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Feb 07, 2022

Why Google Reviews are Important for Your Business.

Online reviews have existed for quite some time; now more than ever, their importance to the success of a local business is increasing. Reviews are essential for your local SEO ranking and help improve the credibility of your business. Google allows your customers to leave feedback about your products or services, even if you haven't claimed your Google business listing. However, to respond to these reviews your Google Business Listing will need to be claimed. Whether positive or negative, Google reviews can be used to your advantage to rally your customer retention rates and conversions.

If you haven't taken the time to audit reviews where your credibility could be compromised, you might be missing out on prospective clients to your competition. One recent survey found that 86% of consumers go through reviews before purchasing from a local business! When you roll out Google reviews for your local business, be transparent with consumers, and gain insight to improve using their feedback.

This comprehensive guide and post will help you understand why you should start using a review generation system to monitor your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business, GMB, or Google Places) ASAP.

1. Build Brand Trust with Google Reviews

Nothing makes your business appear tangible more than real customers freely leaving their feedback about your business. This feedback ties your digital presence to your business out in the "real world." If you are trying to grow the number of your online reviews in general, you may wish to target the 18-34-year-old client since "80% of them have previously written an online review." If you are trying to grow the number of your positive reviews, you may want to focus your solicitation of reviews from the 35+ population as they are prone to leaving more positive reviews.

Whether positive or negative, your Google reviews and responses show prospective customers your business policies, ethics, and customer service in a transparent manner. This transparency is critical for shoppers purchasing decisions, with 72% saying they trust a business when they read positive reviews about it.

Potential buyers feel they'll receive the same level of high-quality service they see on your review pages since 91% of 18-34-year-old shoppers trust online reviews as much as they would trust a friend's referral. People love quality and a great customer experience! When your reviews reflect this experience, they can increase your conversions!

2. Google Reviews Improve Your Local SEO

Google provides 89% of local searches. With reviews worth over 15% of your local pack score with Google, it's safe to say reviews play a big part in your overall ranking. Without ignoring other SEO strategies like keywords, user experience, and quality content, reviews can contribute to your movement in local rankings.

Additionally, the increasing trend of people searching for local things through "item/service + near me" tells business owners that more work is required to rank in local listings. The number of reviews one business has can determine how Google will rank you. For example, if your local competitor has 45 reviews, and you have 15, they might rank higher.

Another factor to appear in the Google Local Pack is whether your reviews are positive. Local search results display the first three high-ranking businesses near the searcher's location at the top of the page along with their location and contact details. With more and more consumers likely using contact details from a local listing to call the business directly (instead of visiting their website), appearing on it can reward you handsomely. Besides, Google now includes snippets of reviews in the search results below the business information, which further illustrates the importance of having relevant reviews in large quantity.

3. Reviews are a Great Way to Improve Customer Experience and Showcase Your Brand

Reviews are a two-sided coin; you can fully leverage both sides to work for you with the proper review management strategies. Google reviews specifically allow you to know how you're performing and what needs improvement in your customer experience (CX). (CX covers everything from how your products/services are, how you handle customers when selling or delivering services, and how you resolve customer complaints or concerns.)

You can easily learn what you can do to optimize CX through the negative reviews you receive. Negative reviews are inevitable for businesses. The difference is how you handle these reviews, with timely and appropriate responses.

One crucial thing is that you should always respond to negative reviews with a calm and wise, solution-based approach and with steps to alleviate the problem in the future. Never shift the blame or argue (even if the customer is totally wrong). Remember that most people follow bad review threads to see how the issue was resolved; thus, any negative signal is detrimental, while a well-thought-out resolution might actually drive more conversions.

On the other hand, don't forget your positive reviews! These should be responded to as an excellent opportunity to showcase your best. Who doesn't love good PR? Positive reviews offer a great way to spotlight products or services that you excel with or offer suggestions for repeat business! Be sure to include your business name in your responses so the search algorithm can find your name and recommended product or service easily.

4. Google Reviews Can Act as Great Testimonials on Your Site

Testimonials are a distinctive way to show your site visitors what others are saying about your company. GBP reviews can be a great resource to include authentic and credible testimonials on your site. You can choose to either embed the Google reviews directly onto the website or opt to reach people who have left positive reviews to give you a more detailed testimonial. Our guess is that you'll have smooth sailing in convincing them since they already like your product or services.

Ready? Let's Get Started!

Download t his step-by-step infographic PDF to use when helping your customers leave Google reviews for you. If you would prefer to focus on what you do best and have a team of experts monitor your reviews or assist you in soliciting more reviews, then Summit Media Solutions is here for you! We take care of other things like optimizing your online presence and digital marketing so our clients can do what they do best.

To join our Blog Mailing List or to learn more about how we can help you grow your business, connect with our team now.

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