6 reasons online reviews are essential to your business

With 90% of customers consulting online reviews before transacting with a business, online reviews are essential to your business. In our online driven world your online reputation is essential and news about your business can travel fast … both good and bad. So let’s start thinking of our customers as brand advocates rather than one off transactions.

Regardless of your industry, having a positive online presence is essential to your business.

Let’s have a look at 6 reasons why online reviews are essential to your business and 5 ways to increase your positive online footprint.

1/ Increase sales

Online reviews will impact your consumer’s purchasing decisions. Your customers are more likely to make a purchase if those around them support their purchasing decision and have had a positive experience … even if the purchasing decision is supported by total strangers.

2/ Increase your SEO performance

According to MOZ, online reviews make up approx 15% of how companies are ranked on Google.

Remember that a diversity in your reviews is positive – naturally all negative reviews is going to be damaging for your business however all positive reviews can look unrealistic.

3/ Star rating is important

Research has found the following link between start rantings and customer purchasing behaviour:

4/ Increase consumer engagement

Online reviews allow you to continue a conversation with your customers. Consumers expect companies to respond to reviews displaying to your potential customers that you care either to show gratitude for a positive review, or the opportunity to respond and resolve to a poor review. Personlised responses give your brand a face and show you are a business who is open to feedback and continued improvement.

A quick response to a poor reviews provide an opportunity to quickly resolve an issue and win a customer back – 95% of unhappy customers will return to a company when their issue has been resolved quickly!

Positive online reviews can increase traffic to your website with 48% of consumers will visit a businesses website after reading positive reviews.

5/ Build trust & credibility

80% of consumers trust online reviews as much as word of mouth recommendations from family and friends.

6/ Increase traffic

Positive online reviews can increase traffic to your website with 48% of consumers will visit a businesses website after reading positive reviews.

1/ Create incentives

Create review campaigns which provide your customers with a reason to review such as offering a discount coupon in return for a review. Mailchimp is a great way to manage automated post purchase customer reviews.

2/ Exceed expectations

Ensure your business goes the extra mile for your clients and that you are always exceeding expectations. Customers will be more likely to review if they feel you have exceeded their expectations.

3/ Make it easy

Prompt customers to leave a review on your website by ensuring ‘leave a review functionality is prominent and easy to use.

4/ Ask

Most people only leave online reviews when they really love or hate a product or service. Start asking your customers for reviews.

5/ Publish your reviews

Put your reviews on display to encourage further reviews. Share your successes on social media or integrate reviews from Google, Facebook, Yelp etc into your website or create a testimonials page.

6/ Customer satisfaction survey

Ask your customers to complete a customer satisfaction survey. Happy customers will be more than happy to let you know how you are going, likewise it will give unhappy customers a chance to provide feedback which you can quickly act on.

We’ve looked at why online reviews are important and how to generate more online reviews but now let’s look at what to do with your reviews once you’ve received them. It’s likely many businesses have online reviews spread across many different sites: Google, Facebook, Yelp etc so let’s look at some ideas on how to consolidate your reviews and make the most of them:

1/ Share

Be proud of your reviews and don’t be afraid to share great reviews. Your customers will enjoy reading your positive feedback as it will support their decision to stay loyal to you and will provided an ongoing affirmation on the quality of your products or services.

2/ Integrate

Integrate & centralise all your reviews into your website. If your website is built on WordPress there’s lots of great plugins to use which pool your reviews from Google, Facebook & Yelp.

So there you have it … online reviews should be an essential component to your businesses marketing and SEO strategy. If you need a hand with developing an online review strategy for your business contact me.