Online reviews are a fantastic way to draw more customers to your business, and there are so many reasons to make accruing great reviews a priority. For starters, these reviews can help you get onto the radar of potential customers who haven’t yet heard about your business.
Another perk is that as soon as these customers start to peruse the content of the reviews, you’ll have already started to build trust with them. Great online reviews say so much about a company’s quality, and that positive reputation can bring in even more business in turn.
Different review platforms serve different purposes, and all are valuable in their own ways. Of course, all this variety can make it hard to know which platform to focus your energy on.
You may find yourself trying to split your attention between Yelp, Facebook, Google Reviews, TripAdvisor, and whichever other review sites are currently showing up on your newsfeed. However, when it comes to setting yourself up for success in 2018, there is one clear winner: Google Reviews.
If you want to bring in more customers and build a stronger connection with the ones you already have, focusing on accruing more positive Google reviews is the way to go. Below are five reasons Google Reviews is the #1 review platform this year.
1. You do not need to download an app.
Have you ever tried to log onto an establishment’s free wifi network and been informed that you need to either watch an ad or download an app onto your phone in order to log on? Can you think of a single time when you opted to download the app over the ad?
Most of us certainly can’t, and that’s because nobody likes going through the extra step of downloading an app that they don’t even necessarily want. It’s a hassle, and if you’re not familiar with the app in question, you may feel a bit uncomfortable trusting it on your phone.
The beauty of using Google Reviews is that these types of problems won’t come up. Customers can leave feedback on Google Reviews whenever they want, with zero app downloads necessary. All they need to do is power up their phone, computer, or tablet; open their internet browser, and get to speaking their mind.
2. It makes it really seamless for customers to leave reviews.
When it’s easier for a customer to leave you an online review, they’re more likely to actually leave one. Luckily, leaving a Google Review is about as simple as it gets. To use Google Reviews, all customers need is a Google account, and customers are far more likely to have a Google account than a Yelp or Tripadvisor account.
Since most people already have a Google account, needing to create one is rarely a barrier to leaving a review. If potential reviewers don’t have a Google account, it takes them just a few minutes to set one up.
Since Google is involved in the vast majority of tasks most people need to do on the internet, having a Google account will provide customers with endless additional benefits beyond the ability to leave business reviews. (They’ll certainly be thanking you when they realize that their new account gives them access to features like Gmail, Google Documents, and Google Spreadsheets.)
Once a reviewer has an account, they simply need to search for your business on Google and click on it. Then, they can type a review. The whole process can be completed in just a few short minutes. Some business owners opt to create a Google Reviews how-to card to show customers exactly how this process works so they won’t get confused. It’s a win-win.
3. Google Reviews offers more great and new features to help small local businesses.
Google Reviews has set itself up for great success by integrating features that help local businesses stand out. These features equate to a much more streamlined process for you as a business owner, as well as lots of opportunity to thrive.
For starters, in Google Reviews, businesses are integrated into Google’s search engine. The reviews pop up when a customer is searching for products or services similar to yours in the area. This gives you a great opportunity to be seen by potential customers and to increase brand awareness. Millions of people regularly use Google to conduct online searches, and Google Reviews gives you a chance to be front and center with all those users.
Another excellent positive is that unlike some other review platforms, there isn’t any negative connotation to asking customers to leave a Google review. Of course, this is when it comes to asking for honest, genuine reviews. Buying or falsifying reviews is a bad look on any platform.
Fortunately, Google Reviews makes it easy for business owners to quickly react to false or dishonest reviews. If you see a review that looks fake or looks like it was purchased, you can note it and Google will resolve it quickly.
A very important way to make the most of Google Reviews’ great features is to visit the Google My Business page online. There, you can register your business address and fill out a profile. You can also alert Google to what local area your business tends to, and what keywords most pertain to your business. This will help people find you.
Once you register, Google will wrap up the process by sending you a confirmation number. After that, you’ll be able to officially verify your profile and respond to reviews on your page.
4. Google Reviews makes it easier for customers to find you.
Google has an incredibly vast audience at its fingertips. For business owners, that means Google Reviews has the potential to supply you with an incredible reach. After all, when a potential customer is looking for a product or service in their area, they often start by Googling it. If your business is one of the first options to pop up, and your listing is accompanied by positive and informative reviews, it’s more likely that the customer will give your business a try.
By accumulating positive reviews, you’re already beginning to build trust with these potential customers before they’ve even tried out your company—and that’s worth celebrating.
Google Reviews can also help customers find you more easily by impacting traffic to your company website with the help of reviews. Reviews shared on Google are a big factor in whether customers will be able to find you via Google searches on their phones or by conducting local searches.
There’s also the fact that, in general, more online reviews across the platforms tends help your search ranking overall. When you have lots of positive reviews to your name, new customers might just start rushing in out of the woodwork.
Once you have a few reviews in place, you’ll want to take things a step further by responding to those reviews. Google Reviews provides you with an excellent opportunity to keep growing by directly interacting with reviews left by customers. When you respond to reviews, you can include SEO keywords relating to what your business offers and what potential customers might search for, and that can help to increase your discoverability.
These responses also increase a sense of trust and confidence from potential customers. Responding to reviews also shows your current customers that you genuinely care about their experience and about connecting with them.
When you regularly respond to reviews, it can create updates for your company’s page and can help to grow your engagement. If you’re able, include SEO keywords in your responses that pertain to the services you provide or words customers might use when searching for a company like yours. That said, don’t let keywords take on more importance than providing respectful and customer service-oriented review responses.
Keywords help significantly, but remember that real customers will be reading your responses, and that those responses will often be their first impression of you. Make sure they are friendly, genuine, and most importantly, human.
5. Google Reviews increases your credibility.
While leaving feedback via Google Reviews is very simple, it’s also a process that encourages honesty. While some review platforms allow you to leave feedback under usernames, reviews on Google are generally left under customers’ full names.
Anonymity is difficult to pull off on Google Reviews, and as a result, so is fakery and deceitful reviews. Reviews are more likely to be honest and to be left by authentic customers, and if fake reviews do make it through the cracks, they are usually removed swiftly.
As a result, companies that have a collection of glowing reviews on Google are more likely to be the real deal, and that means customers will take those reviews seriously. Considering that a majority of customers now check online reviews before committing to using the services of a business, this is especially important.
A whole new world of online growth, reputation building, and customer connections is right around the corner. It all starts with Google Reviews.