If you’re selling products or services online, then you know that building trust is crucial.
Think about it: would you buy a product from a store that you’ve never heard of?
Probably not. In fact, over 70% of customers won’t even consider buying from a store unless they can read reviews from other customers first.
And it’s not just “big ticket” items, either. Even if you’re selling low-cost items, potential customers want to see proof that others have bought from you… and loved what they got.
So how do you use customer reviews and testimonials the right way? That’s what I want to show you in this post.
The Benefits of Customer Testimonials
Let’s start with the basics: what are customer testimonials?
Testimonials are brief statements (usually 1-2 sentences) from your previous customers raving about your products or services.
Customer testimonials work because they provide social proof to your website visitors that other people have bought from you… and loved doing business with you.
This is helpful because it reassures potential customers that they can buy from you without any risk.
Product reviews take things one step further by actually walking your potential customers through the experience of using your product or service.
And if done right, product reviews can do wonders for your conversion rate and average order value. The truth is that most first time visitors to an ecommerce site aren’t quite ready to buy something yet.
Product reviews bridge this gap by helping potential customers understand how your products work in the real world… without them having to actually use them themselves (yet).
Ideally, each review should be detailed enough so that somebody could make a purchasing decision without looking at anything else on your site. But without going into “too much” detail as that would just bore people reading it… After all, people want bite sized content these days, not a wall of text!
If you want to get the most out of customer testimonials and product reviews, then you need to pair them with a strong call-to-action (CTA). A CTA tells people what action they should take after reading a piece of content on your site (like a testimonial or review). For example, here’s a simple call-to-action that we use on Backlinko after our testimonials:
Calls-to-Action in Customer Testimonials and Product Reviews
If you want to get the most out of customer testimonials and product reviews, then you need to pair them with a strong call-to-action (CTA).
A CTA tells people what action they should take after reading a piece of content on your site (like a testimonial or review).
For example, here’s a simple call-to-action that we use on our shops after our testimonials:
Ready to take [OUR PRODUCT] for a spin? Click here to get started now!And here’s an example of a call-to-action that we use after our in-depth product reviews:
Click here to try [PRODUCT] free for 30 days!As we already mentioned before, product reviews are one of the most effective ways to boost your sales.
That’s because they offer prospective customers valuable insights that they wouldn’t be able to get from simply looking at your product page. When potential customers see that others have had success with your product, they’re much more likely to take the plunge and make a purchase themselves.
But it’s not enough to simply have product reviews; you need high-quality, positive reviews from credible sources.
So how do you get them? Here are a few ideas:
Offer an Incentive
Щffer an incentive for people who leave reviews. For example, you could enter everyone who leaves a review into a contest or offer a discount on their next purchase. This is an effective way to get more people to leave reviews, but it’s important not to abuse it. Otherwise, you could end up with a lot of fake reviews from people who are just trying to get the prize or discount.
Reach out to influencers
Reach out to influencers and other authority figures in your industry and offer them free products in exchange for an honest review on their blog or social media channel.
This is a great way to get exposure for your products from people who are already trusted by your target audience.
• Make it easy for customers to leave reviews by including links on your product pages and in your follow-up emails. You can also add a link to your Google My Business page so that customers can leave reviews there as well.
Send Follow-Up Emails
Another effective strategy is to send follow-up emails after someone has made a purchase. In these emails, you can ask people to leave a review and thank them for their purchase. Just be sure not to be too pushy—you don’t want to come across as desperate or spammy.
How do product reviews and customer testimonials help with SEO?
How do product reviews and customer testimonials help with SEO?There are two main ways that product reviews and customer testimonials help with SEO:
- increased organic search visibility
- improved click-through rates
Let’s take a closer look at each of these benefits.
Increased organic search visibility
One of the latest updates to Google’s algorithm is the E-A-T update, which stands for “Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.” This update places an increased emphasis on websites that demonstrate those three qualities. And what better way to show off your expertise, authority, and trustworthiness than by featuring user-generated content like product reviews and customer testimonials?
By featuring this type of content on your website, you can signal to Google that your site is worthy of ranking in the search results. As a result, you’ll see a boost in your organic traffic levels.
Improved click-through rates
In addition to helping you rank higher in the search results, featuring product reviews and customer testimonials can also help improve your click-through rate (i.e., the percentage of people who click on your listing after seeing it in the search results).
This is because people tend to trust recommendations from their peers more than they trust traditional advertising messages. In fact, one study found that 92% of consumers trust earned media (like word-of-mouth recommendations) more than any other type of marketing message.
5 Ways To Use Product Reviews To Boost Sales
Use Product Reviews on Your Sales Page
One of the best places to showcase product reviews is right on your sales page.
This has two benefits:
First, it shows potential customers that your product is high-quality and popular (which makes buying feel like less of a risk).
Second, it increases the chances that visitors will actually scroll down and read your sales copy (which is essential if you want them to buy from you).
Display Customer Testimonials prominently on Your Site
Do you want potential customers to see your customer testimonials as soon as they land on your site? If so, make sure to display them prominently (for example, in a sidebar or above the fold).
This will give visitors an instant boost of confidence which can encourage them to buy from you.
Include Product Reviews in Email Campaigns
Email is still one of the most powerful marketing channels out there… which means that including product reviews in your email campaigns is a great way to increase sales.
Use Customer Testimonials In Facebook Ads
If you run Facebook ads (which you should), then consider adding customer testimonials into your ad creative.
Share Positive Product Reviews on Social Media
Social media is another great place to share positive reviews about your products.
Create Video Customer Testimonials
Video customer testimonials are extremely powerful because they allow potential customers to see and hear firsthand accounts about how great your products are.
Get More Product Reviews with User Feedback Tools
Finally, if you want an easy way to get more product reviews, consider using user feedback tools like Canny or Qualaroo.
As you can see, customer testimonials and product reviews are essential for any ecommerce business that wants to succeed online.
If you don’t already have a system in place for collecting customer feedback, now is the time to start!
Going forward, make it a priority to collect customer testimonials and post them prominently on your website and social media channels.
Not only will this help attract new customers and improve your conversion rates, but it will also help you rank higher in the search results.
Win-win!