29 Jun Why are Google reviews important?
When was the last time you bought a product or service without checking the reviews first? Research shows 95% of people read online reviews before buying a product, which is why collecting feedback should be an essential part of your sales and marketing strategy. One of the most effective and valuable ways to do this is by encouraging your customers to leave a your business a review on Google.
In this blog, we look at why positive Google reviews are so important.
1. Improves your Google search performance
Google recognises and rewards businesses that appear active and engage with their customers by boosting them to appear higher on Google search results. One way it tracks this is through the amount of Google reviews your business has. Therefore, the more positive reviews you have, the higher you’ll appear in local searches.
2. Increases brand trust
The best, and most credible, ambassadors for your business are happy customers. The power of testimonials cannot be underestimated, with 74% of consumers saying that positive reviews make them trust a local business more. Feedback highlighting your reliability, customer service and quality will build trust between your brand and potential customers.
3. People trust Google reviews
While companies might include testimonials and feedback on their website, they will only include the positive comments. Anyone can write and submit a review on Google and the business is unable to edit or remove it, which means Google reviews give a more realistic idea of the quality of services and/or products the company provides. They are also usually the first reviews customers will see when they look up your business, making them the most influential type of review you can get.
4. Publicly interact with customers
Google reviews can act as a channel of communication between you and your customers. As with social media, potential customers may look at how you respond to comments publicly and take this as an indicator of your customer service levels. If you’re responsive and show you care about your customers, this will reflect well on your brand and make people more likely to buy from you. Replying to Google reviews also counts as activity that will help boost your business listing in search results.
5. Get more customers and leads
Ultimately, the more Google reviews you have, the higher your business will appear on Google searches and the more click-throughs you’ll get to your website. Once you’ve got people onto your site, the hardest part is over. So you don’t want to waste the effort by not having a user-friendly, well-designed website with the right information for these new potential customers. See our top tips for generating more leads from your website.
How do I get more Google reviews?
There’s no magic to getting Google reviews, you simply need to ask your customers! How you do this is up to you, and the format will depend on how your business operates and how you usually interact with your customers – i.e. it may be an email, or a QR code on printed collateral. The important thing is that you make this an essential part of your standard sales process, so you can collect regular reviews and start to reap the benefits.
Keep up to date with all our latest news here, or follow us on social media – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.