Many marketplace websites, such as Google and Amazon, use a star rating. These ratings usually come in the form of a number from 1 to 5 stars.
These reviews are often a customer's first impression of your business, and they can be crucial for starting your sales. This is why it is so important to get a high number of positive reviews.
The star-rating system is one of the best ways to let others know what you think and how it affects your decision. However, as more people are relying on these ratings to make decisions, they have started to be interpreted in a different manner.
Consumers may trust a business more if it has many positive reviews. They will also consider that they are genuine. However, when a single negative review is enough to lower a company's rating, this can be detrimental.
In addition, it's not uncommon for businesses to try and get more reviews through discounts or freebies in exchange of a review. This can be a huge mistake that makes the business appear dishonest.
This method can lead to companies overstating their positives to increase reviews and their star rating. This is especially true for smaller companies, who can only afford to have a few good reviews and can't afford to have a few bad ones go unnoticed.
Another problem is that a single bad review can take your business from a 5-star to a 3.5-star overnight, regardless of whether it was your fault or not. This can be devastating to a small company, especially one who has been in operation for a very long time.
It is for this reason that we developed the Five Star Review SystemTM. It allows you to have your customers write their own testimonials, and it automatically displays these on your site with your customer's name as well as a hyperlink that takes them to any review website of your choosing.