These are not four things I found out on my own – as you’ll see, these tidbits relate to JC Whitney, a company with which I’m not too familiar.  Geoffrey Robertson, VP of eCommerce at JC Whitney, actually shared these tips at Internet Retailer 2007, and Greg Howlett was kind enough to relay them to the rest of us through Marketing Pilgrim.

The number one lesson, then, is that “[u]ser reviews have a huge impact on sales.”  Good reviews are, as one might imagine, good.  But bad reviews hurt.  “[P]roducts that rated three stars saw a 10% decrease in sales,” writes Howlett.  “Two stars resulted in a 23% decrease and one star resulted in a 31% decrease in revenue.”

Lesson number two: “Companies need to aggressively solicit reviews.”  People are lazy, and aren’t likely to do much of anything (for you and your business) without a little gentle prodding.  Also, if your reviews sections stay empty, it’ll just look sad.

On another note, business owners should be aware that “[u]ser reviews do not necessarily improve customer loyalty,” according to Howlett.  Not that you’d expect the guy who writes a 600-word complaint in all caps to become a repeat customer, but “JC Whitney saw no correlation between the introduction of reviews and repeat business.”

Lastly, “User reviews do not necessarily drive more organic search traffic.  JC Whitney found no increase in natural search traffic because of their user reviews.”  This seems strange, so Howlett adds, “I would normally have been surprised to learn this, but at Vitabase, we have noticed the same thing.”

So there you have it.  Hopefully this information will be genuinely helpful, and not, in contrast, help you realize you’re in trouble.

Search Engine Guide’s Paul Zahn, author of an article titled, “Fake User Reviews Can Really Hurt Your Brand,” would probably agree.  In reference to those fake reviews, he writes, “This isn’t just search engine manipulation.  It’s user manipulation, and that’s personal.  If I go to Yahoo Local (Yahoo isn’t the only victim), there will be multiple listings for the same business with over 70 canned five-star reviews.”

For better or for worse, only one or two WebProNews threads have approached 70 comments in length, and – this is definitely “for better” – we’ve never gotten that many spammy remarks.  Yet, as Zahn points out, “If I were a potential customer and saw these results and testimonials, I’d run away.  When I get tired, I’d run faster and warn everyone I could along the way to stay away from that brand.”

Yet that doesn’t mean business owners have to give up on the power of user reviews.  Zahn writes, “To any business, please, please encourage your satisfied clients or customers to go into places like Citysearch, Yahoo Local, Yelp, or Insider Pages and give real reviews!”

He notes, “Some may only give you four out of five stars.  Some may include typos.  Some may even misspell your name!  This is all fine.  Consumers are smart.  As long as there is honest information about you, consumers will make their own decisions and gain that trust before they even call you.”

Heck, even consumers who aren’t smart (come on, we know they’re out there) can help your brand.  When someone writes, “shut up.  APPLE F*!@$*% ROCKS!!” after an article, it’s not necessarily constructive, but it’s evidence that someone strongly likes Apple.

Authentic reviews are good.  False ones are not.  Govern yourself, and your business, accordingly.