How To Get Reviewed On Google
Gaining solid, relevant reviews is not only one of the most effective ways to improve your search engine rankings, it is also a huge factor for customer conversions by boosting your business’ reputation or number and rating of your reviews. If your company is not already utilizing Google business reviews, your online presence is suffering.
Responses from a recent Zendesk survey revealed that 90% of participants consider positive reviews when making their purchasing decisions. This is a great example of how product and service reviews can be deciding factors in a new customer’s experience when determining whether or not to choose you or your competitors. Since Google is the leading search engine by far, their business page reviews have become an immense influence on customer acquisition. That’s why obtaining positive reviews on your business’s Google My Business page is now more important than ever before.
1. What Are Google Business Reviews?
Have you heard of Google Places for Business? Today, the new and improved version is called Google My Business. Through an integration with Google Plus, companies can now access their business information and manage their Google map listings and other information found in search in one convenient location. When someone goes to search for local services and businesses in the surrounding area, your listing will pop up. They will be able to access your location address, phone number, hours of operation, and of course see the reviews that customers have provided. Having these reviews will go a long way in improving your click-through rate, and can help your business appear higher in the search. While you can obtain reviews on a variety of online sites, your primary focus should be on Google, where the search traffic lives. Get your business set up on Google, add your information, and get verified.
2. Reach for Google Stars
It’s no secret that customers are influenced by online reviews. By finding a way to draw reviews for your business, people online can feel confident in your products or services. With just 5 reviews, Google’s Local Pack will add 5 gold stars to your listing. These stars have been shown to help increase click-through-rate by up to 20%. The 5 stars and a portion of the reviews you receive will also display in the Knowledge Graph.
3. Obtaining Customer Reviews
While you can get reviews without prompting they will be few and far between, there are creative ways to seek out reviews that can be 100% more effective. Instead of asking for reviews from customers, ask your customers about their experience and casually suggest they provide you with a review to help improve the experience of others or just let customers know you care enough to listen. By connecting with the customer experience, you’ll not only obtain reviews but also likely improve your overall products offerings though customer feedback. You never offer incentives to provide reviews.
Here are a few points to keep in mind when asking for reviews:
Find the Right Time
Timing is critical when prompting customers for reviews. You want your customers to have had sufficient time to fully experience your product or service; though, you don’t want to wait too long and let the excitement or impression wear off.
Share, Share, Share
Promote your Google business page and reviews throughout your site, within your social media posts, and via all email marketing campaigns. Sharing on social media and through email blasts is going to be a critical component in your campaign to get reviews. Let your customers know that you value them and their feedback, and that your always working to improve products and the customer experience.
Make it Easy
Your customers lead busy lives and you need to make it easy for them to leave a review. So, don’t just tell your customers to leave feedback, show them exactly where they need to go online to do so. Create a clear path from your web site, your email blasts, and your social media posts to your Google My Business page.
4. In just 5 quick steps, you can find your link and share it:
- Search Google for your company’s name
- Click the “write a review” button
- A lightbox will appear and you can copy the URL out of your browser bar
- Simplify the link by using a link shortener so it is easier to view and share. You can use Google’s link shortener or any other platform you prefer.
- Spread the word through email and social media and encourage your customers to give their feedback.
Don’t Stop There
While Google should be your primary focus for building reviews, other third party review sites must also be utilized. There are a multitude of review sites that can be extremely important to a business’ success, including Facebook, Yelp, Yahoo Local, Trip Advisor, or Trust Pilot. All these websites will support your sales funnels and search engine optimization efforts. Social media marketing is another wonderful tool that should be harnessed in gaining customer feedback, comments, and reviews. Additionally, reviews on these sites can also impact your search optimization, while simultaneously building brand reputation and customer relationship channels. And don’t forget about LinkedIn if people endorsing your skills could be of value to you.
To Sum It Up
Search traffic is a critical part of any online promotional strategy, and customer reviews only augment the ability to rank well. The most challenging thing about monitoring customer feedback is staying responsive and positive, even when some reviews are not positive. Respond those reviews with care, so current and potential customers can see you are actually listening, learning, and improving. Use reviews as an opportunity to connect with your customers and optimize the buyer experience. People are influenced by what they read online, and reviews can be extremely powerful.
How Can Review Wave Help?
Running a business takes time, and we know business owners aren’t always passionate about marketing in general, let alone seeking out reviews. We understand it can be difficult to do on your own. Review Wave exists to help businesses become top rated companies and service providers for their respective industries. At Review Wave, we increase your 5-star reviews and intervene before negative reviews can occur.
Our simple system integrates with many software platforms, including those used by chiropractic, dental, optometry and veterinary practices. With an easy to access dashboard, you can login and see your KPIs for obtaining reviews. See reviews that have been requested and opened, the feedback that has been posted, which review sites have been visited and the amount of reviews on each.
Worried about negative reviews? With our Feedback Gate, you can gauge your customer’s level of happiness before requesting a review. Surveys can be sent after each appointment so you get feedback in real-time. Once happy customers have been identified we automatically send them directly to online review sites like Google, Yelp, Facebook and more. Try Review Wave for FREE!
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