Why Your Online Shop Needs Product Reviews

Product reviews are found on the biggest e-commerce sites in the world. However, many smaller shops collect and display product reviews as well. Even Google displays product ratings in their results. Collecting and managing them in the right way can have a big impact on click-through rates as well as conversions. Today, we’ll look at why product reviews are so impactful and how online shop managers can best utilise them.

What are product reviews?

In this article, we will focus on the product reviews that online shops collect from previous customers and display on their website and in search engines.

Customer reviews: Product reviews & Service reviews

There tends to be a little confusion when it comes to product reviews and service reviews (aka shop reviews).

Both product reviews and service reviews fall under the umbrella term of ‘customer reviews’:

• Product reviews focus on the user experience with the particular product (e.g. colour, size, functionality, etc.).
  
  
• Service reviews focus more on the experience with the particular shop (i.e. delivery, customer service, etc.).

In the example below, Dotty Fish displays both product reviews (under the product image) and service reviews (in the Trustbadge on the right).

Not only do shops separate these reviews from each other, but Google also separates them. Searching Google for ‘brand name + reviews’ will most likely display service reviews in the form of stars. Searching Google for specific products will most likely display Google Shopping results, which highlight product reviews in the cards.

Statistics for reviews

Customer reviews play a big part in the customer journey. Here are a few key statistics that Trusted Shops research revealed regarding customer reviews:

• 66% of consumers claim positive reviews can convince them to purchase from a new shop for the first time.
  
  
• 61% of shoppers think that it is important for online shops to respond to customer reviews.
  
  
• 79% of consumers read reviews every time or most of the time before making a purchase.

You can read about these stats and more in the Trusted Shops ‘Digital Trust Report’. Download it here:

3 big reasons why your shop needs product reviews

There are plenty of reasons you need product reviews and ratings in your online shop. We’ve broken them down into 3 main reasons:

The power of trust

Shops need to build trust with their visitors. It’s the key psychological factor in online shopping, especially when visiting an unknown shop for the first time.

People determine trustworthiness differently depending on the context. However, in e-commerce, there is usually one tell-tale sign that a shop is worth trusting:

Transparency.

If a shop seems like they have nothing to hide, it will be seen as trustworthy. This can be impacted by many elements on your site. For example:

• An easy-to-find phone number
• Legal information in the footer
• About Us page
• Product & Service reviews

Product reviews are definitely a big indicator that a shop has nothing to hide. In fact, having a few not-perfect product reviews can actually make your shop seem more trustworthy. A savvy online shopper will look through both positive and negative reviews. Replying to reviews is key here.

We’ve got some tips for answering reviews later in this article, but we’ve also created a free whitepaper for exactly this topic:

Once you boost trust, you’ll improve both conversions and customer loyalty.

Here is an example from Wilton Wholefoods. Not only is the (average) product rating found at the top of the product page, but the individual reviews can be found when the user scrolls down a bit further.

The SEO & SEA benefits of product reviews

Product reviews do more than build trust; they can significantly boost your performance in both SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and SEA (Search Engine Advertising). When leveraged correctly, product reviews enhance visibility, engagement, and conversion rates across Google and other popular search engines.

SEO: More Content, Better Rankings

User-generated product reviews add valuable, keyword-rich content to your product pages. This fresh, relevant text helps improve organic search rankings and increases the chances that your pages appear in long-tail keyword searches. Google favours regularly updated content, and reviews offer a steady flow of relevant keywords and phrases.

Product pages with product reviews are also more likely to be featured in Google’s rich results with star ratings, which improves click-through rates (CTRs) and traffic.

Recommended reading:
Display Star Ratings in Google Organic Search Results

When clicking on an organic result for Wilton muesli, a card appears with more product information, including product reviews sourced from multiple trusted sources.

SEA: Better visibility & Lower CPCs in Google Ads & Google Shopping

In paid search (Google Ads & Google Shopping), product reviews can positively influence your Quality Score, a metric that directly impacts your ad rank and cost-per-click (CPC). Product pages with product reviews also have higher conversion rates, which also impacts the Quality Score.

Reviews also enhance ad extensions (aka Assets), like product ratings in Google Ads and Google Shopping. Star ratings increase trust at a glance, leading to higher click-through rates.

In Shopping Ads, both paid and organic listings benefit—product reviews can help your items appear more prominently and attract more attention.

In the search results below for a Meaco fan, users are presented with sponsored ads in the top row and organic results below them, with product ratings appearing in both.

Product reviews also increase the time spent on your product pages. When users take their time sifting through reviews before making a decision, this sends a positive signal to Google and other search engines, which helps increase your organic ranking as well as your ad ranking.

Optimise your business

So far, we’ve talked about how product reviews positively impact how your shop is perceived (trustworthy) and how it is discovered (SEO & SEA). However, product reviews can benefit online shops by helping them optimise their business as well.

Lower return rates

You don’t want people to buy your products if it’s not a good fit for them. If you offer free returns, you can bet people will take advantage of that. Help them avoid the hassle of going to the post office by keeping users informed before they complete the purchase. Social proof allows shoppers to eliminate products they know won’t meet their needs.

Remember: You can still offer “similar products” with product recommendation widgets. Whether you’re cross-selling, upselling, or down-selling, you could end up saving money in return costs by getting the right product to the right customers. Product reviews help you accomplish this.

Improve your product line

Source: Shutterstock/Song_about_summer

Have you noticed that you’re getting too many negative product reviews for a specific product? Well, that could be impacting returns as well as your general online reputation.

Keep an eye on your product reviews and you’ll know when it’s time to find a replacement product or simply remove a specific item from your offer.

Tips for making the most out of your product reviews

We now know why you need product reviews on your site. So the question remains: How do we make the most out of those product reviews? Here are a few tips for you:

Use a reviews provider that is a Google partner

To get the full SEO and advertising benefits, work with a reviews platform that is a Google Reviews partner. These providers:

• Feed your review data into Google Shopping and Ads.
  
  
• Help you qualify for Google seller ratings and product ratings.
  
  
• Provide structured data for rich results in organic search (i.e. display your stars in Google search results).

This partnership increases your visibility in both paid and organic channels and boosts consumer trust across platforms.

Collect more product reviews

The more reviews you collect, the more credible and effective they become. 100+ reviews is more trustworthy than 10. So, how do you collect more reviews?

• If you don’t ask, you won’t get them: Send a friendly request as well as a follow-up email after delivery. Timing is everything, so give users enough time to test out the product, but don’t wait too long either.
  
  
• Offering small incentives: Offer discount codes or loyalty points. Beware: Local laws may vary, but generally speaking, you can’t stipulate that the reviews need to be positive ones.
  
  
• Make it easy: Use a system that makes the review process simple and mobile-friendly.

The key is consistency. Build a steady stream of reviews over time to keep your content fresh, relevant and trustworthy.

Display product reviews effectively

Collecting product reviews is one thing, but making sure they are seen is another. With the right widgets, you can integrate product reviews into your site perfectly.

Here are few tips:

• Location matters: Show the average product rating at the top of the product page and show the detailed reviews lower down. But don’t limit yourself to the product pages. You can display product ratings in product category pages or even right on your homepage if you highlight a few specific products there.
  
  
• Got a particularly good review? Highlight it on your product page! Take it a step further and create a social media post with the quote.
  
  
• Be transparent: Add filtering options so users can see the good, the bad, and the ugly. Give reviewers the option to upload images as well.

Great reviews should support the buying decision at a glance.

In the example from PuzzleYou, users can read up to 243 product reviews and filter them by their star-rating.

Reply to product reviews

We’ve touched on this topic already earlier in the article. Here are a few tips for replying to reviews effectively:

• Thank customers for positive reviews to encourage repeat business.
  
  
• Respond to negative reviews professionally and constructively.
  
  
• Offer solutions publicly where possible. This demonstrates accountability and reflects well on your customer service.

Responding not only improves customer loyalty, it can also reduce the impact of negative feedback.

Analyse product reviews

We also touched on this topic before. Analysing your reviews will help you identify what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong. Use your product reviews to:

• Identify recurring issues or product strengths.
  
  
• Discover opportunities for product improvement.
  
  
• Track customer sentiment over time.
  
  
• Monitor keywords customers use to describe your products.

This data can guide product development, marketing language, and customer support strategies.

Marketing with your product reviews

Your reviews don’t have to stay on your website. Use them to power your marketing across different channels:

• Social media: Turn great quotes into short, eye-catching posts or stories to boost credibility and engagement.
  
  
• Display ads: Add star ratings and review counts to banners and remarketing ads to increase clicks and trust.
  
  
• Email campaigns: Feature real reviews in newsletters or product promos to reinforce your message and drive conversions.

Repurposing reviews in your marketing builds trust instantly and makes your campaigns feel more authentic.

Don’t buy product reviews

We gave a lot of do’s. Here’s one don’t: Don’t buy or forge your customer reviews. If Google discovers that you faked your own reviews (or hired someone else to), this could have devastating effects on your business. Simply don’t do it.

Recommended reading:
Buying Positive Online Reviews - A Good Idea?

Why Trusted Shops Product Reviews are a great solution for your online shop

Trusted Shops Product Reviews fulfil all the requirements for the tips given above. Whether it’s stylish widgets, being a Google partner, or having an effective review request system, Trusted Shops fits the bill for any online shop.

Additional Trusted Shops products take reviews to the next level

As you might guess from our name, Trusted Shops focuses on trust solutions that benefit consumers and online shops alike. In the Community of Trust, you can find additional solutions to help you get trust to tell your story even better.

Google Integration is a tool to help keep Google completely up to date with your customer reviews. Make sure every review counts by sending daily updates to Google automatically.

Learn more about Google Integration.

The Sentiment Analysis helps you get a better understanding of your reviews. It’s perfect for shops that collect a lot of customer reviews. This tool gives you instant insights into the most common patterns in your reviews, both positive and negative.

Learn more about Sentiment Analysis.

The Smart Review Assistant helps you reply to reviews quickly and easily. Using artificial intelligence, you can save time by creating useful and relevant responses with a click of your mouse.

Learn more about the Smart Review Assistant.

The Reputation Manager focuses on service reviews. This tool helps you harmonise your online reputation across multiple platforms that often appear in Google search results. This includes your Trusted Shops profile, Trustpilot reviews, and Google reviews. A consistent reputation on the biggest platforms is always good for your brand image.

Learn more about the Reputation Manager.

Conclusion

Product reviews and ratings can have a huge impact on your e-commerce business. By giving your site’s visitors as much information as possible, they won’t have a reason to research elsewhere for the quality of your products. The right product reviews solution will help you reduce returns, improve your offer, rank higher in search engines, and boost your marketing efforts.