Product sheets and user-generated content

UGC, User Generated Content: this refers to written or media content published by your site's users, on your site. This content is very important, and addresses a number of issues facing e-tailers: visitor trust, retaining existing customers, conversion and SEO.

In this article, we'll explain how to take advantage of user-generated content and develop this strategy so that it enhances the content of your e-commerce site.

User-generated content: definition

As mentioned, this concept is also known as UGC or User Generated Content. An integral part of a content marketing strategy, it represents all the content published by Internet users in relation to your brand, your products or your company.

User-generated content refers to several types of content, from comments left on your blog posts or product sheets, to testimonials, ratings and photos posted on your site.

The aim is to direct this content to your site, so that it enhances your e-commerce site and your product sheets , improving your SEO and optimizing your conversion.

How useful is user-generated content? 

In addition to benefiting your organic SEO, UGC helps you gain credibility with visitors to your e-commerce site. 

First and foremost, testimonials from other users humanize your site. This reassures visitors and encourages them to continue browsing. 

Secondly, visitors arriving on a product page will look at the comments and ratings left, to get an idea of the product's quality, use, etc., before buying it. This brings us back to the notions of reassurance and social proof. Consumers will indeed tend to seek approval from their peers before buying a product. This is one of the reasons why many sites reward users who leave reviews on their product sheets, or create referral programs.

What types of content are generated by users?

This content is multi-faceted and can be published on numerous platforms.

Written content 

First of all, there's written content. This can be published on your e-commerce site, on third-party sales platforms (such as marketplaces or reseller sites), on review sites, or on social networks.

This content enhances your brand and extends your digital universe. If they're positive, they help you gain visibility and put a stamp of approval on your brand. That's why customer loyalty is so important: a loyal customer is a true ambassador for your company and your products.

Content published on review sites is also very important, as it is taken into account by search engines. In most cases, these review sites offer e-commerce sites the opportunity to take advantage of these comments and ratings and publish them on the associated product sheets.

Multimedia content

This type of content represents the images and videos shared by Internet users. These are also very important, as they give a "real" dimension to a pure player company, for example.

It's also possible to offer web users the chance to publish multimedia content on your product pages, thus building on the feeling of trust conveyed by customer testimonials.

In addition, images and videos complement the multimedia content offered on product sheets, providing visitors with even more information.

How can you centralize this content on your site?

For these to benefit your conversion rate and SEO, user-generated content needs to be published on your site. There are several strategies for doing this. 

First of all, you can encourage the customer to leave a comment on the product sheet. During the post-purchase phase, you can take advantage of this by sending a transactional e-mail after receipt of the product to request the customer's return. If the customer is satisfied, he or she will leave a review. Remind them that this is important for your site and that you're curious to get their feedback.

Secondly, it's possible to reward consumers by offering discounts or certain benefits (such as free delivery) in exchange for a review. This provides added value for the customer, who will be more inclined to return.

Finally, as mentioned above, you can aggregate reviews left on specialized sites. Trustpilot, Avis Vérifiés, ..., there are many specialized sites. The presence of their logo on an e-commerce site serves as an element of reassurance, increasing the confidence of your visitors. User-generated content on these sites can be added to your product data sheets, along with photos, comments and ratings.