With 61% of customers reading online reviews before making a purchase decision, consumer reviews have become a crucial tool for ecommerce retailers. There are many benefits of incorporating consumer reviews into your site. If you’re not doing it yet, here are some reasons you should be:
1. User reviews increase conversions.
What better way to build confidence in your product than by hearing from the people who have used it? A study from E-Consultancy found
- 50 or more reviews per product can mean a 4.6% increase in conversion rates.
- 63% of customers are more likely to make a purchase from a site that has user reviews.
- Site visitors who interact with both reviews and customer questions and answers are 105% more likely to purchase while visiting, and spend 11% more than visitors who don’t interact with user generated content.
- Consumer reviews are significantly more trusted (nearly 12 times more) than descriptions that come from manufacturers, according to a survey of US internet users.
- Reviews produce an average 18% uplift in sales.
2. User reviews help with SEO.
- Improved rankings for ‘product name’ + review. Many consumers search for reviews of products before purchasing, and if the reviews are available on your site you will have a better chance at attracting this traffic.
- Increased Click-Through Rate on results pages. If your reviews are formatted correctly, the rich snippets can increase click-throughs between 10-20% on search results pages.
- Enables a flow of fresh content. Search engines favor content that is new and frequently updated, so user-generated content that is coming in all the time can make a page rank better than the standard product page that only has product descriptions and specifications.
At Starkmedia we recommend utilizing the ratings and reviews functionality that is built in to platforms like Magento, or utilizing Bazaarvoice or any other ratings and review providers. Ratings and reviews are authenticated which builds trust, since the user knows the person leaving the review has actually purchased the product. In addition, users can ask and answer questions about the products, which can make the difference in their decision to purchase.
If your ecommerce site has yet to incorporate user reviews, contact Starkmedia to find out how you can start experiencing the benefits of user generated content.
