Do Reviews Improve Sales?

Your business probably has a range of sales tools and strategies that you implement when landing new clients and customers. However, it’s always worth keeping a close eye on growing sales trends to see what strategies you can introduce to grow your business even further. One of the biggest trends right now is reviews and, more specifically, harnessing the power of your company reviews.

If you’re feeling sceptical about reviews, we’ll explain precisely why they’re so beneficial and how important they can be for boosting sales and revenue.

Testimonials will support your sales pitch

Company reviews help build trust between your business and potential customers. This is because people are more likely to believe a fellow consumer who says that your product or service is excellent, rather than hearing this from you as a brand. Reviews work to back up your sales pitch by proving to potential customers that your company does what you are claiming. If you have a consumer who is weighing up their options of whether to buy from you or a competitor, reviews are what could set you apart from them and push you over the line to get that sale.

Reviews build customer trust

If you need any further convincing, research by Spiegal found that the purchase likelihood for a product with five reviews is 270% greater than the purchase likelihood of a product with no reviews. It’s also encouraging to know that 91% of millennials trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Because pretty much everyone uses the internet these days, it is considered to be a trustworthy source of information. In the past, you might have relied on word-of-mouth referrals from a customer’s friends or family; reviews are a great modern-day equivalent.

How to use reviews to improve sales

You should actively use your reviews as part of your marketing efforts, as featuring them on your website and posting them on your social media channels. Not only does this ensure that they are seen regularly by visitors who will one day need your product or service, this can also help previous customers to re-engage with you. Sometimes, customers might have their heads turned by a competitor, but that doesn’t mean you’ve lost them forever. Their experience with someone else might have been ok, but you can still win them back.

Your business can use reviews to improve your website’s Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Hubspot research found that 75% of people never scroll past the first page of search engines, so it’s crucial that you’re on the first page, and reviews can help achieve this. Google, in particular, often ranks websites with reviews higher than those without.

Not only that, but reviews mean you can utilise Google’s Rich Snippet feature which includes star ratings and information from your reviews in your search results – these gold stars can help you stand out in the SERP. These additional details appear just under your usual listing and help your website stand out from the rest. Users are much more likely to click on listings with Rich Snippet results, improving your Click Through Rate (CTR), which is one of Google’s ranking factors. This is just one of the ways you can improve your business listings online. Reputation has a product that goes even further to ensure your listings are optimized so check it out here. Additionally, if people leave reviews on Google, this will help with your trust level within the search engine. Good reviews prove to Google that you have a great quality product or service and help you rise up the rankings.

Suffice to say, reviews can dramatically improve sales when used appropriately. Your business can use reviews as an influential sales tool to boost both sales and revenue. Start collecting and using your reviews to your advantage and stay one step ahead of your competitors in building trust between consumers and your business.