Reviews on your website: how to make them build real trust

Reviews answer one question

Someone who doesn't know you wonders: why should I trust you? Your own copy can't answer that. Other customers can.

That's why reviews belong in two places. Briefly, directly under the first screen: your score, the number of reviews and the platform. And in full further down, next to the section where you make a promise. A promise with proof next to it is believed. A promise without proof is weighed up.

Five reviews make the biggest difference

The Spiegel Research Center looked at the sales data of one American webshop. A product with five reviews was 270% more likely to be bought than a product without reviews. Most of the gain came from those first five.

For your site, that means:

• Fewer than five reviews? Then show no average score and no count. Show the reviews themselves, or lean on your trust mark, your years in business or your memberships.
• Five or more? Show the average, with the count and the platform.

A 5.0 isn't the goal

The same study found something surprising. The chance of a purchase was highest at an average between 4.0 and 4.7. Towards 5.0 it dropped again. A perfect score raises suspicion.

Dutch consumers think the same. In research by Capterra, 82% of respondents preferred a product with 15 reviews and 4 out of 5 over one with 5 reviews and 5 out of 5.

So show your real average, as the platform shows it today. Don't round a 4.6 up to five stars. Don't hide a 4.3. And don't average only your best reviews.

What a good review shows

Not every review convinces equally. Pick two or three that have this:

• An outcome in the first sentence. "Pain-free again after three treatments" says more than "Very nice practice".
• A name and a place. For consumers the first name and town, for businesses the name, job title and company. In healthcare only initials, and never a diagnosis.
• A date. In BrightLocal's survey, 74% looked for reviews from the past three months. Of the Dutch respondents in Capterra's research, 69% no longer found a review older than three years relevant.
• The service it's about. A service page only shows reviews about that service.

Show how you respond as well. According to BrightLocal, 80% are more likely to choose a business that responds to all its reviews. Template replies backfire: half are put off by them. A review about a problem you solved properly is often your strongest proof.

What Dutch law requires of every review section

Since 28 May 2022, stricter rules on reviews apply in the Netherlands. They come from a European directive and are now in the Dutch Civil Code. The ACM, the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets, explains in its guidelines how it applies them.

In short:

• Fake reviews are always banned. Writing them yourself, having them written, buying them or making them up: it isn't allowed under any circumstances.
• You must say whether and how you check that reviews come from real customers. Where do they come from, do you pay for anything, and how is the score calculated?
• You may not leave out only the negative ones, order reviews in a misleading way, or pressure customers to change a critical review.

That explanation doesn't need to be a paragraph of legal text. One line under your reviews is enough:

Reviews come through Klantenvertellen after the job is done. We don't pay for them and we don't remove any.

Or more formally:

Reviews are collected through Klantenvertellen after completion. We offer no compensation and also show critical responses.

Which platform to show?

If you have reviews in several places, show your Google score in the bar at the top. That's what local customers also see in Google Maps. For the review cards themselves, a platform where only real customers get an invitation works well, such as Kiyoh, Klantenvertellen or Feedback Company. That makes it easy to show they're genuine.

Always link to the platform. A sceptical visitor wants to check it themselves, and they should be able to.

In short

• Under five reviews: no score, but do show the reviews themselves.
• Show your real average with count and platform. A 4.6 is not a problem.
• Choose reviews with an outcome, a name, a place and a date.
• Put one line under your reviews about how you collect and check them.

When we build your site, we put your reviews on it exactly like this. Read how website design at Webclouds works.