Review Syndication – This is how it works!

Companies are increasingly using expert tactics to leverage the influence of online feedback as they understand how much they affect consumer behavior. One such new tactic that is gaining popularity is review syndication, which is essential for products in online retail and for amplifying location reviews on search engines like Google.

Businesses increase consumer trust and boost their visibility by sharing authentic customer reviews across several platforms. Through the wider awareness of shared experiences, this method helps customers make informed decisions, which benefits both businesses by giving a consistent and general picture of customer happiness. In turn, affecting consumers’ purchase decisions.

Let us explore the fundamentals of review syndication and its role in directing the modern customer journey.

What is review syndication?

Nothing attracts shoppers more than a product with positive reviews, and nothing deters a buyer’s interest more than a negative review, except no reviews at all.

Today, this counts not only for the online world, but also for brick-and-mortar sales. Consumers get information online, no matter where the purchase ultimately takes place. Amazon is now the No. 1 product search engine, and product reviews influence the algorithm for displaying the search results page and thus guide the consumer to make a purchase.

The same applies to location reviews on Google. Whether it’s a brick-and-mortar retailer, gas station, bank, etc., consumers are influenced by online reviews on Google. Good reviews help the business, bad reviews might lead to the consumer not even stopping by the store.

Over the last few years, software solutions have been established on the market that help companies to accumulate and distribute reviews. The goal is to reach even more consumers with the existing reviews on the company’s product page. Review syndication is thus intended to distribute user-generated content (UGC) from one website to several websites.

For example, brand manufacturers can distribute customer feedback generated on their own webshop to the product information page of other e-Tailers. In this example, it is also conceivable that a review from the German webshop is transferred to the company’s own English or French webshop.

Review syndication for Google or location reviews works in exactly the same way. The aim is always to make the existing reviews visible to the consumer across multiple sites.

How does Review Syndication Work?

Normally, the syndication process starts with review content generation by the manufacturer. The manufacturer or a service provider ensures that consumers write new reviews. There are now a wide variety of ways and different tools to do this, for example after-sales newsletters, social media channels, etc.

This user-generated content – star rating, review text and, if applicable, image or video material, is then brought together and passed on to the appropriate parties. This content can then be displayed either on further own websites or retailer pages etc. Through this network effect, you can reach significantly more consumers.

Using Amazon as an example, by utilizing review syndication, it is possible to transfer feedback from one country’s Amazon website to another. In other words, a review that is created for a product on Amazon.com will also appear on the product description page on Amazon.de.

The multiplication of reviews and thus interaction opportunities with the user must also be managed. Accordingly, companies must not only take care of the reviews and comments on the original channel, but also on the other channels.

Monitoring, alerting, analysis and interaction apply here to an even greater extent.

What are the Benefits of Review Syndication?

The aggregation and distribution of reviews between brand manufacturers and e-tailers has become common practice, especially in the U.S.. Many brands work closely with various online retailers, in order to challenge Amazon’s authority on the subject of reviews.

Both sides usually benefit from this, because often they cannot alone generate the critical mass of reviews per product or service or even across the board.

Review syndication can significantly increase both the number of reviews per product and the number of products with reviews. Likewise, it enables a coherent presentation across platforms, as the number of reviews and star value are approximately the same. Of course, this especially applies to companies that are active internationally. Review syndication helps with increasing sales, driving more attention to your product pages, and building brand awareness.

Review syndication also influences SEO. The original website – usually the brand manufacturer’s web store – benefits most from user-generated content. However, the content also helps the syndication partner with search engine discoverability. thus reaching a bigger audience.

What are the Dangers of Review Syndication strategies?

As is generally the case with reviews, authenticity is essential in syndicated content. User-generated content has become so important in recent years largely because of customer trust as social proof is more important than ever before when it comes to customers validating their purchase decisions.

This is why the label “Rating originally from Website xyz” is essential in syndication of content. Likewise, syndication must also ensure and make transparent that the reviews are not manipulated, edited, filtered or otherwise changed. This also means that not only positive, but also negative reviews are passed on using syndication.

Analysis of Syndicated Reviews with the gominga Review Manager

Duplicated reviews can complicate the analysis. We have therefore further developed our technology to display syndicated reviews accordingly in the analyses.

We offer the possibility of a more precise analysis: Now reviews can be distinguished; is it a review from the original platform or a duplicated, or syndicated review. With the gominga Review Manager you can filter all syndicated reviews and thus perform various analysis.

For example, you can see how many reviews, and with which star value your products have across all review platforms. Which platform has the lead in reviews? Amazon? Or MediaMarkt or Saturn? But what does the picture look like without “syndicated reviews”? Do the best reviews come from your own web store and are merely passed on to the various e-tailers?

These and other questions can be addressed with the gominga Review Manager.

If you have any questions, please contact us!

Conclusion

In conclusion, review syndication is a great way to expand a brand’s reach beyond its own website, allowing for a significant increase in review volume.

By collaborating with third-party syndication solutions, businesses can amplify their reviews, ensuring that authentic customer feedback is not confined to a single platform but is shared across a variety of retailer websites and brand websites. This not only enhances the visibility of these reviews on your website but also across the broader digital landscape.

Review management becomes an even more crucial component, as increased visibility naturally leads to a higher level of scrutiny. Companies must, therefore, be vigilant in maintaining the integrity and transparency of their reviews, regardless of where they are displayed.

Syndication allows brands and retailers to foster trust, promote consistency, and ultimately, influence consumer purchasing decisions with a more pronounced and accessible online presence. By harnessing the power of review syndication, companies can turn their user-generated content into a robust tool for market influence and consumer engagement.