Harnessing the Power of Reviews and Testimonials

Reviews build businesses. Need proof? The Spiegel Research Center reported that displaying customer reviews increases conversion rates by 270%. Why are reviews so vital to your business success? How can you make the most of them? Let’s explore the power of reviews and testimonials!

Why Reviews Matter

Business is built on relationships. Relationships are built on trust. How do you establish trust with your customers? Businesses build trust by keeping their brand consistent, delivering a quality product or service consistently, and investing in the customer experience. These build trust over time. 

Reviews convert more website visitors into buyers

How do you build trust quickly before your customer decides to do business with you?

Sharing positive reviews.

The power of reviews and testimonials allow you to establish trust with prospective customers by showcasing your previous work and how your customers have received it. Positive reviews reinforce a buyer’s decision to purchase a product or service. On the other hand, negative reviews will break a prospect’s trust and confidence in the product or service in question. 

Marty Neumeier defines a brand as “a person’s gut feeling about a product, service, or organization.” He adds, “It exists in the hearts and minds of individuals.” The truth is: you don’t have 100% control of your brand. You can’t control how people perceive you. The power of reviews and testimonials will influence your branding in a big way.

Reviews attract more buyers to your website 

Moz includes review signals (review quantity, velocity, and diversity) as a powerful factor in local SEO rankings. The goal of search engines is to direct web users to relevant content that fits their search needs. For this reason, SEO is also about building trust: with the search engine. When search engines like Google see a business that is well-reviewed online, they trust the legitimacy of the business. Online business reviews help convince search engines that your content is worthy of attention.

How Do I Get Reviews?

So, reviews are important. Got it. But how do you get them? And maybe more importantly, how do you get good reviews? 

There are a number of great online review management tools out there but our favorite is Pozative. This tool makes it easy to contact customers via text message to ask for their reviews. Pozative also provides analytics so businesses can keep track of how they’re doing. 

Getting good reviews depends a lot on your commitment to excellence. Quality products and services usually lead to good reviews. On average, Americans tell 15 people about a bad customer service experience as opposed to 11 people they tell about a good experience. Prompting reviews through tools like Pozative can help close this gap.

What should you do when you do get a poor review? The first step is to not panic. This doesn’t have to end poorly. There are plenty of ways to redeem the customer’s experience. This could actually lead to an opportunity for your business to build even more trust!

How Do I Make the Most of Online Reviews?

Having great reviews only serves your business if people can see them. How do you display your customer’s reviews and testimonials for optimal results?

For one, you should display reviews on your website. There is a great tool that makes this easy for WordPress users. The WP Business Reviews plugin will display your reviews from platforms across the internet, including Google, Yelp, and Facebook. Putting reviews on your website’s homepage puts your brand, and the people who trust it, front and center.

The great thing about WP Business Reviews is that you can control which reviews get shown. For example, you can select only 4-star and 5-star (or only 5-star) reviews to be displayed. This will give you greater control on your brand and online image.

Build Your Brand With Reviews

Whether you sell a product or provide a service you have one goal: happy customers. When your customers are pleased with your business, it’s worth celebrating! Building trust with people leads to business relationships. Gathering and displaying great reviews and testimonials from your customers allows you to share your brand confidently with the public. Receiving great reviews is essential to business health and growth so don’t neglect this important factor!

IX Publishing can provide the tools your business needs to engage with your customers. Our website development and inbound marketing services can take your business to the next level! Request a Quote to Learn More.