3 Painful Truths:
Why Customer Reviews Increase Conversion Rates

Bloomington, IN — July 17, 2009 — In a recent article on SEO Boy, a leading blog covering the search engine optimization industry, Customer Lobby discussed some of the reasons why customer reviews increase conversion rates. Click to read the full article. This text is excerpted from that article:

Over the last 5 years, a lot has been written about the impact of customer reviews on conversion rates. In retail industries, Bazaarvoice has reported a 20-100% increase in its clients' conversion rates. In non-retail industries, Customer Lobby has found a 15-50% increase in conversion rates.

3 Painful Truths and How Customer Reviews Can Help

  1. No one reads your website.
    Web visitors don't read they browse. The web has taught us to: browse/scan/click/repeat. We look for headlines and graphics that give us the gist of what is going on.

    But, people do read your customer reviews especially when you link to those reviews from your home page. In fact, website visitors typically spend 3-times longer reading customer reviews than a website description of a product or service. That means your customers' comments are your best hope of getting your marketing message read.
  2. I trust your customers more than I trust you.
    Your website visitors read your site assuming that you are trying to sell them something. But they read your customer reviews like a report card. There is a fundamentally different level of trust when comments come from a third party. That trust translates into higher conversion rates. Surprisingly, having some negative reviews and responding to them will actually further increase your conversion rates.
  3. Your marketing material sounds like your competitors'.
    Try this: Ask someone who is not in your industry to read your website and 3 of your competitors' websites. Ask them how they would choose which company to do business with. You will quickly discover how hard it is to differentiate your business in a way that is simple enough for people outside of your industry to understand. By differentiating your business in a way that a customer can understand, reviews help potential customers choose you and not one of your competitors.