One of the best things about the Internet is that it gives everyone the chance to voice an opinion. This can definitely work in your favor if you have a small business with a loyal clientele. Your customers may have even written some favorable reviews of your business on Yelp or a similar site, but why should people have to go elsewhere to read such reviews if you have your own website?
If you have clients out there who are willing to put in a good word about your business, you should certainly make it possible for them to do so on your own website. Here are just five reasons why.
Boosts Sales
According to Digital Commerce 360, “82 percent of Americans say that they consult online reviews when deciding whether they want to buy a product or use a service for the first time.” Having positive reviews on your website could encourage would-be clients to give your business an initial try, which is more valuable than any other form of advertising.
Consumer Trust
Reviews create consumer trust. This point is tied closely to the first, but it is still worth mentioning. According to Podium, “an honest review or testimonial is often more important to future clients than expert reviews, because these are testimonials from people who have actually spent their hard-earned money and precious time on your products and services.” Yes, testimonials from experts do have validity, but people would still rather know that others like themselves have been satisfied with your business’s products and services. It’s well worth your trouble to let them know.
Insight into Your Target Market
While it’s nice to have people raving about your business, you shouldn’t be afraid of your more critical reviews. Note that we said “critical” as opposed to “negative,” since there is a clear difference. Critical reviews are often more detailed and provide information about what a customer may really want from a business. These can provide insight into what your target market wants or even a better clue as to what your target market should actually be. According to BigCommerce, “looking at reviews, raw data from Google and other data acquisition services, and after digging into your competitors backlinks, you will have a more concrete shape of what your target market looks like.” This is more for your own benefit, but you should still find it very useful.
Transparency
One of the biggest problems with online reviews is that many of them are fake. They are either written by the business owners themselves or by freelancers who have been hired to write a glowing recommendation. It’s actually not that hard to spot a fake review, and online shoppers have gotten very good at separating the real testimonials from the phonies. By including real reviews from real clients, you are showing that you trust your business to satisfy your customers and that you aren’t afraid to let others spread the word about what your company has to offer.
SEO
For those not in the know, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It basically means writing content that gives a website a better ranking on search engines. According to Shopify, “reviews posted to your website can absolutely improve your SEO, all without having to pay someone to rewrite your site’s content. Google’s algorithm looks at online reviews and testimonials among other things to determine a site’s ranking, so the more positive reviews you have out there, the more likely someone will find your site via a Google search.”
Overall, there is no reason not to include good reviews from your clients on your business’s website. As with all things that can take up space on a web page, you need to be careful about displaying too many reviews at the expense of other content, but including some will be quite useful. These tips should help you promote your small business online.
For clean and impressive websites, let Ashley Stanley help!
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