In 2020 about 87% of customers admitted to reading Google reviews before purchasing a business. This number will continue to grow as customers become more reliant on businesses’ online reputation to decide whether they want to shop with them. With this in mind, you can see the importance of having positive reviews there.
Why Google Reviews are Important to Your Business
Google uses various factors to determine who will show up in their local search results, especially when it comes to their local pack and organic SEO rankings. Some of the most important things to focus your attention on include on-page optimization, links, and reviews. Since reviews account for about 11% of your Google ranking the more positive reviews your business receives the more likely your business will rank highly in both organic SEO results and the local pack.
Google reviews not only help with your SEO but also helps build trust with your customers. You can think of this as online “word of mouth” marketing. This is because when someone searches for a business like yours they want to see what others’ experiences working with you were like. In fact, 79% of consumers say they trust these reviews as much as they trust a personal recommendation from their friends or family.
Tips for Getting Google Reviews
One of the best and easiest ways of getting Google reviews is to simply ask your customers for them. While most people don’t think about leaving a review, they’ll gladly do so when asked.
The best time to ask for these reviews is when your customers are the happiest. They’re more likely to sing your praises in this review than if you were to wait weeks then ask them to write a review for you.
When asking for a review don’t ask them to leave you 5 stars. Doing so could leave a bad taste in their mouth. Instead, simply tell them you’d appreciate it if they could leave you a review for the service they received. Make sure you also tell them that doing so will benefit them because it’ll help you make improvements so they’ll have an even better experience next time.
It’s also important for you to respond to each review you receive. Thank customers who leave you a positive review and engage with those who leave you a negative review.
How to Encourage People to Leave Google Reviews
Now that you know the importance of Google reviews for your SEO you’ll want to make it a point to get them. There are several ways to go about doing this.
Email Customers a Direct Link to Leave a Review
Your customers won’t leave you a review if they don’t know how to quickly and easily do so which means that your SEO will suffer unless you help them. You can do this by sending them a short, personalized email with a direct link to where they can leave their review.
Consider streamlining this process by using an online review management system. The software will send a follow-up message to your customer asking your customer about their experience and if they’ll leave you a review. It’ll even a link for where they can do so. Positive reviews are then sent to your Google My Business Page while negative ones get sent to your customer service department to be resolved. Since all of this is automated for you there’s nothing for you to do so you won’t be adding any more work for yourself.
Provide Sentence Starters
The easier it is for your customers to leave a review, the more likely they’ll be to do so. One way to simplify the process is to provide your customers with sentence starters. This works especially well for repeat customers with whom you have a trusted relationship. Simply send them a question in an email and ask for their permission to turn their answer into a customer review to be posted on your website with their name. You’ll find that most customers who are happy with your service will be happy to do this for you.
For help getting more reviews or other SEO tasks, consult the Local SEO Company in Tampa, FL. With their help, you’ll have more time to focus on your business.
