It’s undeniable that customer reviews help other customers. As a result, 92% of customers read online reviews, and 68% trust a local business more if it has positive reviews.
Customers value online reviews because they consider these genuine shared experiences from folks like themselves. They’re more trustworthy than a marketing message put out by the business itself.
And since customers find reviews important, Google does, too. How much influence do your online reviews have on where you rank in Google? A lot. According to a recent Moz study, online reviews are now the fifth most important factor in where a business ranks online. In fact, Google’s own features tour of Google Maps plainly says that the “highest-rated” businesses near you will be returned when you search with local intent:
Google is the most important place for most businesses to get reviews. But the more sites you have reviews on, the better. An array of sources proves relevance and authenticity to search engines. With testimonials posted across the web, customers help explain to both each other and Google what your company is all about. This user-generated content adds relevant keywords to your listing page on business directory sites, nudging it up in search rankings. And as a bonus, these reviews can mean fresh, unique content for your website, too – after all, Google favors sites with new content. So, make sure you have a Reviews page on your website that is synced with the major review sites. Syncing it will automatically add great, new reviews directly to your website – with zero effort on your part!
Now….how can you sync your online reviews to your site? Give us a call at 248-684-0500. We’ll help.
And how can you get more online reviews? The easiest way to generate a steady flow of customer reviews is to automate the review collection process. And how do you do that? Again, give us a call – that’s what we’re here for!
If you want to learn more about managing your online reputation or about how to get more positive online reviews, contact us today.