Take a quick moment to ask yourself one simple question – how many times have you used Google today?
How Important Are Google Reviews?
Whether you’ve searched for something using your phone, laptop or your voice, Google has become a massive part of our everyday lives.
So how valuable is Google for a business?
In short, hugely valuable. But we won’t end this post there.
The reason Google has become so valuable for business is that it gives customers the opportunity to submit reviews about their experience when interacting with your brand.
How Important Are Google Reviews?
Customers are more likely to trust a review left by a complete stranger telling them that your business knows what its’s doing and that you do it well! However, there is a little more to it than that.
1. Company research
New customers will without a doubt, search for you or your products online. Nearly 90% of consumers will spend time researching products online before making a purchase.
Reviews that match these results therefore become critical, and price is no longer the only deciding factor for a potential customer.
2. Paid vs organic results
Search for anything on Google and you’ll be provided with a mixture of results.
The paid results are the ones that you will see first and these can be more obvious (located at the top of the page) or they can be map based.
However, Google reviews offer the chance to be top of the list within the organic rankings. Consumers tend to click on the organic rankings more than they would a paid ad.
3. Relevance
You must also take into consideration the relevance of reviews. When a past customer reviews your business or its services, the language used within that review will more than likely influence and resonate with a potential new customer. They’ll mention their experience and any pain points, what brought them to you and what they enjoyed about interacting with you.
Giving and receiving reviews are a critical part of business. They can matter and they can make a difference. You also have the opportunity to use those reviews on your website, social media channels and other marketing materials. Make the most of their value and potential reach.
At this point, it’s worth reminding you that you will get a negative review. It’s the nature of the beast (so to speak) and, as the old saying goes, you can’t please everybody.
Take this opportunity to respond calmly and offer assistance to the customer. New customers will see that you care enough to respond in a helpful way, and you can also improve your services, internally, in order to avoid a bad review in the future.
So, in closing, encourage your customers to leave a review for you on Google. It will not only help future customers make an informed decision about whether they will interact with your brand, but it has a positive impact on your search engine rankings too.
If you’d like to find out more about Google reviews or SEO for your business, get in touch with us today for an informal chat.
