Being a new field in marketing, online reviews have changed the landscape of buying behaviors and customer decisions. Why does someone recommend one store over another even when they offer the same services? The difference is the quality of services. Nowadays, people trust the published reviews more than word-of-mouth.

Customers believe what other customers have to say. After all, a hundred 5-star comments appear to be far more authentic than a commercial claiming to be the finest in the market. That’s why, online reviews can never be replaced by any advertisement, word-of-mouth, or email. If we consider the online clothing sector, customer decisions have been influenced by online reviews. For example, Zaful US is worth considering for fashion apparel. Why? Because it earned positive recommendations.

Google Reviews serve your SEO

One of the most significant base classifiers for local SEO is the authenticity and number of reviews on Google. When a consumer searches for a local product or service on Google, company results with user ratings have a higher level of trust and, as a result, earn more hits.

1. Google monitors ranking engagement and rewards firms with a significant number of high votes, as well as those with a large number of ratings since it identifies organizations that attempt to connect with their consumers.
2. Answering reviews promptly demonstrates that you value your consumers’ opinions, whether positive and negative. Active review respondents are rewarded by Google, which pushes them up the ranks.
3. If your company has a good review rating, online shoppers are more inclined to interact with your brand and learn more about what you do, making your offering more visible to them.

For now, it may not seem like that but the honest reviews on the world’s most popular search engine really make a big difference, when people are looking for similar businesses. Publishing reviews on your website builds trust in potential consumers’ buying habits and eliminates uncertainties, resulting in a greater success rate.

Three important statistics on online reviews

Customers want to see evaluations on your offerings, but they also want to read the nitty-gritty information in your customer feedback, according to Fan & Fuel research. Customers want to know about their views and difficulties, how you handled issues, and whether or not the product stayed true to your expectations, among other things. These 3 statistics are research-based;

1. 91% of people check customer feedback on an asymmetrical basis to evaluate if a retail company is excellent or terrible
2. 84% of people appreciate internet recommendations as much as personal advice.
3. 74% of customers believe favorable reviews increase their trust in small companies

Closing thoughts

When it concerns a company’s trustworthiness, word-of-mouth has always been a major factor. However, with today’s ubiquitous internet connectivity, positive retailers now have the same weight as a personalized endorsement from someone you trust. It’s wise to note that people will believe a rating that is both high-quality and genuine. If it appears spammy or paid for, it will most likely have the opposite impact, repelling customers.