Online reviews are fundamental for any online business since it gives people the option of enquiring before engaging in business with a specific brand or company. It goes without saying that the best way to make sure you get the best product or service is by thoroughly reading online reviews in regards to the brand or company selling the product/service in question.

According to multiple studies on the subject of customer engagement, nearly 80% of online shoppers check a business’s online reviews before purchasing something from it. Nearly 85% of all online shoppers have reported that a negative review can sway their minds into avoiding doing business.

So all of this points out that online reviews are a fundamental part of any online business, and has the power to eighter attract customers or lose them.

Here are further points as to why online reviews are very important.

1. Herd Mentality

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Online reviews have the power to convince you to trust total strangers when purchasing a product. While mom always teaches us to never talk to strangers, online reviews do the exact opposite. Nearly 99.9% of all online reviews are written by total strangers who you have no idea of. But the fun fact is that you will trust their word and purchase the product if you like what they’ve said.

2. Online Reviews Increase Online Visibility

A visible brand is a successful brand; one cannot go without the other. Online reviews are part of search engine optimization. Shopping assistant websites such as Google Shopping and HelloDiya use reviews as prime factors to show products at the top to users.

Every search engine, like Google and Bing, value original content when indexing websites. Your website can be a place where you put all of your product’s online reviews, and search engines will make sure to check them and index them.

But little do you know that online reviews are considered to be original content, so naturally, they help you with search engine optimization. The whole point of SEO is to increase your online visibility by better ranking you on search engines through the use of keywords. And since online reviews are original content, they help you increase visibility.

3. Online Reviews Make You Trustworthy

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We mention part of this at the beginning of our article, but online reviews will eighter make you a trustworthy brand or tarnish your reputation once and for all.

If your products or services regularly get negative reviews, other people will quickly pick up on those reviews and will never engage in business with you. On the other hand, if your products or services regularly get positive reviews, then people will engage in business with you more often and will regard you as a trustworthy business. This, naturally, comes with a few benefits. First off, a trustworthy business has the potential to influence large groups of people.

Secondly, if you’re a trustworthy business then your businesses will surely grow. And thirdly, a trustworthy business has loyal customers that will return every time a new product launches.

Online reviews are fundamental to any business that sells. Online reviews were introduced to us by Google a few years ago, and they are oftentimes the deciding factor for people engaging in business with you. If you want your business to grow, then you must have positive online reviews that will back you up.