Charles Armstrong

Anyone that has spent time talking with me about e-commerce websites can tell how passionate I am about customer reviews on retail sites. Online customer reviews are one of the few examples of socially generated content that is consistently a win for everyone. Not only do these reviews serve as powerful first account testimonials, these comments often fill information gaps left out by the merchant or manufacturers content.

How do customer reviews effect search engine rankings? Simple… Product reviews increase organic search engine rankings by increasing the number of relevant keywords on a product page. Content is still the king - customer reviews significantly increase the amount of relevant content presented on a page. Best of all… you didn’t have to lift a finger; customers have done the work for you.
While customer reviews are not technically optimized they often, contain valuable broad and targeted keywords that are relevant to the product.
Below is the first example I came too on Amazon.com after a search for “snow blowers.”

While this review certainly is not “stuffed” or even optimized for “targeted” keywords, it certainly has a decent natural mix. A few more product reviews containing similar, broad keyword phrases and some well-optimized product copy and suddenly the page starts to have some real weight.

Most product reviews contain the customers impression of the product… including content describing the item purchased, value, where/how the item was used, what the item was used on/with, and additional items purchased. (Plenty of natural keyword opportunities)

Search engines are also able to sniff out reviews… In 2004 Google filed a patent for a tool that would aggregate product reviews for search… it appears Live Search Reviews beat them to the punch on this.

As Web 2.0 continues to gain momentum, few retailers can continue to ignore the power and potential of hosting customer reviews within their product pages. Customer reviews should not be underestimated as part of a passive SEO initiative.

Below are some additional fun facts & case studies:

Marketing Sherpa article on the effects of product reviews

ClickZ article online product reviews

eMarketer online product review article AA|RF study

“I like very much the… how you say… reviewez of produce on the interwebs… I hope you like too.  Dziekuje!” <Borat>