Last updated on January 7, 2024

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Ariane Mandell
June 6th, 2017

In today’s social-media-centered world, customers trust other shoppers more than they trust brands.

Table Of Contents

That’s why the most effective way to increase conversions and bring new customers to your site is to hand the microphone to customers who already know and love your products so they can share their experiences with the world.

In a competitive online commerce space, it’s crucial to establish trust by displaying authentic opinions of people who have already shopped with you.

We analyzed data from thousands of eCommerce stores and found that 94% of purchases are for products with 4- or 5-star reviews. This shows how much trust consumers put in the word of their fellow shoppers.average star rating orders

Plus, 65% of consumers reported that they trust user-generated content like customer reviews more than brand content. It’s time to give the people what they want – and watch your conversion rates climb as a result.

This guide breaks down all of Yotpo’s resources about reviews: how to generate reviews, how to use them, and how to learn from them.

Table of Contents:

  1. Why you need customer reviews
  2. How to get customer reviews
  3. How to use customer reviews on your site
  4. How to use customer reviews to get more traffic
  5. Handling negative reviews
  6. Why you need to own your reviews
  7. Analyzing reviews

1) Why you need customer reviews

The online marketing space is crowded and competition is fierce. The best way to stand out is through the authentic, honest voices of your happy customers. Shoppers want to hear from each other, not from brands.

2) How to get customer reviews

Businesses need customer reviews but busy shoppers don’t always have time to leave them, even if they had an amazing experience. These resources give insight into the best ways to generate quality reviews in any industry.

3) How to use customer reviews on your site

Now that you’ve accumulated some stellar, multi-faceted reviews, it’s time to put them to work. The placement, design, and data selected in your review section are all pivotal when it comes to capitalizing on the power of reviews.

4) How to use customer reviews to get more traffic

Reviews not only boost conversion rate, but also help draw traffic to your site to begin with. In these articles, we take a look under the hood at how reviews boost your search engine ranking and make your brand stand out on social media.

  • Using Reviews on Social Media to Drive Traffic Social media is all about social proof, as users browse the thoughts and feelings of friends and family. In that natural recommendation environment, well-placed reviews in brand posts and ads are a recipe for a major traffic influx.
  • How Reviews Can Boost Your Google Ranking Google draws on your site and product reviews to generate your seller-rating. There’s a lot you can do to optimize your rating and get more traffic.
  • Making the Most Of Google Product Listing Ads Reviews enrich your Product Listing Ads and drive more engaged traffic to your site. Here we go into what PLAs are, how to set them up, and other frequently asked questions.
  • The SEO Benefits of Reviews How did 30,000 businesses organically increase their traffic by more than 30% in nine months? Reviews. This article tells the story behind that data and the five ways reviews boost your SEO ranking.

5) Handling negative reviews

Some businesses hesitate about cultivating reviews because they fear negative customer ratings. The data shows, however, that negative reviews are few and far between. Plus, negative reviews actually benefit a business’s reputation by building a sense of trust and transparency. These articles will put your mind at ease about negative reviews and show you how to take advantage of them.

6) Why you need to own your reviews

When your customer reviews are hosted on a reviews website instead of yours you miss out on a lot of the benefits of user-generated content. These resources walk you through how to liberate yourself from third-party sites and why your reputation depends on it.

  • How Review Sites Can Hurt Your Business There are serious consequences to entrusting your reviews to a third party. Damaged SEO, decreased organic traffic, and losing control of your reputation are just a few. This article spells out the pitfalls of relinquishing ownership of your reviews and how to avoid them.
  • How to Beat Yelp You are not at the mercy of Yelp or any other review site! Our guide to winning back control of your online reputation makes it simple to own your review content and the advantages that go along with it.

7) Analyzing reviews

We crunched the numbers so you can increase yours. These articles pull from Yotpo data on eCommerce customer experience to provide you with actionable insights for your store.