Why are reviews important for UK homeware brands? We examine which home brands are leading the way and why DFS, Furniture Village, and The Range risk losing conversions.
Rob Allen - Home Improvement Specialist
When I look at a website's digital maturity one of my favourite results is the SERP figures from SEMRush as it covers so much outside of the main SEO listings for a brand. It instantly shows me winners and losers in a range of metrics including local listings, reviews and FAQs.
Having a strong set of SERP results is a key and evolving opportunity to appear before traditional Google listings, they can help improve click through rates, increase credibility and give an indication if content is effective, useful and well managed. They also help you understand user intent as link clicking on a featured snippet can show that the click has valid interest behind it. Optimising these search features can help Google better understand when your page is the best answer for a relevant query. Identifying your competitors' best performing search features and using this information to strategically develop your content can help you gain that snippet for your website!
Reviews in particular are a useful tool to use to tempt customers onto your site, allowing you to show real-customer opinions and help sway buying decisions.
Which homeware brands have the most product reviews?
I decided to identify 12 leading high street home brands so I could take a closer look at their SERP figures. I was really surprised to find that they seem to be largely failing in this vital part of SEO. For example, only five of the 12 companies registered any reviews. B&M, The Range, DFS, Sofology, Oak Furniture Land, Furniture Village and The Sofa and Chair all registered zero reviews, whereas Dunelm and Wilko are into 6 figures!
How many product reviews do top homeware brands have?
- Wilko – 242,300
- Dunelm – 124,100
- Robert Dyas – 83,500
- Wayfair – 80,400
- SCS – 1,200
- B&M Stores – 0
- The Range – 0
- DFS – 0
- Sofology – 0
- Oak Furniture Land – 0
- Furniture Village – 0
- The Sofa and Chair – 0
Why might some brands not have reviews?
A quick glance at which brands have reviews versus which don’t might indicate why some brands pay more attention to this metric than others. With big-ticket items, such as sofas and large furniture, being more likely to be purchased in-store at a showroom, DFS, Sofology, and Oak Furniture Land may be relying on other ways to get customers through their doors. But, with an increasing range of stores to choose from, including online-only retailers such as Wayfair, customers are more likely to check out your range online first, before visiting a store.
We know that 78% of consumers trust reviews as much as personal recommendations. By having reviews, either as a Google star rating, your own page or on local business pages, your prospective customers instantly have the social proof they need to know that yours is the product they should trust, even if they would like to see it in person first to be certain it’s a good fit. This can only help to increase traffic and, given the right CRO attention, sales too.
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