When I work with clients, one of the number one things I want to help them do is get reviews. Often, this is an overlooked marketing item. And many times, clients don’t like asking for reviews. However, reviews are super important. Especially, on sites like Google and Facebook. This form of social proof allows other people to talk about how awesome you are instead of you telling people you are awesome. The proof helps people know they are making a good buying decision.
I found this fantastic infographic that I believe helps share how important reviews are to a business and how they are used. Yelp is a great place to get reviews if you are a service based company in the food, beverage industry in the Midwest. In other areas of they country, Yelp is used in far more or less industries.
Google Reviews For Business
Even more important for search engine optimization, Google reviews are key! While there are a lot of factors involved in search rankings, online customer reviews can be a strong signal to search engines that communicates trustworthiness and authority. In an era in which competition has gotten tougher for small businesses on the web, managing online reviews is a way to differentiate your business and raise your visibility in the search results. According to the latest local search rankings factor survey, online reviews are thought to make up over 13% of how Google and other search engines decide to rank local search results. Google only wants to recommend the most credible businesses to their users. What better credibility indicator than a business that goes above and beyond by publicly responding to complaints, as well as, thanking their praises. Google trusts your customers more than it trusts you.
Facebook Reviews For Business
Consider BrightLocal’s Local Consumer Review Survey 2016, which included more than 1,000 Americans. It found that Facebook is the most popular way consumers recommend or review local businesses.
- In 2016, 47 percent of consumers reported that they had used Facebook to recommend or review a local business to others within the previous 12 months (up from 30 percent in 2015 and 16 percent in 2014).
- When asked the same question about other review sites, Facebook had a huge lead over Google (25 percent), Twitter (22 percent), Yelp (16 percent), TripAdvisor (15 percent) and other review sites (10 percent).
When you search for a specific business on Google, a box on the right side of the results page shows an overview of the business, with photos, hours of operation and highlights of Google reviews the business has received.
This box also now includes review scores from Facebook and other sites. So if you have high ratings on Facebook, anyone who Googles your business can see that… even if they never go to Facebook!
In conclusion
Reviews are a key part of doing business today. The online reach is key to getting the word out about your business. Don’t miss out!
