The importance of featuring user-generated content on your website 

Having a new business website designed means you’ll very likely be considering things like blog posts, page structure, image selection, colour schemes, navigation designs and product descriptions. One thing that you may overlook is the importance of user-generated content and how it can be incorporated into your ecommerce web design.The third annual Shopper Experience Index suggests that this would be a mistake – this newly released report confirms that user-generated content is now a vital part of the consumer experience and can significantly boost both the conversion rate for your site and the amount of revenue made from each transaction. The report goes a stage further, stating that user-generated content actually ‘fuels’ the shopping journey.

The report’s key findings underline this: 1.Shoppers reward brands that make it easy for them to find out what their fellow consumers felt about the product or service2.Shoppers want to interact with brands before they make a purchase3.Engagement with user-generated content is less on mobile sites, meaning that brands that offer a great mobile experience stand out4.Consumers expect a high degree of personalisation and they are frustrated when brands fail to deliver this.
User-generated content takes a number of forms – it covers reviews and ratings, images submitted by shoppers and question and answer style content. What’s interesting is that the research, which was carried out by bazaarvoice, suggests that even if the shopper doesn’t interact with user-generated content, it makes a difference.It shouldn’t come as a surprise to learn that consumers love reviews. More and more, they’re an essential component on the path to purchase, with nine in 10 shoppers said to trust reviews as much as a personal recommendation. The Shopper Experience Index explains this perfectly, noting: “ As the shopper journey extends in new and more directions, one fundamental remains the same: we are hard-wired to seek word-of-mouth. Simply put, shoppers want to know what other people think — and brands and retailers win when they make it easy for them to find out. Access to word-of-mouth content is consistently rewarded with return visits, online and in-store sales, and, above all, loyalty .”As a result, product pages that have even one review on display perform significantly better for ecommerce websites – with a 354% increase in conversions. The revenue per customer is also hugely improved with a 446% lift. Product pages that show question and answers also perform incredibly well, with a 447% improvement in conversion rates.The takeaway here is that as you go through your web design process and create the content to fill your new ecommerce site, be sure to factor in at least one or two user-generated content formats such as common question and answers for each product or the ability for shoppers to leave reviews after purchasing.