{"id":172214,"date":"2018-05-22T13:00:44","date_gmt":"2018-05-22T13:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/premium.wpmudev.org\/blog\/?p=172214"},"modified":"2018-05-21T22:27:11","modified_gmt":"2018-05-21T22:27:11","slug":"how-to-seamlessly-add-product-reviews-to-your-wordpress-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/how-to-seamlessly-add-product-reviews-to-your-wordpress-website\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Seamlessly Add Product Reviews to Your WordPress Website"},"content":{"rendered":"

WordPress websites that act as the digital \u201csalesperson\u201d for a company need to d0 more than just talk about how awesome the business or product is. Consumers are demanding to hear from real-life customers who have been in their shoes. They want to know what they thought of the product, how it delivered on what the website promised, and whether or not they think it\u2019s a worthwhile purchase.<\/p>\n

A Local Consumer Review Survey<\/a> from 2017 found that online reviews hold just as much weight as personal recommendations do with 85% of customers.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for a way to add more credibility to your WordPress site<\/a>, customer reviews are the solution.<\/p>\n

Depending on the type of business you run, you may find that testimonials are the more appropriate option. Testimonials<\/a> are best if you have a service you offer to clients. These put the spotlight on an individual (usually the CEO or manager of a company) who then shares a brief \u201cstory\u201d about how working with a business changed their life for the better.<\/p>\n

Products, on the other hand, are more effectively reviewed with ratings and commenting systems. Because you want products to be bought on a large scale (as opposed to a service provider that has a finite amount of time to dedicate to customers), product reviews are more about a numbers game. Getting as many satisfied customers as possible to leave a review is important as is driving up that rating score.<\/p>\n

This post covers the importance of adding product reviews to your WordPress site, plugins you can use to do this, and then I\u2019ll give you a brief tutorial on how to get started.<\/p>\n

The Importance of Adding Product Reviews to Your WordPress Website<\/h2>\n

#7 of the 13 things every e-commerce product page<\/a> needs for more conversions is ratings and reviews. That\u2019s not surprising considering what recent studies show about the importance of reviews in the decision-making process for customers.<\/p>\n

Of course, there\u2019s always a concern that product reviews could work against your website if 1) no one leaves any reviews or 2) the ratings are bad. But that\u2019s why you design WordPress sites and products that consumers can\u2019t help but love. And when you secure that fandom by providing a top-notch experience, your customers\u2019 positive words about it are what help others still on the fence decide to take the leap.<\/p>\n

Here are some reasons why you should add product reviews to your WordPress site:<\/p>\n

Trust-Building<\/h3>\n

You want to show people pondering a purchase that there\u2019s good reason to trust their instincts and pull the trigger. Using high-quality images is one way to do that. Providing succinct yet relatable descriptions is another. But using product reviews can help a lot too–especially if you already have a large base of customers happy with your product.<\/p>\n

With 68% of consumers needing to read at least four positive reviews<\/a> about a business or product before they\u2019re willing to trust it, giving them the information to confirm that feeling will get them to conversion much more quickly.<\/p>\n

Social Proof<\/h3>\n

Social proof is always a good thing, even if the occasional negative review finds its way in there. And that\u2019s because it gives customers the chance to review the facts from the customer\u2019s standpoint. Any concerns they have, any specific circumstances that apply to them, they can make a more informed decision by reading what others have had to say about it. It also plays into mob mentality: if 400+ people gave the product five stars, then it must be good!<\/p>\n

Image Control<\/h3>\n

One of the problems with allowing platforms like Yelp, Facebook, and Google My Business to handle the intake of your business reviews is the matter of control. Even if you (or your client) claimed the corresponding business or product page on those sites, your ability to collect and monitor for reviews is limited. Allowing customers to review products on your site enables you to have more control over the conversation.<\/p>\n

Opportunity for Engagement<\/h3>\n

On a related note, product reviews give you the chance to converse or engage with customers. In the Bright Local survey mentioned earlier, 30% of consumers actually said they want to see brands respond to reviews left on their products. It demonstrates that you\u2019re listening to your customers and are willing to take the time to, at the very least, acknowledge that. If you can do more–like ask questions, work with them on remedying a problem, etc.–even better.<\/p>\n

Eases Decision-Making<\/h3>\n

Giving customers too many choices to pick from is problematic. Many e-commerce websites are built around selling large amounts of inventory. There\u2019s nothing you can do to reduce the amount of choice there, save for implementing a system of breadcrumbs<\/a> so they can filter down the number of products in view at once.<\/p>\n

But product reviews can help with this as well. Reviews put a spotlight on your most popular and well-received products. This way, people can narrow down the number of products they look at by searching for ones that are top-rated.<\/p>\n

Competitive Edge<\/h3>\n

Enabling reviews and ratings on your WordPress site can give you an edge over the competition. When pitted against a website that doesn\u2019t include product reviews, it can make yours seem more transparent about what\u2019s being sold. When pitted against a website that does<\/em> include review, it gives your customers a chance to do a side-by-side comparison to more clearly which products are better received.<\/p>\n

SEO Boost<\/h3>\n

Sometimes, product reviews can work in your favor for SEO purposes. This will depend on a couple things.<\/p>\n

To start, the search ranking<\/a> of your WordPress site can help get those product reviews to show up at the top of search results. If you already have the authority with Google, then the product pages–and their corresponding ratings–will follow.<\/p>\n

Secondly, if your customers reference the same keywords over and over again in their reviews (hopefully, including the product name, too), your product pages may start to rank better for those keywords. You may even decide to update your own on-page SEO to cater to the keywording your customers prefer.<\/p>\n

Product Enhancement<\/h3>\n

Product reviews aren\u2019t just a good thing to have in WordPress because of the enhancements in perception they can lend to a brand. If you pay close enough attention to what customers are writing about–what they like, what they don\u2019t like, as well as their suggestions for improvement–this information can be really valuable. You may find that enough feedback inspires a new course of revisions in order to improve the product.<\/p>\n

Best Product Reviews Themes and Plugins for WordPress<\/h2>\n

eCommerce platforms<\/a> like WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads already come with review integration. However, if you want more control over product reviews than just the basics, you\u2019ll need the assistance of a WordPress plugin.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re using WooCommerce or another store builder in WordPress, there are a number of high-quality extensions and plugins to choose from.<\/p>\n

Check out our post on some of the best review themes and plugins<\/a>. You’re bound to find one that’s perfect for you and your WordPress site.<\/p>\n

How to Seamlessly Add Product Reviews to Your WordPress Site<\/h2>\n

Now that you have a list of tools that allow you to do more with reviews–like upload photos and videos, incentivize visitors to leave a review, pull reviews in from external sources, etc.–let\u2019s look at how to seamlessly add product reviews to your WordPress site.<\/p>\n

Step 1: Install an eCommerce Plugin<\/h3>\n
\"Post <\/div>
\nFor the purposes of this example, I\u2019ll be using WooCommerce<\/a> to power my products and reviews. Install this as you would any other plugin from the WordPress repository.<\/p>\n

Step 2: Enable Reviews<\/h3>\n

Plugins like WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads already come equipped with the ability to turn on product review functionality. So, let\u2019s do that in this next step.<\/p>\n

Go to the WooCommerce menu in WordPress. Click on Settings and go to the Products tab.<\/p>\n

\"Post <\/div>\n

Enable reviews and set permissions if you only want verified customers to leave a response. Do the same if you want customers to be able to rate your products.<\/p>\n

Step 3: Install a Review Plugin<\/h3>\n

Next, if you\u2019re going to use a review plugin to enhance what you do with product reviews on the site, install it. For this example, I am using the WP Customer Reviews plugin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Install and activate it.<\/p>\n

Step 4: Configure Your Reviews Plugin<\/h3>\n

If you go to the reviews form settings, you\u2019ll find that it asks you to configure a number of fields. You can also add your own custom fields.<\/p>\n

\"Post <\/div>\n

This is helpful to have as you\u2019d otherwise have to pay for a premium WooCommerce plugin in order to create more robust review forms.<\/p>\n

Once that\u2019s set, check out the display settings. In this screen, you can choose the maximum number of reviews to display underneath the product.<\/p>\n

\"Post <\/div>\n

Too many reviews per page could slow down loading times, so set this to a reasonable amount.<\/p>\n

Step 5: Enable Reviews on Your Product Pages<\/h3>\n

As I mentioned above, you can use this particular plugin in a number of ways. If you\u2019d rather not relegate all reviews to a single page on your site (which probably doesn\u2019t make much sense for individual product reviews anyway), enable this feature on each product page.<\/p>\n

Open up any of your product pages. Scroll down to the WP Customer Reviews section.<\/p>\n

\"Post <\/div>\n

By checking this box, you\u2019re configuring this section to appear at the bottom of the product page.<\/p>\n

\"Post <\/div>\n

As the plugin developer noted, however, you can place reviews and ratings anywhere on the page. You\u2019ll just need to use the special shortcodes provided.<\/p>\n

Save the changes to your page when you\u2019re done.<\/p>\n

Step 6: Moderate Reviews<\/h3>\n

If you\u2019ve chosen review moderation, you\u2019ll need to pay attention to reviews as they come through for each of your products. You\u2019ll find these under the Reviews menu in WordPress.<\/p>\n

\"Post <\/div>\n

As you can see, product reviews come in as \u201cPending\u201d. To push it to the site, open the review, verify that everything looks okay, and then hit the Publish button. You can also add an admin response to the reviews here as well (in case you want to thank them for the glowing recommendation or apologize for an issue they experienced).<\/p>\n

Once you do this, the review will go live.<\/p>\n

\"Post <\/div>\n

And that\u2019s it. If you decide you want more functionality and control over your product reviews, you can use one of the premium plugins or extensions suggested above.<\/p>\n

Wrapping Up<\/h2>\n

Just make sure you\u2019re asking your customers to leave a review. You can automate this by creating email reminders that go out after a purchase has been made. You can also create a CTA or widget for your website that encourages them to do so. The sight of rating stars and a \u201cLeave a comment\u201d prompt might be enough as well. Just do what you can to get customers\u2019 attention.<\/p>\n

With a little prodding, you might be able to generate more feedback and discourse around your products, which, in turn, will boost confidence in other shoppers and lead more of them to convert.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WordPress websites that act as the digital \u201csalesperson\u201d for a company need to d0 more than just talk about how awesome the business or product is. Consumers are demanding to hear from real-life customers who have been in their shoes. They want to know what they thought of the product, how it delivered on what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":344989,"featured_media":168212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"blog_reading_time":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_tutorials_categories":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[263],"tags":[9974,10924,10922],"tutorials_categories":[],"class_list":["post-172214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tutorials","tag-wordpress","tag-product-review","tag-web-design"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/344989"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172214"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":194076,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172214\/revisions\/194076"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172214"},{"taxonomy":"tutorials_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tutorials_categories?post=172214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}