5 Reasons Every Business Needs Online Google Reviews
Kia Ora!
In this months blog, we will go back to basics with Reviews and the importance of taking your Brand and Reputation marketing super-seriously. In this day and age, especially with the fear and uncertainty spread by the pandemic many people across the globe will never feel, think or act the same. It has never been more important for your potential customer to trust your business and you. Virtually no one makes an online purchase without scrolling down the page and clicking ‘Reviews’.
This is where smart businesses pivot and adapt to not only survive but thrive through times like these. Online reviews are arguably the most powerful and beneficial tool that any business can employ. It is a reference point from consumers across the globe and a way for you to control and perfect your Branding, Reputation, creating customer loyalty and in turn increasing your bottom line.
Here are five reasons why every business needs to have online reviews;
1. Online Google reviews help boost your SEO
Reviews are a crucial influencer in a customers decision on whether to engage with the business and make a purchase. 92% of consumers read online reviews before they make a purchase. Customers believe what other customers are saying, and therefore positive reviews increase your online visibility and allow customers to interact with your business and with each other. Having customers talk about you is just what you need to cultivate your brand and increase your global exposure. Reading online reviews is an essential part of a customers decision-making process, so having reviews on Search Engines such as Google, Facebook, Bing and Yelp will improve the businesses visibility since the more people that talk about your brand the better. Local SEO experts have reported that reviews represent around 9.8% of all the ranking factors that can be found. This means that creating a steady stream of reviews will enable your brand to come up in search results when customers are shopping online.
2. Expand your customer reach
Powerful reviews are capable of building your business online identity and expanding your brand reach. 88% of people trust online reviews and 72% only interact with brands that have positive reviews. Studies have shown that people trust perfect strangers on the internet so what people are saying, good or bad, will be circulated and considered social proof. Establishing a stream of steady reviews can develop your creditability and encourage your customers to trust your brand. When a customer has something good to say they usually leave reviews on more than one platform which in turn increases your multi-channel footprint. If you find yourself in the position of receiving negative reviews this too can be turned into a positive. It presents you with the opportunity to reach out to your concerned customer and try to resolve the issue. By doing this you are increasing customer satisfaction and making it likely that the customer will return and leave a positive review. A negative review is a perfect opportunity to create a loyal customer.
3. Reviews create brand loyalty
Now that you have increased your brands’ visibility and established a strong cyber footprint, your reviews will create brand loyalty. Anyone that takes the time to leave positive feedback will likely be a returning customer. Establishing loyal customers not only increases sales but also strengthens your company’s credibility. Having an emotional connection with customers has proven to provide 23% more revenue than with customers who are non-engaged. Reviews are a proven method of growing customer engagement which leads to the next key point which is obtaining direct feedback from customers.
4. Online reviews provide you with direct feedback from your customers
Another reason why every business needs online reviews is that it establishes a direct line to your customers. All their queries, concerns, likes and dislikes are all relayed back to you and from that point, you can analyse the data and react accordingly. One of the most devastating impacts on customer and brand relationships is when the brand grows and detaches from its clients. To avoid this it is necessary to collect online reviews and take the time to read the feedback. This feedback will ensure that you continue to meet your clients’ needs. Customers in this tech-savvy day and age are expecting companies to respond to their comments. This gives you a platform to address their concerns directly and rectify the problem which allows you to maintain the customer and brand relationship. Having an open-to-feedback appearance will catapult your brand into a sphere of success.
5. Online Google reviews lead to more sales
Of course, companies with positive reviews will see an increase in their sales. This is because being a visible brand with positive reviews means that your business will be favoured by algorithms. Search Engines will collate the online reviews and syndicate them into Google Product Listing Ads in Google Shopping by approved companies. This gives your business a great boost and will increase your company’s bottom line. A study by Harvard Business School found that online reviews have a direct impact on your company’s bottom line. The study proved that besides positive reviews not only make your customers trust you but also increase your star rating which empirically leads to increased sales. Companies with better ratings are likely to see views converted to traffic and sales. Just one-star improvement on Google can lead to a boost of 10% on sales, Imagine what 50 reviews can do. It is basic human logic to spend money on something that others have said is worth spending money on.
Everyone is reading reviews and making decisions according to what they have read. It is clear that customers can directly impact the success of a business and so it is vital that customers demands and expectations are met. Creating a transparent conversation about your brand will lead to a positive online presence and reputation which will quickly convert itself into sales.
If you’d like to learn more about how you can implement easy tools into your business to help generate more reviews and streamline the process click here to book a session with us. If you are an existing customer of ours, please don’t forget to send you review requests for the week!