During the pandemic a lot of businesses suffered, especially the small ones. When they started lifting the restrictions and businesses were allowed to open again, customers were asked to be more patient and forgiving while businesses navigate the changes of the new normal. In case you haven’t noticed, customers are now open to writing reviews.
In fact, reviews can now make businesses succeed or fail. When taken further, reviews can now “cancel” a business. It goes without saying that online reviews, especially Google’s Local Listing, are important to a business’ success. A lot of people look for reviews first even before they visit your website.
They also trust online reviews as much as they trust referrals from people they know. Local consumers look for the information they need from the Google Local Listing and it’s important that you incorporate this knowledge into your marketing strategy.
Optimize your Google Local Listing by creating posts regularly, adding new photos and adding and responding to reviews. There was a time when a good SEO strategy is enough to land you to the top of Google. It’s different now.
Google Local Listing now comes above organic results, just underneath Google Ads. So, even if you’re #1 organically in your local area, the best position you’d get would be 7th or 8th.
The top 3 to 4 are reserved for Google Ads and the next three are for local listings. So now you see why Google Local Listings and the reviews found there are critical to local businesses.
Ouch! Is your website costing you sales? Find out with a free audit.**
** Not another disguised sales pitch. No strings attached. Applicable tips.
Strong coffee and nearby seating is highly recommended, but not mandatory.
Reasons why Google Reviews are Important
- 1Trust and First Impressions affect your Reputation – People who don’t know you are curious
about what people say about you. They want to know how good your product and service are
and how you treat customers. They will know this by reading your reviews. If the reviews say
that your products are inferior and that you have shabby customer service, people will believe it
rather than give you the benefit of the doubt. And let’s say the review is unfair and not true,
disproving it will get you nowhere. If this happens, the best thing to do is update your reviews so
that the good ones will “bury” the bad review. What if you don’t have enough reviews? That’s
also bad. In fact, it’s only slightly better than bad reviews so make sure to ask your customers to
write you one. And there’s no shame in asking for a 5-star review when you deserve it. Some
customers are forgetful. Go ahead and remind them when they forget to write a review. - 2Good Reviews help with Ranking – It’s not just the customers who look at reviews. Google looks
at them too. They are in the business of providing people with the best result for their search
and your reviews tell them if people like you. It makes sense therefore that great online reviews
get preferential ranking over businesses with poor reviews. Note further that the number of
reviews matter in this case. For local businesses, aim for 40 or more reviews. - 3Reviews are a Learning Experience – Sometimes we need somebody from the outside to get an
objective assessment. Bad reviews are hurtful and there are two ways you can deal with it. You
can either ignore them as lies or listen to what they’re saying especially if the feedback comes
not just from one or two reviewers. Take the reviews as constructive criticism so you can see
where you can do better. - 4Costumers read reviews first before buying – It’s human nature to seek assurance before
venturing into anything, including buying a product or service. It’s no wonder reading reviews is part of a customer’s buying process. Make sure to optimize your Google Local Listing by
updating your reviews as often as possible. - 5Customers call up businesses from Google Local Listing – Lately we found out that businesses
get calls more from Google Local Listing than from their website. In fact, they say that there are
customers who are yet to see their website but called them up. This proves how important local
listings and reviews are.
Ouch! Is your website costing you sales? Find out with a free audit.**
** Not another disguised sales pitch. No strings attached. Applicable tips.
Strong coffee and nearby seating is highly recommended, but not mandatory.
- 6Be found when people search for “business + review” – When looking for reviews, customers
can type in the search box, “(your Business name) Reviews” and read about you. But if they
don’t have a particular destination in mind, they can also type “(business) near me”. Google will
show a Google Map list of local businesses and display the average rating scores from all your
reviews. Make sure your reviews are good if you want to grow your business via online searches. - 7Buyers trust online reviews – A while ago we mentioned that buyers trust online reviews as
much as they trust referrals from people they know. The latest statistic says that 78% of buyers
trust online reviews and in the 18-34 age group, the number jumps to 91%! We don’t need more
proof, but this statistic is amazing! - 8Quantity and quality of reviews matter – It is imperative that you get good reviews. Reviews that
are all 5-stars are not believable. 4 out of 5 or 4.5 out of 5 is the ideal. Remember, bad reviews
are bad for business. Not only that, not having enough is also bad. If your competitors have 40
or more reviews each and you only have 5, who do you think customers will call?
Online reviews give costumers an idea of the type of treatment they will get from you. More than looking for a good product or service, they are also after a good experience. Positive reviews tell them that they will love doing business with you.
Take advantage of Google Local Listing, also called Google Maps Listings or Google My Business Listing. Make sure you’re listed there. Your presence plus good reviews will surely bring in more business.