Why Google Reviews Matter and How to Get Them
Posted on 17th August 2021
No doubt, as you will have been looking for different businesses, services, restaurants, hotels and all things in between, you will have come across some Google reviews. This might have you thinking, what actually is the relevance of these reviews? Sure, they might give you an insight into what that business does and the quality of the service they offer, but do they do any more than that?
The fact is, Google reviews come with a plethora of advantages on top of giving your business a credibility boost, they can also be incredibly effective when it comes to ranking for local search engine optimisation (SEO), levelling the playing field and building on the reputation you have online.
What is a Google Review?
A Google review is where people who have been to or used your business will be able to go online and list their thoughts about what they received. They are able to do this without having to download an app. The reviews will then be displayed on Google and an average will be worked out to provide organisations with an average star rating.
Why Do Google Reviews Matter?
Google reviews are important because not only do they give your business credibility thanks to documenting customer experience, but they also come with an array of benefits. These include:
They Increase The Trust People Have in Your Brand
Thanks to the number of potential scams that consumers who shop online continue to be at risk of, transparency is an incredibly important aspect for them. Due to the information that businesses have access to nowadays, there is a huge amount of trust that people are putting in you when they are engaging with your services, and so they won’t do it if they do not feel like their information will be safe. As such, it’s not unheard of now for consumers to research a business before they work with them. Having a record of customer satisfaction to your name will mean that more consumers will be likely to engage with you.
Google Reviews Increase Online Exposure and Local SEO
Though the complexity behind the Google search algorithm is too complex to fully get into here, there is no doubt that Google reviews play a part in where your organisation ranks on the front page of the search engine. Review signals that are picked up by Google usually focus on the likes of quantity, velocity and diversity.
If you manage to have a well-balanced combination of these signals then your business will be much more likely to be at the top of Google’s local search. This means that when consumers take to a search engine for their online shopping, they will be much more likely to come across you.
If executed properly, Google reviews can be one of the most powerful marketing tactics available to a business.
Use Them To Gain Customer Intelligence
One of the greatest advantages to Google reviews when it comes to the future of your business is the insight you get from customers who review your business. Each good review will act as social proof that what your business does works and each negative review will provide you with something that you can work on.
Upon review, Google will usually tell you the following things:
i. Whether or not your company was able to deliver a positive customer experience
ii. Where exactly your company did a good or a not so good a job
iii. What product or service your customer received from your business
Using Google Reviews Can Improve the Click-Through Rates to Your Website
Every business who uses the internet to market themselves knows just how important it is to get potential customers to click on your link when it shows up in their search engine. You can put as much time into your SEO efforts as possible, but the fact of the matter is, if no one is clicking on your website, it doesn’t matter where you are ranking.
If you have Google reviews, that’s a great way to improve the click-through rate when you show up in people’s search engines. Your rating will show up next to your name and so a healthy number of reviews will increase the amount of people that decide to click on you.
Google Reviews Lead to More Conversion
In order to gain increased sales online, there are a few things that you need to have. The first is a well-designed and easy to use website, preferably one that has been put together by professional web designers. After that, you need something that is going to lead people onto your website, this can either be good SEO or, as stated above, a number of positive Google reviews.
How Do You Start Getting More Google Reviews?
Given the array of benefits that come with obtaining Google reviews, you could find yourself tempted to start buying them, but don’t. Customers tend to be able to spot fake reviews; however, there are many legitimate ways that you can get reviews on your business.
One of the most prevalent is simply asking customers to review your business. Once you have made a sale, you could direct them towards a landing page which will ask them to complete a review. You could even incentivise this with a code in return that will provide a discount off a future purchase. You could also send out emails to previous customers and ask them to review your company.
Though going the more ethical route may not develop results as quickly, the genuine notes on customer experience and satisfaction will look great for your business and you will be grateful for them in the long run.
Conclusion
In order to create a website that will lead to better conversion, as well as one that facilitates people leaving reviews about your business on your website, you should consider enlisting the services of a professional web design company such as it’seeze Web Design Wimbledon.
it’seeze will also provide ongoing support to your company once your website has been set up if you would like to discuss ideas or tactics revolving around how you can generate more customer reviews. This service is available with a number of other benefits contained in a monthly subscription.
If you’d like to find out more about it’seeze websites, why not get in touch today? We’re committed to building brilliant websites that help businesses grow - and we’d love to hear your plans.
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