Just like everyone else online, you want more views, more ratings- more clicks on your website. You google your business over and over again, hoping to see more views, hoping to see that more people have clicked on your website.
In the world of Internet marketing, it is extremely important to get ratings from your customers. Ratings tell potential customers whether or not to do business with you. It’s that simple. Less reviews- no stars- mean little or no business for you. It becomes extremely important to get and keep as close to a five star rating as possible.
You’d be surprised just how much business there is to get if you have the right amount of ratings and the right amount of reviews.
The Internet Changed Everything
Until the advent of the Internet, we had star ratings for hotels, restaurants, and other popular venues- but no one really paid much attention to them.
With the coming of the Internet and dubious businesses and little to no personal contact with potential clients and customers, ratings have become an integral part of user experience. The way humans interact with the Internet has modified our behaviour so much so that we spend much less time reading and analyzing information and much more time scanning and scrolling.
Internet users quickly scan information that pops up in front of them to determine their interest in remaining on the website or moving on to the more fertile ground.
Quick Scans Mean One Chance
Because humans have adapted to working on the Internet and shortened their attention span as they cruise through websites, it is critical a website catches their eye quickly.
That’s what review star ratings can do. Star ratings quickly convey the message, “Stop and look at this!” A five star rating is the best way to get attention-fast.
It’s funny how business has changed with the Internet, and this change has led to a five star rating being the standard rather than the exception.
Five Stars Mean You’re Okay
What has happened to human behaviour is called a conditioned response.
Remember the experiment you learnt in school about Pavlov? That’s the one where the dog starts salivating as soon as it hears the sound of the bell- a conditioned reflex or response. A five star rating causes an almost automatic response in individuals to stop scrolling and start interacting.
So the question here really is- how do you get and keep five star ratings for your business or website?
Getting a five star rating depends on the quality of the products and/or services the website offers but maintaining a five star rating once achieved can depend upon the manner in which the website obtains its ratings.
Three Ways To Accomplish This Task-
There are three different ways to get five star ratings from internet users. The first way is to put a simple rating request on your website and ask people who visit your site to rate their experience.
The second way is to take advantage of websites where consumers provide ratings on a variety of products, services, and websites and learn from there website and adapt your own to a similar standard.
By listing your business or website with one of these services your website can accumulate ratings more rapidly and with more consistent results.
The third way and the easiest way to accumulate a lot of 5-star reviews is to ask your customers who’ve had a good experience working with you and who will be more receptive to the idea of spending a few extra minutes rating and reviewing your website.
In my first business (we rate 4.9/5) we would provide the service then send out a simple email out asking for a 5-star review.
We would then follow up as often as necessary to make sure we got a review to stick.
Small businesses really underestimate the power of reviews. We saw a drastic increase in business just from using this strategy.
Which Websites Consolidate Consumer Ratings?
There are websites where ratings are aggregated from web users.
ProductReview and TrustPilot are two websites where consumers can go to find products or services they need along with verified ratings of those products or services by other consumers.
For many online consumers, it is the place to start their searches when they want to buy anything online.
These two websites provide verified ratings on a wide variety of consumer products and services that internet users access every day.
What is a Verified Rating?
A common practice on the internet is for a website to get its ratings from its own employees and staff.
Anyone can sign in to a website, click on the five star rating and leave a comment about how wonderful the website or company is.
Fake reviews are part and parcel of a system where reviews can equal more revenue.
This can make it difficult for website users who want truthful, accurate rating information. Independent verification of consumer ratings becomes necessary so consumers can have the confidence that the ratings they are viewing were actually provided by real customers and not somebody on the website’s staff.
That’s what Trust Pilot and ProductReview provide. Real ratings from real people who have real experience.
Internet Users Trust Independent 5-Star Ratings
Trustpilot and ProductReview are internet rating services many companies use to advertise their 5-star ratings.
Consumers trust the ratings on websites more because they are made by independent, verified consumers and not by a robot or the website’s owner.
Consumers can look up reviews for all kinds of goods, services, and companies.
When a website or company gets a five star rating and uses one of these services it gets more attention from consumers and that means more business.
To get the most out of your consumers, the best advice is to firstly, provide the best service possible. Then all you need to do is ask your customer for a review via email or telephone.
We generally accomplish this task with marketing automation
