Most Purchase Decisions Affected By User-Generated Content, Says Report

An eMarketer report about the SEO marketing industry says that user-generated content like pictures uploaded by buyers can heavily impact purchase decisions. According to the data, 62 per cent of customers are more likely to purchase a product if they see photos and videos from other users. This suggests that showing more user-generated content could be an effective strategy for SEO marketing agencies and website owners.

The survey participants in the report include shoppers in the UK, the US, Canada, France, Germany, and Australia. When consumers were asked why they look for product photos and videos from other buyers, they gave different responses.

24 per cent of consumers said that the photos and videos uploaded by other customers may show something that was not obvious before. 21 per cent said that they wanted to see a product in action before they purchase it.

17 per cent of consumers trust that photo and video reviews of a product were accurate. Another 17 per cent said that user-generated content makes it easier for them to see the product’s quality.

11 per cent said that photos and videos clearly show the size, fit, and colour of the product. And lastly, the remaining 7 per cent of consumers said photos and videos let them closely examine product’s material.

Such user-generated content is more popular on Facebook, with 26.4 per cent of consumers saying that it is the best social media platform to go to when looking for customer photos and videos before making a purchase.

Instagram and YouTube are also popular social media platforms where customers constantly upload content about items they bought. Other customers said that they usually find item reviews via TikTok, Snapchat, and Pinterest. Meanwhile, Twitter was the least popular social media platform to influence buying decisions.

Marketers and analysts say that the buying trend in today’s generation has changed drastically from before. Consumers now trust advertisements less and instead turn to user-generated content, which they see as more trustworthy.

And since buyers are more responsive to photos and videos uploaded by fellow customers, Ecommerce websites are now adopting user-generated content into their strategies. Many online businesses today encourage their customers to upload photos and videos alongside their reviews to further influence future buyers. By taking advantage of user-generated content, SEOs and webmasters can further drive up website traffic and sales.

Apart from this, such user-made content can even benefit a site’s SEO marketing. Google’s John Mueller has said that in today’s SEO industry, user-generated content is treated the same as the main content on a webpage when it comes to search rankings. This means that encouraging customers to upload photos and videos can add more signals to a webpage, as well as assist with ranking in image search.

Despite all the advantages of user-generated content, it’s still recommended to exercise caution and review the photos, videos, and text content that users submit before publishing them.

If you want to boost your traffic and sales, you can work with one of the best SEO marketing agencies in the UK today, Position1SEO. Our team of experts will assist you from the first stages of SEO all the way up to maintaining your rankings. You can rest assured that we will be there alongside you every step of the way.

We will first provide you with a free SEO audit, checking on your website’s backlink reports, speed, keyword research, and more. We will also make time for a phone consultation with you to discuss things in detail.

Next, we will have you select your target keyphrases while discussing with you which SEO tasks you want us to focus on, giving you a personalised SEO package.

For more information about our services, you can email us at office@position1seo.co.uk or call 0141 404 7515.