In April 2021, Google announced that it was releasing a product review update via its search central blog1. The update was rolled out in the month of December. The goal of the update was to make it easier for users to find insightful reviews about products that help them make purchase decisions.
In their announcement Google mentioned that the update would only impact English language websites and would eventually expand to other languages. However, many experts believe that the update has already impacted websites with different languages. Product reviews are particularly important for e-commerce websites and those who use affiliate links. If you have an e-commerce website in Guyana, you should talk to your digital marketing agency about overhauling your product review strategy.
Why are product reviews important?
79% of customers give as much importance to online reviews as they do to personal recommendations. Customers are more likely to purchase a product from a website that has customer reviews. On an average, reviews can lead to an 18% increase in sales2. Recommendations from other people have always had a significant impact on people’s buying decisions. When shopping online people look for such recommendations. This is why product reviews matter and if you have an e-commerce business you need to pay attention to the type of reviews you have on your website. If you have an affiliate website, your product reviews need to align with Google’s update so that you do not lose out on ranking, traffic and sales.
What changes with Google’s product review update?
Google’s product review update gives more importance and higher rankings to in-depth product reviews that provide users with information on specifications, user experiences, pros and cons, etc. Reviews that are thin and simply summarize a bunch of products will be shown lower in search results. This means that users will be able to quickly see high quality reviews from trusted sources.
In their blog post Google has given a lot of insight on what information a good product review should include. Google has advised digital content creators to include more multimedia content in their reviews and to provide more than one link where users can purchase a product. By including multimedia like images and videos, Google is encouraging content creators to include more proof that the product being reviewed has actually been handled and used. Including more than one purchase link will give users more choice on which seller to choose from and encourage reviewers to be more impartial.
How to write a good product review?
Your digital marketing strategy development needs to contain updated guidelines on how to create a good product review. Along with including more multimedia content, a good review should include: detailed product specifications, pros and cons of the product, information on the best use cases for a product, information on comparable products that could be used in certain situations.
Give your customers images and product videos that they can use in their reviews. Encourage them to provide more information and make it easy to find product details and specifications. If you have internal pages on your website that talk about your products, add more content to them. A robust review will rank high in search results and generate high converting traffic.
In their search central blog, Google has given a list of questions that content creators can ask to check if their product reviews are of high quality. Some of these questions are mentioned below.
Content creators should ask if their reviews:
- Express expert knowledge about products where appropriate?
- Show what the product is like physically, or how it is used with unique content beyond what’s provided by the manufacturer?
- Provide quantitative measurements about how a product measures up in various categories of performance?
- Explain what sets a product apart from its competitors?
- Cover comparable products to consider, or explain which products might be best for certain uses or circumstances?
- Discuss the benefits and drawbacks of a particular product?
- Describe how a product has evolved from previous models or releases to provide improvements, address issues, or otherwise help users in making a purchase decision?
- Identify key decision-making factors for the product’s category and how the product performs in those areas? For example, a car review might determine that fuel economy, safety, and handling are key decision-making factors and rate performance in those areas.
- Describe key choices in how a product has been designed and their effect on the users beyond what the manufacturer says?
It is important for businesses to partner with a digital marketing firm with an in-depth understanding of how to effectively create content keeping both users and search engines in mind. If you are looking for a digital marketing company for your business in Guyana, contact us at WebFX. We can help you create content for your site that is search engine optimized and user friendly. WebFX offers complete web solutions which include website design and development services, mobile app design and development, social media marketing, and digital marketing and advertising solutions.
Source:
- Apr. 21, ‘What creators should know about Google’s product reviews update’, Google Search Central Blog, [available online], available from: https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2021/04/product-reviews-update [accessed Jan 2022]
- N.d., M. Loiselle, “3 Important Statistics That Show How Reviews Influence Consumers”, Dixa, [available online] available from: https://www.dixa.com/blog/3-important-statistics-that-show-how-reviews-influence-consumers/ [accessed Jan 2022]
