You have just a few short seconds to capture the interest of site visitors. Every element on your page must work together to engage and entice them to hang around. The look of your design as well as the content on your page has a significant impact.
Internet Live Stats estimates there are 1.85 billion websites. The number changes constantly and not all are active at the same time, but no matter how you look at the numbers, you have a lot of things competing for consumer attention.
One thing that is customized to your business is reviews from happy customers. You can implement feedback into your site design to grab attention and drive users to the next step in the buyer’s journey. Let’s look at some of the ways to best utilize reviews and a couple of examples of brands doing it right.
1. Add Testimonials
When you receive a really great review, you may want to get in touch with your customer and ask to add it to your website under testimonials. People who land on your page have no reason to trust you. They are much more likely to listen to what their peers think.
You could also contact those leaving great reviews and ask if they’ll write a testimonial for you. You could use a video testimonial or a written one.
Stio utilizes people who already love their products as brand ambassadors. They’ll share quotes from each person about why they love the products, images of them using various equipment and the ambassadors tell others about the company.
2. Answer Questions
You can also use reviews to answer common questions customers have. Analyze calls and live chat topics. What are the top questions your audience has before making a purchase? Can you answer any of those questions by highlighting certain reviews.
One example might be a clothing site where people often ask if things run true to size. You can answer this question through reviews where the customer states how the item fits.
3. Share Your Rating
If you have a number of reviews under your belt, you can show a pattern of great customer service and consistency with your overall rating. If you have 4.5 out of 5 stars, share that information with people who land on your page.
Use visuals, such as colored-in stars to highlight your achievement. You could also add a link so people can read some of the reviews.
Dataforma shares that they have an average 4.5 out of 5 stars via more than 100 reviews on two different websites. This shows a clear pattern of excellence. New leads can see they deliver on what they promise and have many happy clients. Just under the average rating, they share some awards they’ve won.
4. Engage with Customers
Feedback is your opportunity to engage with customers. If someone leaves you a great review on Facebook, thank them and let them know you appreciate their patronage. When you get a negative review, take the time to reach out and try to fix the problem. This also shows others that you take the customer experience seriously and want to make things right.
Think of reviews as a chance to have a conversation with your customer base. Some interactions might start negative, but the goal is to create a positive outcome.
5. Ask for Reviews
Don’t be afraid to ask your customers for reviews. Email them after a purchase and ask if they’ll leave an honest review. You can even offer a discount on their next order when they leave one.
Add a button on your site making it easy for clients to add their thoughts. Don’t create too many steps. Let them share their rating, a few words and their name. You do want to make sure they are actually customers as some unscrupulous competitors may leave negative reviews just to make you look bad.
If you want to learn how to seek reviews, take a course on Udemy and you’ll learn a lot. Throughout the course, the instructor asks for reviews. When you log into the platform, you’ll see an invitation to leave a rating on each course. Many instructors also send out a message halfway through and at the end of a class asking if you’ll review them.
6. Highlight in the Header
Use a hero shot of a product and then highlight a review in the header. You can swap out the feedback to match items you’d like to promote. If you get a new item in, wait for a few of the first reviews or ask your ambassadors to rate ahead of time.
7. Place on Product Pages
Another way to use reviews is by placing them directly on product pages. This gives potential customers an idea of what others think of the item. If they need more details, they can click to expand the ratings and read the actual reviews.
The Horse places a star rating on each product page along with the number of reviews. Click on the stars or scroll to the bottom of the page to expand the selection and read what others think of the item.
Use as a Trust Factor
The best reviews help build name recognition and trust in your brand. Take the time to read through feedback from your customers. Highlight the words that make you want to buy the item. Think through the questions users likely have and answer them by sharing detailed reviews. You can encourage buyers to take the next step by providing as much information as possible.
Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. Eleanor was the creative director and occasional blog writer at a prominent digital marketing agency before becoming her own boss in 2018. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and dog, Bear.