserts that before they buy a product or a service, savvy customers also scroll through a bunch of professional online reviews so they can make an informed decision.
Apparently, even these work better when they have consumer reviews to back them up, and this is why today’s credible professional reviews articles leave space for consumer comments and ratings. Here are some reasons why consumer reviews are vital more than ever these days.
As hinted earlier, consumer reviews are one of the key things shoppers look for before making any purchase decisions these days. Recent surveys have shown that about 88% of shoppers trust reviews as much as they would trust personal recommendations. These days, consumers have become aware of the words and various techniques used by marketers to make sales.
This is why a considerable number of consumers prefer conducting research first before trusting what an advertisement says about a particular product or service. Most consumers, on the other hand, view consumer reviews and ratings as impartial and trustworthy.
If there’s one thing strategic entrepreneurs use to improve products, services, and customer experience, call it consumer reviews. On this note, even negative reviews (which we’ll cover below), can benefit your business in various ways.
From consumer criticisms or what your existing customers don’t like, you can use this information constructively to improve your business and overall consumer experience, thus attracting loyalty.
Not all that glitters is gold, right? Well, this is especially true regarding the shopping habits of today’s consumer, who will often steer clear of products, services, or businesses that are rated five stars and instead go for those that are rated between 4.0 and 4.5 stars. This is because if everyone is talking great about you, it raises a question mark regarding the credibility of those consumer reviews.
Therefore, a few negative reviews can work to your brand’s advantage, provided you address them promptly and solve issues the best way you can. A mixture of positive and negative reviews will demonstrate authenticity to your potential customers, and this is a fact.
Ever heard of Google’s Knowledge Panel? Well, you most likely have, but in case you haven’t, these are panels often displayed on the right side of the screen after one performs a google search. The panel provides rich information about businesses or products related to the search query, and nowadays, they are part of the search engine result pages (SERPs).
Unlike in the past, where only Google reviews were displayed in the Knowledge Panel, Google includes reviews from third-party sites nowadays, as long as the site uses Schema markup for reviews. This means that as long as you stay ahead and abreast of them, consumer reviews can have a tremendous positive impact on your SEO efforts.
Well, we live in the 21st century, and especially in the last few years of the second decade, research has revealed that more and more consumers are shopping online. It’s convenient, saves time, saves gas, offers more variety, reduces impulse-buying, and gives more control to the shopper.
Especially in the wake of the 2020 COVID-19 crisis, where lockdowns and curfews are in place globally, it is an advisable way to avoid crowded areas and stick to the social distancing guidelines to help reduce the spread of the nightmarish disease.
In a nutshell, online consumer reviews are beneficial to your business in more than just a few ways. They inform your customers about your products and services, save time for willing shoppers, help attract loyalty, reveal the longevity of a business, and provide an engagement platform for companies and their customers.
They also double up as a tool you can use to provide customer service and improve overall customer experience. The importance of honest and quality customer reviews is not to be underestimated!
If you are interested in even more business-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels, then we have a lot to choose from.
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