In a move that could have some pretty big implications for our photography business pages, Facebook has confirmed that they are currently testing their five star rating system on business pages. The move would mean that one of the first things a user sees on a business page besides the name is it’s rating, even more prominent that its “likes”.
The five star rating system has been used on Facebook for businesses for quite some time, but always in a secondary capacity and never displayed publicly on the page. Facebook users can currently write reviews and give a business a 5 star rating, but those are only displayed to friends of that user as a way to spread word about the business.
[Rewind: Is Social Media Destroying Copyright?]
Ratings in the new system would be displayed right on the business’s page, directly below the name of the page to the right of the profile image. The rating would give users yet another way to discern how other feel about the business in question, but could also be an issue for business who may be trying to buck some bad reviews.
In a response to inquiries from Techcrunch on the appearance of the five star ratings on some pages Facebook confirmed that they are testing the feature:
We’re extending star ratings on Facebook from mobile to desktop – to make it easier for people to discover great businesses around them. This is beneficial for both businesses and consumers.
Personally I welcome the addition of star ratings to my business page (if and when that happens). It just gives another avenue for users to see that my business is one that they want to do business with. If you conduct yourself well and provide good customer service then getting good ratings should not be an issue for you.
That said, getting people to actually take the time to rate your page could prove to be an interesting challenge for some. Getting likes is easy, getting reviews (and good ones at that) will prove to be much more difficult.
Facebook has not put a timeline (pardon the pun, haha) on when this feature may be released to the rest of the business pages so it is going to be one of those wait and see situations. We are curious how you all feel about the possible change, do you welcome the addition of star ratings to your page or do you prefer for “likes” to be what people see prominently displayed? Vote in our poll below and share your thoughts in a comment!
[poll=11]
[via Techcrunch]
Get Connected!