Guest post by Norma Huibregtse
When was the last time you “googled” your business? Did you find reviews on your Google Plus and Yelp listings? If not, you are probably like many small businesses who are not managing their online reputation. In this post, I will show you the value in doing so and what it means to your bottom line.
Online reviews are like votes for your business helping potential customers make a decision to do business with you – or not. These reviews also determine the ranking of your Google listing when potential customers search for your type of business. Google looks at these online reviews as a “social signal” to help determine where your listing should be ranked.
Let’s look at some facts about how consumers search for and rely upon online reviews:
* 70% of households use the internet as their “go-to” source when purchasing local products and services
* Approximately 72% of consumers surveyed said they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations even those by anonymous posters
* 70% of customers trust a business with a minimum of 6-10 reviews
As you can see, online reviews affect your ability to attract more customers which impacts your bottom line. In my opinion, having no reviews is almost as bad as having a negative review because it can result in lost business.
A common concern for small businesses is that, in asking for reviews, someone will share a negative review. But if a business is consistently asking for reviews, the negative review will be drowned out by the positive ones. Think about how you search for local businesses. When you look at reviews, do you weigh the good and the bad to get an overall sense of the business like I do?
In today’s world, small businesses have to be proactive in managing their reputation. That means consistently asking for customer feedback, asking customers to leave this feedback on online review sites, and monitoring what they are saying about your business.
In the upcoming webinar, I will share with you how to take control of your online reputation, get more of your customers to post reviews about your business, and turn these reviews into more revenue.
Join Shauna and Norma ONLINE on April 29th, from 12-1pm (AZ time) – REGISTER HERE!!!
