Why reviews are so terribly important

And did you also know that 88 percentof consumers trust an online review just as much as a personal recommendation from someone they know?

Reviews are important.

For your webshop, website, your app, your business, your Facebook page etc. etc.

So for basically everything.

But why?

I'm going to tell you all about that now.

Reviews on your website vs. reviews on others' websites

There is a substantial difference between reviews on your website and reviews on Google, Facebook or Klantenvertellen, for example.

Reviews on your own website are completely in your control.

You can do what you want with them and you can show them how you want.

With other websites, of course, this is not the case.

That's why you often see few bad reviews on company websites.

Because they chose not to show any bad reviews.

I also believe that you should value the reviews posted on other websites more than the reviews posted on their own website.

Less can be messed with and bad reviews can't just be removed.

Research has also shown that people value an outside review more than a review on their own website.

Trust + authority

One of the main reasons you should use reviews is because it builds trust.

In fact, before people book a trip, buy a product or register for your course, they always look at the reviews first.

What do people say about this company?

How well do they score?

Can the company be trusted?

Questions like that can be answered in one fell swoop when you have reviews on your website.

The reviews on your website can of course be posted yourself as mentioned above, but you can also use the widgets of, for example, Klantenvertellen, Kiyoh or The Feedback Company.

This will look like this, for example:

Or so:

There are a plethora of opportunities to show reviews from outside parties.

Similarly, there are many plugins within WordPress that allow you to display Google reviews on your website.

Create trust with your web shop

Of course, reviews are an asset to any business and website, but this is perhaps even more true for E-commerce, or web shops!

When people buy a product from you, you can show in multiple places within the purchase process how well people like your product and service and what grade you get.

Ideally, because people tend to trust popular things touted by others.

I already told you about this in the my blog about Cialdini' s principles under the heading of social proof.

Showing reviews in the right place may be just the reason why people decide to make a purchase after all.

For example, always put reviews on the product page!

Do people trust you if you only have 5-star reviews?

A company becomes a lot more human when it doesn't just have 5-star reviews.

After all, everyone makes mistakes, and that's not a bad thing at all.

To think that your company or product is always perfect is, in my mind, an illusion.

But now we get to the fun statistics....

Research has shown that a 4.2 - 4.5 rating is the ideal grade and thus creates more confidence.

And what I found very surprising is that the same survey found that 82% of people look for negative reviews.

This is because they want to find out if the problems with your product or service are one-time problems or maybe they can happen to them, too.

So the non-5-star reviews are a great opportunity to show where things could be better and how you as a company are responding to them.

Therefore, always respond to reviews.

A-L-T-I-J-D!

Source: callcentrehelper.com

Reviews are content

Google values useful and unique content.

So Google values reviews because they are from useful and unique.

But why?

If you have reviews on your own website then it is additional content.

Google can recognize the words in the reviews and so you can be findable on these words.

If there are reviews on the shop page that mention the word "Second-hand golf balls" then that is good for your SEO.

But even if the reviews are not on your own website, Google sees it as content.

This has the advantage that the external website can start scoring with your search terms, but this also has the advantage that the page on which the reviews are listed gets more value.

And that in turn means that the link from that website to your website (did someone say link building?) counts more heavily.

The result?

A better Google ranking as a result of a better link profile.

Review stars in Google (Structured data)

Do you know what the review stars are within Google's organic search results?

These are the ones!

This is a form of structured data.

I can tell you all about that now, but I've also written a blog about that before.

First of all, review stars make you stand out more.

If you have the review stars and your competitor does not then you already have an edge.

Or rather a few starlets.

Another added benefit of review stars is that before people have even visited your website you have already ensured a little extra trust.

That could be another reason why someone clicks on your search result instead of the competitor's.

But what do these review stars have to do with reviews?

You can get the review stars only if you mark the reviews on your website with certain code.

You can do this manually, but also with a plugin, for example.

The moment the code is highlighted, Google can read the code and add the review stars to your search results.

Wondering if your code is properly marked?

Then use the Google Structured Data Test Tool.

How do you get reviews? 4 tips!

By now you are convinced about having reviews, but I hear you thinking: how do I get reviews?

I have four tips for that!

Tip 1: Choose the right review tool
You must first choose whether you want the reviews on your own site or externally.

If you go for external, then you need to look carefully at which party best suits your needs.

For example, do they have to have a widget?

Or do they have to be recognized by Google?

They list your requirements and then look for the party that can meet your requirements.

Tip 2: Make leaving a review as easy as possible
People are lazy.

Especially if they have to do something for you for which they get nothing in return.

So leave a review.

So make sure leaving reviews is as simple as possible.

Don't use weird constructions, large forms or other red tape.

Make it as easy as possible.

Tip 3: Ask
This may make sense, but ask people to leave a review.

You can do this by, for example, adding a card in the box of the product you are sending to people.

Or after people take a course with you, send them an email with a link where they can leave the review.

Opportunities abound.

Tip 4: Respond and act on feedback
People leave reviews so you can improve your product or service.

You should definitely do this, then, or you won't take full advantage of the reviews.

The moment you always respond to reviews and actually do something with them, then people are more likely to leave a review.

So always do this!

And above all, don't forget to thank people for their feedback!

Delete reviews? NO GO!

Deleting reviews, I think it's a no go.

If you have made a mistake, you should admit it honestly.

Engage with the person, visit and discuss what went wrong.

Indicate how you will do this differently next time and offer the appropriate solution.

This can cause the review to be changed to a slightly better review with a different description in which the person talks about your solution and your approach.

When potential customers see how you solved it, this in turn can create more trust.

Because at your company it will all work out!

Disadvantage of reviews

There is also a negative side to reviews.

About a year ago, the Freesmij party was in the news negatively.

One of their employees ignored a red cross on an exit ramp.

That exit was closed for a reason: a dog had escaped and was running on the highway.

Long story short: the Freesmij employee killed the dog.

This news spread all over the country and the ambulance personnel's posts went viral on Facebook.

The result?

Hundreds of negative reviews on their Google My Company page (which has since been removed).

And over 150 bad review on their Facebook page.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's terrible that the employee ran a red light and killed the dog.

I am a dire animal lover(for example, did you know that I have been vegan for almost 1.5 years?).

But to pillory a company like this I think is going too far.

What is your opinion on that?