Get Online Reviews and Build Your Reputation
What your customers think about your business is incredibly valuable. It can either motivate you to continue doing what you’re doing or help tackle those areas that need improvement. But overall, customer reviews help you grow.
Online reviews have a significant impact on how other people view your business, especially before they even decide to do business with you. Did you know that about 84% of people consider online reviews as reliable as a recommendation from a friend? So, yes, online reviews make a difference in how people perceive your business.
In a perfect world, there would be no such thing as an unsatisfied customer, but they do exist, and sometimes they are the most eager to leave online reviews —negative ones, but we’ll deal with that in a future blog. Right now, you may be wondering —so how do I go from having satisfied customers to having happy customers who leave online reviews? Well, we are going to give you some tips.
Importance of Online Reviews
Before we get into the ‘how,’ let’s talk about the ‘why.’ As we mentioned, people trust online reviews, so it is an excellent way for your business to build a reputation and gain more customers. In fact, after reading one to six reviews of your business, 63% of people will form an opinion about it.
When thinking of online reviews, most people go straight to thinking about Google reviews, but there are many other platforms where you can get reviews, like Facebook and Yelp. Using a variety of review platforms will help you cover all your bases, although Google My Business is the most popular one.
- GMB reviews can help you rank higher in search engine results. Let’s say someone searches for a business likes yours in your area or directly searches for your business name. When the result comes up, they will be able to see your company information along with your star rating. The higher the score, the better the chances to rank higher in this platform.
- One of the advantages of Facebook as a review platform is that most people will be willing to leave a review and a star rating for you there since they are likely to have an active account already.
- Ask for reviews in your posts. It’s a great way to motivate people to give you feedback. For example: Post about a recent event or your latest work and ask people to share their thoughts with you.
How to Get Online Reviews
Encouraging customers to leave reviews is essential. You can manage it yourself or have a professional do reputation management for you.
The process of getting reviews begins with excellent customer service. If your customers are happy with the type of service they received from your business, they are likely to be willing to give you a review. On a case-by-case basis, ask yourself if your customer had a good experience or if they have said something positive about your business. If so, don’t be afraid to ask for a review. Before they walk out the door, let them know their opinions matter, and help you improve and grow.
