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How Online Reviews Can Make or Break Your Business

Why online reviews have shifted the balance of consumer power

Online reviews image by Web Icon (via Shutterstock).
Power to the pixel: the smartphone or digital tablet is the main source for many of our products or services. Image by Web Icon (via Shutterstock).

Everybody knows this well worn rule:

  1. The Customer is always right;
  2. If the Customer is wrong, please refer to Rule 1.

Whether in the queue at your favourite sandwich shop or on a certain multinational online bookshop, the maxim rings true to this day. The most tacit form can be seen in online reviews. Some of which may be truthful; others could be spiteful critique, designed to belittle rival businesses. Truthful or otherwise, the purchaser is swayed by the reviews; especially if the reviewer gives a star rating for their product or service. Continue reading “How Online Reviews Can Make or Break Your Business”

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The Importance of Product Reviews in SEO

Product reviews and their role in consumers’ buying habits

Product Reviews chalkboard.

Imagine you’re going on holiday or about to make a major purchase. Among the first things you look at after price is the customer reviews. For your next trip, you look at customers’ experiences of the hotel, tour operator or airline. If purchasing white goods, you weigh up their responses to the item’s performance. The first place they turn to for product reviews is the internet. Continue reading “The Importance of Product Reviews in SEO”