How to Get Customer Reviews: 4 Tips That Really Work

When it comes to ecommerce, product reviews help you improve your visibility in search engines and convince prospective buyers to make a purchase. However, the problem that you might be facing is how to get customer reviews in the first place.

Fortunately, there are some tactics you can use to get more customer reviews. For starters, you can claim your Google My Business listing. Then, you can offer incentives and follow up with your customers. These techniques can help you to not only get more reviews, but also to build relationships with patrons.

How customer reviews can boost your SEO

When you’re talking about customer reviews, much of the focus is on how they can convert more visitors via social proof.

While that’s certainly valuable by itself, customer reviews can also have a positive impact on your search rankings. For instance, positive reviews signal trustworthiness and authority metrics to search engines. They also provide you with lots of relevant user-generated content for Google to sink its teeth into.

We’ve even written an article offering further tips on boosting your search rankings. Following our advice will help you to nail the more technical aspects of SEO, so you can focus on content, including your reviews.

How to get customer reviews (4 key tips)

Having a lot of positive customer reviews can be a boon for any website. However, getting those reviews can be a challenge. Here are some tips!

• Claim your Google My Business listing
• Offer an incentive in exchange for customer reviews
• Ask your customers for reviews
• Respond to every customer review

1. Claim your Google My Business listing

If you haven’t done so already, the first thing you’ll want to do is claim your Google My Business listing. This free service gives you control over how your business appears in Google searches and on maps.

For example, a quick search for ‘pizza’ produces a list of restaurant profiles, including their locations on a map and, of course, their reviews and rating. This information comes from their My Business profiles.

As you can see from this example, customer reviews are a prominent part of each profile. In addition, they are an important factor Google uses when determining the search ranking for your website. Therefore, once you claim your listing and have optimized it, you’re ready to start filling it with reviews.

Also, My Business is an effective tool to help you develop a local SEO strategy. If you’re interested, feel free to check out the article we’ve written on that as well.

2. Offer an incentive in exchange for customer reviews

Perhaps one of the most effective methods for getting customer reviews is to offer an incentive in exchange for them. You may have seen this tactic used before:

In this example, that extra 10% off coupon may be just the push someone needs to take the time to leave a review. Moreover, this tactic can even convince your customers to leave reviews, in order to receive the benefits of the offer.

Incentives can be coupon codes, gift cards, or even small items like free stickers or pens.

Whatever it is, it doesn’t have to be anything big or very expensive. After all, you’re not trying to buy reviews here, only give people who might not otherwise take the time an extra reason to leave you a review.

We wrote a piece on coupon marketing, and you may wish to use this strategy to incentivize far more than your review requests.

3. Ask your customers for reviews

This may sound obvious, but chances are many of your customers are not thinking about reviews when it comes to your website. Sometimes, a gentle reminder is all that’s needed. Notably, anyone who has had a positive experience with your company may be motivated to help you succeed by leaving you a glowing review.

When asking, it’s important to be polite and as personal as possible. It may also help to let your customers know how much reviews can help your business. After all, not everyone knows how powerful reviews can be for your success.

Often, a simple email (like the one above) is all you need. Additionally, you can ask on social media, such as Twitter, Facebook or any other platforms you use. You can even ask in person, especially if your business is a brick and mortar store with regular customers. Anyone who is loyal to your brand will likely be more than happy to leave a review — all you have to do is ask!

You can even integrate this technique into your email marketing campaigns – perusing stellar examples is going to offer immense value when creating your copy here.

4. Respond to every customer review

Our next tip for getting customer reviews comes with a warning. When responding to your reviews, it’s important to be constructive and appreciative, even if the review is a negative one. Nevertheless, writing a quick ‘thank you’ shows customers that you care and are grateful they took the time to comment on your business.

In addition, a simple and personal message, like the one above, can go a long way in building relationships and forming positive associations with your business. Responding to your reviews can be good customer service and help to build your reputation as a great company to work with.

When it comes to negative reviews, some would say it’s best not to respond at all. However, as long as you are able to be positive and not defensive, you may be able to smooth things over, or even resolve an issue completely. In the long run, this can have a positive impact on your business.

For additional advice on how to write effective messages, take a look at our article 10 Types of Email Marketing Campaigns You Should Be Sending. It may help you to generate further ideas to improve your customer service.

Conclusion

For many ecommerce websites, customer reviews serve not only to help customers make buying decisions, but also to boost SEO.

In this article, we’ve offered four key tips to help you get more customer reviews. Let’s recap: