LONDON – Online reviews are critical for both business owners and customers. When used properly, online reviews can help companies learn about their target market, their mistakes, and what they can do to improve. A great way to manage reviews is through an online review monitoring system that can provide accurate and real-time tracking of data based on location. For customers, online reviews prove whether a product is worth buying or not. There are a lot of online reviews out there and not all of them are real or useful. Getting through the nonsense can be tough. Therefore, it is recommended to remember these top four things when reading online reviews.
- Look for Verified Reviewers
When you start to peruse all the reviews for a product that you are interested to buy, you should look for a verified sign next to the reviewer’s name. Most of the legitimate e-commerce sites require their users to sign up and provide personal information such as address and contact number before they can purchase. This means that the person who wrote the review has been authenticated and the reviews came from a verified source. Other sites provide statistics about the reviewer showing other products or services that they have reviewed in the past. This will give you an idea just how credible the reviewer is. Keep away from reviews posted anonymously or by a guest.
- Choose Quality Over Quantity
If you read online reviews that say, “Great product!” or “Excellent service”, there really is not much you can do. You want to read a review with a bit more meat to it. If you see hundred 5-star reviews that talk about how cheap the product is then you will realize it’s either a discount campaign or being cheap is the only thing it has going on. A credible reviewer should outline how the product or service has solved his problem or improved his life. If it’s a complaint, look for reviews that provide specific information about what’s wrong in terms of functionality, durability, and quality of the service.
- Is It Interactive?
By interactive, it means that there is a response thread in the review either between the user and the representative of the company or other users answering questions and sharing opinions. This will tell you that the review was not automatically-generated. Since customer reviews are a great way to get feedback, the real ones are taken seriously by companies. If you read reviews where a representative of the company has replied to and addressed any complaints, then you know they matter to you and to the other customers.
- Look for Comparative Reviews
Remember, not all products or services work for everyone. Most people have different preferences and their current needs can change from one situation to another. Credible products and services often have mixed reviews. If you want real reviews, pay more attention to comparisons. At the end of the day, you still have to weigh all the information and choose what’s relevant to you.