How Negative Reviews Can Actually Help Your Business (Part 1)

Negative reviews are part of life. I’m sure you have experienced months of dedicating all your time and effort. After all your hard work, the project ended up a disaster. The customers did like the product as what you originally thought.

We all want to avoid negative reviews. We all just wanna skip reading it, and bury them where no one else can ever see them again. There’s no need to panic because a few unfavorable reviews won’t hurt you. IT CAN ACTUALLY HELP!

Negative Reviews ADDS to the Total Number of Reviews.

• You have to remember that e-commerce websites usually feature the total number of reviews. The more reviews your business has, the more evidences you have. Whether the review is positive or negative, it affects your overall search ranking.
• The point here is to have a variety of reviews because search engines, like Google, can say that your business is legit.
• There was this one study conducted by Harvard Business School that said customers don’t read all the information about a business. Also, the customers were concern on the total number of ratings and reviews.
• They just check whether a business has a good average rating or not, and make decisions basing from this information. So, don’t worry; an unfavorable review won’t affect your SEO. Just look at Amazon. Remember that even the leading e-commerce website gets unfavorable reviews from time to time.

Negative Reviews BOOSTS the Integrity of Your Business.

• I have a question for you. Would you buy from a website that featured only positive reviews? I’m sure you will be suspicious and you will ask yourself if you should trust this website. Am I right?
• When it’s all just glowing reviews about a product, you would start to suspect about its authenticity.
• According to the Journal of Vacation Marketing, the negative reviews are more believable than positive reviews. In other words, it seems shady when every customer seems to be happy and satisfied. It generates doubt and disbelief.
• The researchers added that customers prefer to read a mixed bag of product reviews. It is convincing when they see a variety of positive reviews, neutral reviews, and negative reviews.
• If customers see differing opinions, they would spend time assessing both views. They will weigh both the pros and cons. Thus, it increases the time they spend on your website. This helps in enhancing your SEO.

Negative Reviews Helps BUILD Good Customer Relationships.

• An unfavorable review is your chance to make it up to your customer. Plus, you were able to get an honest review.
• This is your opportunity to take action and improve on your product. If a customer complains, then, you will know what areas need help. You can formulate of ways to address the problem.
• Negative reviews help you to be aware of the issues you weren’t able to see before. When you help your customers with their concern, it shows that you genuinely care about them. You value their feedback more than you value the money they bring in to your company.

One side note: there’s more discussed in part 2.