3 Ways Online Reviews Can Affect Your Bottom Line
Online reviews offer business owners insight into how their customers feel about their business, for better or for worse. However, reviews can have a greater impact on your business than simply providing feedback on the customer experience you are providing.
Online reviews can affect the way potential new customers view your business, boost your visibility where it matters most, and help drive a higher volume of traffic to your website. Here’s how:
Tip #1 | Establish Trust with Prospects
It’s likely that many of your customers will begin the decision-making process by doing their research online. In fact, 81% of shoppers conduct online research before they commit to a purchase, and 61% will read reviews before purchasing. All of this means that many of your customers will base their first impressions of your business on what they read online.
To ensure you are making the right first impression, it’s crucial you monitor your online reviews. You should regularly read and respond to reviews on key platforms such as Google, Yelp, and Facebook. Depending on your industry, you may need to check other review sites such as Houzz, Home Advisor, and Angie’s List.
Replying to reviews (including negative ones) shows potential customers that you are attentive to the needs of your all customers and open to their feedback. You will also want to encourage your customers to leave reviews to help build a positive online presence for your business.
Need help getting more reviews for your business? We offer reputation monitoring and management services that are designed to help you monitor online reviews, collect reviews from happy customers, and promote your business by sharing positive reviews.
Tip #2 | Improve Your Position in Key Searches
Your customers love reading online reviews, and search engines love giving your customers what they want. As a result, search engines love businesses with online reviews. By building up a base of positive customer reviews, you can give yourself a competitive edge in local search results.
When it comes to boosting your SEO, content is king. At their essence, reviews are a form of user-generated content that search engines factor into your ranking. User-generated content like online reviews serves as a valuable source of fresh content and backlinks, which greatly benefit your SEO.
One of the most important steps you can take is to set up a Google My Business listing. There is no cost to create a listing, and doing so can greatly benefit your ranking in crucial local searches. When you create your listing, make sure you are including key information such as a description of your business, the correct categories, your correct address and business hours, telephone number, and photos of your business.
Tip #3 | Increase Your Click-Through-Rate
It’s great being seen in search results, but that visibility offers you no value if people aren’t clicking through to your site. By leveraging the power of online reviews, you have the opportunity to start building trust with a customer before they even click through to your site. In general, you should ask your customers to leave reviews on any relevant platforms, however, there are a few specific things you can do to help boost your click-through-rate:
- Collect Reviews on Google Business. Actively encourage your customers to leave feedback on your Google My Business page. Your star rating can appear alongside your business details in local searches and help you stand out from the competition.
- Feature Product Ratings in Organic Search. By adding a special snippet of code to specific product or service pages on your website, you can feature the star rating for that product or service in the bsearch results. These ratings can help your search listing attract more attention (and clicks) from potential customers.
- Tip: Because enabling review snippets involves adjusting the code on your website, you may want to work with your developer to ensure all steps are completed correctly.
Potential customers are paying attention to your online reviews, so it’s crucial that you actively manage your online reputation. If you don’t have the time to focus on your online reviews, our team can do it for you. Contact us today to learn more about our reputation monitoring and management services. Marketing Plan