Reviews Are Becoming CRITICAL to Online Success

Posted on December 13, 2016 nerdymind

Have you ever done a search for a business and seen those little stars alongside other listing's information? Those are ratings stars and they do the job of grabbing your attention over the other listings very well. In fact, those listings have a much higher chance of getting clicked than one without them. 72% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, according to the Local Consumer Review Survey in 2012. In the same study, 52% of consumers said they are more likely to use a local business if they have positive reviews online. The benefits also extend beyond consumer confidence. Industry experts believe that a higher quantity of reviews is a factor in ranking higher in local search results. So how do you get people to review your business? More importantly: how do you use that to your advantage?

Link To Your Reviews

For starters you can make it easy for people to review your business both online and offline. Make sure you have links to various review sites on your own website so people can review you on Facebook, Google+, TripAdvisor, Yelp, DemandForce or other popular review websites. Keep in mind that quality is better than quantity. Choose reputable sites to get reviewed on. Also try to get reviewed by industry experts on their own high-ranking websites and provide links to those reviews from your site.

Ask For Reviews

Even though providing easy links is a great thing, it is not always enough. You have to literally ASK people to review your business in many cases, especially when you are just starting out. Treat it like its own marketing campaign and always have it in mind. 

The best way to do this is to get their attention at the end of a sale. If you have a storefront, you can set up a laptop at a convenient post-purchase spot with a sign that says, "Please Share Your Feedback" and also tell customers at the end of a sale that you'd really appreciate their feedback by writing a quick review at your kiosk. 

If you don't have a storefront, you can add a discussion about the power of reviews to your sale or project wrap-up meeting, and make sure to ask for a review. 

Create a landing page specifically for reviews on your website and put it on your business card with a "Review Us" call to action. 

Don't forget to post to your social media pages 1-3 times a week asking for reviews and share that post with appropriate groups. This will most likely bring in more natural likes and follows.