£1k extra revenue for every 129 website visitors
We’ve proved it’s possible to get an extra £1k in revenue for every 129 website visitors with one tiny website change.
We ran a Google Ads campaign for our mortgage advice client comparing the results of two different landing pages side by side.
Half of the people who clicked our ad saw page A and the other half saw page B.
Both pages were exactly the same except for one minor change.
On page A we used the standard Trustpilot 5-star rating badge. On page B we used the Trustpilot 5-rating badge which also stated how many people have left a review.
That was the only change, and both pages were live and running at the same time.
Does more reviews mean more revenue?
We wanted to see what’s more important to the person who clicked the ad. What the mortgage adviser says, or what other people who have used their services say.
We’re hoping to prove if you should focus on getting as many reviews as possible, how important could that be and could it generate more revenue?
Social Proof
There’s a powerful persuasion technique called social proof. The theory is that people often check what others are doing when they’re unsure how to proceed and there have been several real-world studies that show this happens over and over.
It’s been proven to influence people to pay their tax faster, use less energy in their homes and reuse their towels when staying at a hotel.
HMRC Generated Millions of Tax Payments Faster
HMRC tested adding a line of text to their tax chase letters. One version stated: “9 out of 10 people pay their tax on time.” This generated millions in revenue, compared to the original more threatening letter.
In 2007 a company called Opower used social proof to encourage households to reduce their energy bills.
They sent homeowners a Home energy report. It was a clear, personalised chart comparing their energy use to: “Similar Neighbours”: Households of a similar size and location (the immediate social group) and “The Most Efficient Neighbours”: The 20% of the peer group that used the least energy (setting an aspirational standard).
Rather than saying you could save money and the environment by reducing your energy consumption they showed that others are already doing it.
This is credited with saving billions of dollars in customer energy costs and billions of kilowatt-hours of electricity in the US.
The person who first coined the term social proof is Prof Robert Cialdini. He proved that more people will reuse their towels in a hotel room by changing the message on a display card near the towels. He tried switching the message from explaining the environmental benefits to a social proof message. The new message just stated that most people in the hotel reuse their towels.
Guests who saw the Social Proof Message were about 26% more likely to reuse their towels than those who saw the standard environmental appeal.
Social proof works in the real world but will also work online too?
Yes, this is why most websites like amazon, uber and tripadvisor use a review and rating system. Hotel websites display how many people have booked a room, and online shops use pop-ups to show recent purchases by others.
But how much difference does it make for online lead generation?
Our results
We found that showing the number of reviews generated more than 5 additional leads for every 100 page visitors.
| Type | A) Just Show 5-star Rating | B) Shows Number of Reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Conv Rate (visitor to lead) | 10.34% | 15.63% |
When we weren’t displaying how many reviews page A converted website visitor to lead at 10.34%. That’s just over 10 leads for every 100 visitors.
But the page where it said how many five star reviews (Page B) that converted at 15.63%. That’s nearly 16 leads for every 100 page visitors.
| Variant | Conversion Rate (Visitor to Lead) | Total Users (Visitors) | Estimated Leads Generated (Visitors × Conv. Rate) | Estimated Mortgage Applications (15% of Leads) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A: Just Show 5-star Rating | 10.34% | 100 | ~10 | ~1.5 |
| B: Shows Number of Reviews | 15.63% | 100 | ~16 | ~2.4 |
This means page B should generate an additional mortgage application for every 129 website visitors compared to Page A. With an average case value of £1k that’s an additional grand in revenue for every 129 website visitors to that page.
What can you do
Don’t worry If you don’t collect Trustpilot reviews at the moment it’s not the end of the world, far from it. You will actually get more leads from Google reviews if you have the most in your town when people search “mortgage broker near me”.
They are just as powerful on your website too, and there’s no cost involved. Trustpilot can be a bit pricey.
Displaying reviews
Google doesn’t provide any code or widget to display the reviews on your website. So you’ll need a third party tool. Elfsight.com provides a free option but Trustindex.com has more professional looking options.
Where to put them
If you have over 100 5-star Google reviews, that should be the first thing people see. Placing this prominently at the top of your website is crucial, as it holds more significance to the general public than your logo. If they have to scroll, they might never see it. You should also prominently display some of your latest reviews within your content and at the bottom of your site.
Get more reviews
Integrate the Google review request into your existing process. The perfect moment is immediately after they receive their mortgage offer. By sending a link to their phone at this point, this way, you can make the most of their appreciation before it drops off by completion.
A direct link on their phone makes it more likely they’re already logged into Google, which makes it easier for them. Try sending a Whatsapp rather than email, you’ll get more reviews.
Good to know: People look at your most recent reviews, if it’s been months since your last one it could repel rather than attract clients. Be consistent, ask everyone at offer. Keep a steady flow, you’ll get more leads.
Not a silver bullet
Before you run off and make this change…
Remember, while the power of social proof is undeniable, it’s not a silver bullet. While reviews significantly boost your credibility and influence decisions, relying solely on them will not work. The pages in our test incorporated a variety of elements, like introducing the advisers, persuasive copywriting, a clear call to action, content tailored to the specific mortgage scenario and a user-friendly layout thats been developed over the last decade. Social proof acted as a powerful amplifier, but it needed a solid foundation to generate results.