Google reviews don’t just affect your online reputation – reviews ARE your online reputation
How important are reviews and what is the impact on your web marketing?
There are many marketing benefits to be gained from many positive reviews. (Google defines them as reviews with 3 ½ stars out of 5.)
- Positive reviews make it easy for buyers to select you over your competition
- They add keyword rich content when you publish them on your site.
- They can generate referrals from one customer to another
- They add credibility to your website
- They give you the opportunity to address negative reviews before they start to tarnish your reputation
- Your paid search ads (Google AdWords) will show the bright orange stars to viewers on search results pages. This has a great influence on click-through rates because the ads practically jump off the pages.
- Your natural (organic) listing can also show the stars, making even lower ranking results stand out
- Provide improved rankings in search engines.
- Fill the internet with positive reviews
- Become one of the most influential and trusted service providers in your community.
In order for your business to start seeing these some of these benefits, you will need a minimum of 30 reviews in the previous 12-month period. And you will need to ensure at least 30 reviews in any 12-month period going forward.
Make it easy for your customers to publish reviews
Just send them an email with links to their review sites. This way, your customer is already on their computer, ready to write a review the moment they receive their request. The link saves them from having to search for your company’s review page.
Most business owners struggle to get customers to leave feedback. The good news is that it has become easier than ever for you to stay ahead of the competition.
But it starts and ends with you … website operators who get it and fully understand the value find a way to get it. And, if you get it, getting reviews is actually pretty easy.
Don’t be tempted to incentivize your customers to leave feedback
Google says this can be interpreted as a “rapture.” Here’s what Google’s Matt McGee has to say:
“Reviews are only valuable when they are honest and unbiased. Even if they have good intentions, a conflict of interest can undermine trust in a review. For example, do not offer or accept money or products to write positive reviews about a company, or write negative reviews about a competitor.
Also do not post reviews on behalf of others or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with the site you are reviewing. “
The benefits of an aggressive Google Reviews process for website operators are enormous. Failure in this field will become increasingly costly in the months and years to come.
Your competition is just starting to catch up, so you still have a chance to gain a substantial advantage in earning the trust of more new customers than ever before.
90% of customers say that purchasing decisions are influenced by online reviews. “According to a new survey by Dimensional Research, an overwhelming 90 percent of respondents who recalled reading reviews online claimed that positive online reviews influenced purchasing decisions, while 86 percent said purchase were influenced by negative reviews online. “
If you ignore these facts, you are in great danger.
Consumer reviews are gaining prominence in landslide rates, so now is the time to act.